Implementing the organization of teaching 2 sessions/day: Still many confusions and concerns

Implementing Directive No. 17/CT-TTg dated June 6, 2025 of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) for the first time issued unified guidelines for teaching 2 sessions/day for all three levels of education, applicable from the 2025-2026 school year. Of which, primary level requires compulsory teaching, middle and high school levels are encouraged to implement according to the roadmap and do not collect student fees.

This policy is considered suitable for the requirements of educational innovation, but the organization of teaching 2 sessions/day is currently facing many difficulties and concerns during the implementation process.

In recent times, the organization of teaching 2 sessions/day at the primary level has become popular in many localities across the country. This facilitates the implementation of the mandatory requirement of teaching 2 sessions/day for primary level from the 2025-2026 school year. However, for secondary school level, in many localities, because only 50-70% of educational institutions are qualified to organize teaching 2 sessions/day, the implementation is encouraged, depending on the actual conditions of each locality.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training 's guidelines on teaching 2 sessions/day, junior high and high school students study a minimum of 5 days and a maximum of 11 sessions/week, with no more than 7 periods per day, each period lasting 45 minutes. The first session is for the main curriculum; the second session focuses on tutoring students who have not yet met the standards, nurturing excellent students, reviewing for final exams and activities to teach life skills, sports, arts, and STEM. In particular, to ensure fairness and reduce the financial burden on parents, the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that students will not be charged for the second session.

Although supporting the policy of implementing 2 sessions/day teaching at secondary school level with the aim of comprehensive development for students; improving the quality of regular school hours; overcoming the situation of illegal extra teaching and learning in schools, many parents also expressed concerns about whether the content of the program designed by schools for the 2nd session will meet the wishes of students and parents or not?

The Ministry of Education and Training will soon develop a mechanism and policy on mobilizing funds for teaching two sessions a day. Illustrative photo.

Ms. Nguyen Le Phuong, a parent of a child studying in secondary school in Hanoi, shared: “My husband and I are not too concerned about the fees, but we want to know what our child will learn in the second session and whether or not they can choose the content. If my child can read books in the library, study on their own, or join some clubs specializing in life skills, STEM, or participate in physical activities, arts, and career guidance, then I fully support it. But if the second session is still about cultural studies, then I am afraid it is not suitable for the family's wishes and the goals that the education sector wants to aim for.”

In addition, parents also worry that if their children study 2 sessions/day but still have to go to extra classes outside in the evenings or on weekends to prepare for exams, it is very inappropriate. The reason is that the entrance exams for grade 10 and high school graduation are currently quite heavy, if they do not study extra, it will be difficult for students to achieve high scores and difficult to achieve their goals. This leads to students being extremely pressured when they have to study 2 sessions/day at school and have to study extra classes outside, leaving no time to rest.

In reality, parents' concerns and worries are not without basis when in many localities in the past, the second session is still mainly for cultural subjects because many educational institutions lack the conditions to organize activities to teach skills, arts, physical education, and career guidance. Even in Hanoi, leaders of many secondary schools also admit that the Ministry of Education and Training's encouragement to increase the time to teach life skills and arts subjects in the second session is reasonable, but to do this, there needs to be a roadmap for training, recruiting or inviting experts to participate in teaching support. The reason is that currently the whole country in general, and Hanoi in particular, is seriously lacking teachers, especially in subjects such as music, fine arts, life skills, etc.

In addition, in addition to the lack of classrooms and teachers in some subjects to meet the teaching rate of 2 sessions/day, there are also financial difficulties. Many teachers are concerned about the remuneration and allowances if they are assigned to teach the second session when implementing 2 sessions/day teaching without fees starting from the 2025-2026 school year. In addition, the fact that many localities do not have guidelines for implementing 2 sessions/day teaching or the guidelines are general also leads to schools facing many difficulties in implementation.

Dr. Dang Tu An, education expert, Director of the Vietnam Education Innovation Support Fund, said that at the primary level, there has been a process of teaching 2 sessions/day for a long time, since the 2006 program. Now, teaching 2 sessions/day is encouraged to be expanded to secondary school in places with sufficient conditions. This is a policy that is in line with the requirements of educational innovation.

According to Dr. Dang Tu An, the policy of teaching 2 sessions/day and free of charge of the Ministry of Education and Training requires reducing pressure on students, increasing teaching about culture and arts to ensure comprehensive development of students. Therefore, in the second session of the day, teachers can guide students to practice self-study ability, develop the spirit of lifelong learning for them. This should be considered as a long-term goal of education.

In addition, students can be taught life skills, technology and technology applications. The nature of the second lesson must be different from the first. Here, it is especially necessary to correct the practice of continuing to focus only on teaching knowledge, a very wrong way of doing education in recent years.

Regarding the policy of organizing 2 sessions/day from the 2025-2026 school year, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that, implementing Directive No. 17/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on 2 sessions/day, the Ministry of Education and Training has directed schools to develop an education plan that clearly shows the plan to mobilize and use resources to implement in qualified places. The plan must specify the content, duration, and students, and at the same time assign teachers reasonably and in accordance with regulations; focus on differentiating subjects, nurturing excellent students, reviewing for final year students and supporting students who have not met the requirements according to Circular 29.

At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Training also emphasized the need to innovate management work, strengthen inspection and supervision of the implementation of the General Education Program as well as the management of extra teaching and learning, ensuring strict implementation of policies and laws. Regarding the organization of the second session, including extra teaching for 3 subjects as prescribed, it was carried out in accordance with Directive 17. Funding for the second session was mainly guaranteed from the State budget according to the direction of the Prime Minister and socialized sources were implemented according to current regulations.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Education and Training will coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and localities to develop specific mechanisms and policies on mobilizing funds for implementing 2-session teaching/day.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/giao-duc/trien-khai-to-chuc-day-hoc-2-buoi-ngay-van-con-nhieu-lung-tung-ban-khoan-i781224/