Ho Chi Minh City reviews teaching schedule of 2 sessions/day in all high schools

SGGPO 10/10/2023 15:10

On the morning of October 10, at the meeting of principals of public high schools for the 2023-2024 school year organized by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, concerns about organizing 2 sessions/day and arranging timetables for extracurricular activities were once again clarified by the management agency.

Schools recommend flexible options

Speaking at the meeting, Ms. Hoang Thi Hao, Principal of Dao Son Tay High School, expressed her opinion that in implementingeducational activities in schools, in addition to the right and wrong factors based on current regulations and guidelines, it is necessary to consider the factors of whether or not to do it, and how to better meet the needs of parents and students.

Overview of the morning meeting on October 10

Explaining this further, Mr. Luong Van Dinh, Principal of Thanh Loc High School (District 12) expressed: "Among thousands of homeroom teachers working in the city, there will be those who understand the spirit of the instructions and directions, and those who do not. Not to mention, there are places that follow the regulations but are not necessarily suitable for the actual situation."

A representative of Thanh Loc High School said that currently, according to the direction of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, all schools will simultaneously adjust their schedules to no more than 9 periods/day. However, this principal thinks that adjusting according to regulations is easy, but the important thing is whether it meets the needs, thoughts, and wishes of students.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Do Dinh Dao, Principal of Nguyen Huu Tho High School (District 4) explained that currently the official curriculum stipulates an average of 30 periods/week for high school level. Along with that, the second session program stipulates 6-8 periods/week, the school program (depending on the actual situation of each unit) from 4-6 periods.

Principal of Nguyen Huu Tho High School (District 4) Do Dinh Dao speaks at the meeting

Thus, the requirement of no more than 9 periods/day is very difficult to implement. If adjusted to no more than 8 periods/day, schools will be forced to arrange the timetable on Saturday.

"We have organized a consultation with each student's parents, and all parents agreed to arrange 9 periods/day and not want students to go to school on Saturdays. I think that if the education sector has given autonomy to schools, there should be an open mechanism," said Mr. Do Dinh Dao.

Care about the real needs of parents

Responding to the concerns of schools, Mr. Le Duy Tan, Head of the Secondary Education Department (Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training) said that how to both properly implement regulations and be reasonable, meeting the needs of parents is the art of the principal.

"Overloading teaching will not be effective for students, but should only be within their capacity. Currently, the regulation of no more than 8 periods/day, teaching from Monday to Saturday has been regulated by the Ministry of Education and Training nationwide, so schools need to comply, and should not increase the workload for students," said a representative of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.

Accordingly, Mr. Le Duy Tan suggested one of many options to reduce the load is for schools to balance their schedules and reduce activities in the school program for final year students (grade 12).

From another perspective, according to Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, decades ago, students only learned knowledge from textbooks. However, along with the movement and development of society, the need to supplement knowledge and practical skills for students has been added to the school curriculum.

Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Bao Quoc gave a speech at the conference.

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is implementing many important projects to improve foreign language and IT skills for high school students, not to mention instructions from ministries and branches to strengthen STEM education activities, life skills, etc.

"Schools need to balance, understand clearly what needs to be done, how much is enough and when implementing, there must be consensus from parents. Therefore, propaganda work is of special importance, how to make the teaching staff understand clearly and correctly the policies, from there continue to communicate to parents," said Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc.

Head of the Planning and Finance Department (HCMC Department of Education and Training) Tran Khac Huy requested that schools not collect any fees other than the 26 fees approved by the HCMC People's Council in Resolution 04 on fees, fees, and revenue and expenditure management mechanisms for services supporting educational activities at public educational institutions in the 2023-2024 school year. In particular, for each fee, a clear revenue and expenditure estimate must be prepared, not rigidly applying the maximum fee according to regulations, implementing "full collection, full expenditure", not allowing unreasonable revenue sources to arise, not collecting school funds or class funds.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tphcm-ra-soat-thoi-khoa-bieu-day-hoc-2-buoingay-tat-ca-truong-thpt-post709198.html