Ms. Nhung has a child studying in grade 8 at a secondary school in Hoai Duc, Hanoi . Since January 12, the school has announced that it has stopped all extra teaching activities according to the regulations of Circular 29/2024/TT-BGDDT. Her child's group class at the teacher's house is also closed, and it is not known when it will reopen.

Knowing that her child is a poor student, has poor concentration and self-study ability, Ms. Nhung searched online and asked friends and colleagues to recommend teachers and tutoring centers. Currently, she has just found a math tutor for her child, but they only teach online because her house is in the suburbs, nearly 20 km from the center. "The center said that tutors only teach directly in 4 inner-city districts. The cost is 150,000 VND per 1 hour and 45 minute session for online learning. My child has studied 2 sessions," Ms. Nhung said.

Previously, when her child participated in a home tutoring group with the teacher who taught at school, she paid about 400,000 VND/subject per month.

Currently, she wants her child to learn 3 main subjects (Math, Literature, English), each subject 2 sessions/week. If she hires a tutor, the cost will be up to nearly 4 million/month.

“Such a cost is really a burden. I am asking around to find a more affordable tutor. Recently, I was introduced to another tutor who charges a lower fee of VND100,000 per session and I am letting my child try it out. After a few sessions, when comparing, if I see that the amount of knowledge and the way of teaching of the two tutors are not too different, I will choose the one with the lower fee so that my family can follow them for a long time,” said Ms. Nhung.

She has thought of other options to keep her children in extra classes while saving money, such as grouping classes and inviting teachers to teach at home, but no teacher has accepted.

Ms. Le Phuong Thao (in Hoang Liet, Hoang Mai, Hanoi) shared that her 7th grade son has also switched to 1-1 tutoring at home since the beginning of the second semester until now with 2 subjects Math and Literature, the cost is 150,000 and 160,000 VND/session respectively. "That is because I chose a student tutor, if I chose a teacher through the center, the tuition fee would be 200,000 VND/session", Ms. Thao said.

Ms. Thao said that in the first semester, her child studied 3 afternoons at school and 3 evenings at the teacher's house a week.

Since the second semester, her child has stopped attending all extra classes at school and outside classes with teachers in the school. She went to a reputable tutoring center in Truong Dinh (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi), where she was advised to choose a tutor and her child would have 2 trial lessons. If the parents found it not suitable, they could change to someone else and not be charged for those 2 lessons.

“Honestly, I don’t know how to evaluate whether it is good or not. I only ask if my child understands the lesson and is compatible with the tutor’s teaching style. Parents cannot sit and supervise or use any criteria to evaluate the quality of the tutor. Like the Literature tutor, after the first two lessons, my child said he wanted to continue studying because he thought she taught well, but after a few lessons, I observed that the two teachers and students studied less and joked a lot. I asked her to be stricter with my child, but I don’t know if she will accept it. If she doesn’t change her attitude and teaching style, I might have to find another tutor,” Ms. Thao confided.

Although it takes time to find a tutor, the cost of tuition is higher and she is still worried about whether her child is suitable for the new teacher, Ms. Thao believes that the regulation restricting extra tutoring according to the new Circular of the Ministry of Education and Training has many positive aspects.

“I think that now that extra classes are banned at school and teachers are not allowed to teach their own students outside, during regular school hours, teachers will focus more on teaching all the knowledge in class. In the past, partly because there was too much extra class teaching, there were teachers who taught superficially in class, taking the knowledge back to the extra class to teach, and every student had to go to extra classes. Now there are no more classes at school or at teachers' homes, students can take extra classes that are a bit more expensive but meet their needs. They can study any subject that they need to strengthen or improve. They can choose a good teacher or tutor as they wish. Those who are self-motivated and have clear goals can study on their own,” Ms. Thao said.

Mr. Huu Dong, who manages and teaches at a knowledge enrichment center for high school students in Ha Dong, Hanoi, said that from before Tet and in the first few days of the week back to work after Tet, the center received many calls and messages advising on choosing a tutor or registering for extra classes, most of them from parents whose children are weak in learning or preparing for exams to transfer to another level.

Having worked as a public school teacher for more than 10 years before opening his own center, Mr. Dong said that Circular 29/2024/TT-BGDDT with specific regulations on cases where extra classes are allowed or not will certainly cause many mixed opinions in society, but it is a positive step forward for the education management agency, helping many students not have to go to extra classes, have more time for entertainment and self-study.

According to Mr. Dong, these regulations can also help teachers focus more on a specific direction: focus on teaching regular students, properly register to teach extra classes and attract students with their own abilities and prestige, or even quit school to teach at a center or open their own classes...

Mr. Xuan Phu, a Literature teacher at a high school in Ho Chi Minh City, said that parents' need for their children to take extra classes and supplement their knowledge is legitimate and should be taken into account. Regulations restricting extra teaching and learning do not solve the negative aspects related to this issue, but may cause a vicious cycle.

"I think that extra classes in schools are the most prestigious, low-cost and easiest to manage. After the regulation prohibiting extra classes, the most worrying thing is that teachers will circumvent the law, register to open centers, send their regular students there to study, and this may lead to some bad consequences," said Mr. Phu.

Regarding the fact that many parents are rushing to find centers and tutors to tutor their children after schools and teachers stopped tutoring, Mr. Phu said that parents should stay calm. If they want their children to take extra classes, they need to carefully choose centers and teachers that are licensed and reputable.

"Students cannot be herded like ducks to study wherever they want. Studying must be stable, must be trusted and enjoyed to be effective," he said.

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Deputy Minister of Education and Training: Regulations on extra teaching and learning are issued to protect the dignity of teachers . The Deputy Minister of Education and Training said that regulations on extra teaching and learning are issued to preserve the image and ensure the dignity of teachers and the education sector.
A teacher at a specialized school in Nghe An has expressed his concerns regarding regulations on extra teaching and learning; especially extra teaching in cases where the need is real and legitimate.