21-session/week schedule, students exhausted from extra classes

"I wake up at 6am, have breakfast and go to school. At noon, I only have time to take a nap for an hour, and then continue studying in the afternoon. Every evening except Sunday afternoon, I study Math, Physics, English, and Fine Arts until 9pm. When I get home, I only have time to shower for a while and then do homework until midnight before going to bed," Nguyen Hoang Bich Lan, a 12th grade student at Le Quy Don High School ( Hanoi ), said about her study schedule.

Study 21 sessions/week

Lan's weekly schedule includes 21 classes, including morning classes. The tight schedule has been "sticking" to Lan for more than a year, starting from the summer of 11th grade. In addition to morning classes, her parents also registered Lan for extra classes at the subject teacher's house, and at a review center with a high price of 150,000 - 250,000 VND/session. It is estimated that each month, her extra tuition costs her parents about 10 million VND.

Students are tired with a busy study schedule. (Illustration photo: TT)

With average academic performance, Lan repeatedly told her parents that she wanted to enter a mid-level university within her ability, but each time she was scolded by her parents. "If you can't get into Polytechnic or Architecture, you'll have to retake the exam next year, and not go to another school," her mother said. To get into the schools her parents wanted, she needed to score at least 8.5 - 9 points or higher in each subject. "At that time, I could only cry and be scared every time I thought about the prospect of not passing the university entrance exam," Lan said. Lan's interests are communications and event organization.

With a tight schedule, no time to eat a proper lunch, and the pressure of her parents' goals, the 12th grade female student is often tired in class, and many days she falls asleep on her desk. "Sitting in class but not absorbing anything, I just wish for class to end so I can take a nap," the female student said.

As a student at a specialized school, Tran Van Tu (grade 10 at Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Hai Phong ) is often compared by his parents to his older brother - who was an excellent student for 12 consecutive years, won many national awards, and is currently studying abroad in the US.

Tu loves art. His childhood dream was to study art and fashion design, but his parents wanted him to be good at English to study economics abroad .

From the beginning of 10th grade, Tu's parents spared no expense in investing in English review courses at foreign language centers, costing tens of millions of VND per course. As for the study schedule, in addition to class time, Tu's mother would follow him to review centers and classes throughout the city.

"Monday and Thursday evenings I study Math, Tuesday I study Physics, Wednesday I study Chemistry, Friday I study presentation skills and all day Saturday I take other soft skills classes on essay writing and scholarship application. My parents even registered me for a basketball class to improve my performance and make my study abroad application look good," the male student complained about his study schedule.

Recently, Tu's parents have banned him from using his phone to go online and have controlled his computer usage at home so that he can focus on his studies. "I feel like I'm imprisoned, suffocated, and don't want to talk to anyone," the male student said. Instead of asking if he's tired or if he's craving something, his mother's messages are just reminders of his evening classes and extra classes.

I will not let my child lose.

Not only senior students, even young children in middle and primary schools are forced to take extra classes all week. At 5pm, the school bell rang, instead of staying in the yard to play with her classmates, Le Khanh Chi (7th grade student at Nguyen Du Middle School, Hanoi) hurriedly put on her school bag and went to the gate to be picked up by her mother. Tonight she has a piano lesson from 6pm to 8:30pm.

The music school is quite far from home and the class schedule is late, so on the way to take her child to extra classes, Ms. Dinh Thu Thuy (39 years old) stopped by the roadside to buy her child a sandwich with grilled meat skewers to fill his stomach. She is in charge of taking her child to extra classes every day, while her husband stays home to clean and cook dinner. Her family usually eats dinner after 9 pm.

Many students are uncertain about the purpose of going to school so often. (Illustration: TT)

"In addition to 2 piano lessons, Chi has 2 extra Math lessons and 1 English lesson at the center every week. The classes are all held in the evening," the parent shared about her child's study schedule. She plans to increase the number of extra Literature lessons from this summer so that her child has enough knowledge to pass the entrance exam to the best high school, while also developing comprehensively in literature, sports, and fine arts.

When she was young, her family was poor, so Thuy and her husband did not have the opportunity to go to school, so they were at a disadvantage compared to their peers, especially in terms of knowledge about fine arts. Therefore, the couple decided to invest all their efforts in their daughter, not letting her fall behind her peers.

Each piano lesson for Chi costs 200,000 VND, and cultural lessons cost 120,000 VND/session. It is estimated that the family will spend nearly 10 million VND per month for their child to take extra lessons. "This amount of money is not small, but my husband and I can afford it," said Ms. Thuy.

Seeing her colleagues at work sending their children to extra classes in art, drawing, music, and singing, Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc (Tu Son, Bac Ninh) was also anxious to plan to find extra classes for her 4th grade son.

Each drawing class for Tit - Ngoc's child costs 250,000 VND. He studies at one of the largest centers in Tu Son district, with an average of 2 classes per week. She also discussed with her husband about sending their child to the homeroom teacher's house to study Math and Literature in the evenings and on weekends.

The couple's salary is only about 15 million VND/month, but Ms. Thuy still decided to limit spending on food and clothes to invest 5 million VND/month in her child's education.

The case of parents Thuy and Ngoc is not difficult to find in today's era. Parents compete to register their children for extra classes and centers from culture to skills, art subjects... Even though they do not know the results of their children's studies, parents still let their children study regardless to satisfy their selfishness and personal competition.

Ha Cuong

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Source: https://vtc.vn/thoi-khoa-bieu-21-ca-tuan-hoc-sinh-kiet-suc-vi-hoc-them-ar748013.html