According to the new regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training on organizing two-session teaching, schools are not allowed to teach more than 7 periods/day. The Ministry explains that this is to improve the quality of formal education , overcome the situation of illegal extra teaching and learning, and help students develop comprehensively.
However, entering the new school year, many parents are upset when there are days when their children finish school early, but still have to attend classes on Saturdays.
“It is too inconvenient, classes are cut during the week to be moved to Saturday. This does not reduce the pressure on the children, and even makes it difficult for parents to manage the time to pick them up and drop them off,” said Ms. Hoang Ngan, a parent of an 8th grade student in Hanoi.
Ms. Ngan said that last school year, her child studied 8-9 periods/day and had Saturdays off. However, according to the new regulations, there are currently 3 afternoons where her child studies 2-3 periods and some days she finishes school early at 3:30 p.m.
“I can’t leave work in the middle of the day to pick up my child. Letting my child go home by bus is also very ‘bad’ because I’m afraid he will go to the internet cafe or get involved in social evils,” this mother was upset and wished for the same school schedule as before, with Saturdays off so she could have time to rest or go home with her family.
Like Ms. Ngan, Ms. Thu Thuy (Hanoi) said that this school year, her son, who is in 8th grade, has to attend extra classes all day on Saturday. On days with 5 classes in the morning, he will have the afternoon off. On Thursdays, he only attends 2 classes in the afternoon and finishes at 3:20 pm.
“Such a timetable is too inconvenient. The fact that children are released from school early makes parents worried. One day, a group of parents were in a panic when some mothers were 'panicked' when they did not see their children return after school, and could not contact them because they were forbidden to bring their phones to school,” said Ms. Thuy.
In Ho Chi Minh City, many schools also let students leave school too early on weekdays but still have classes on Saturday mornings. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, whose child studies at Binh Tho Secondary School (formerly Thu Duc City), said that last year her child only studied 5 days a week, from Monday to Friday, but this year the schedule has an additional class on Saturday mornings.
“Last year, Saturday and Sunday were the time for children to rest, participate in outdoor activities, learn English at the center, and foster family affection, but this year, school is on Saturday morning, so all plans are disrupted. In addition, this year school ends earlier, at 4 p.m., while last year it was 4:45 p.m., so parents have a hard time picking them up and dropping them off,” Ms. Thuy lamented.
Although the school has arranged to not have classes on Saturday mornings, students at Nguyen Van To Secondary School (formerly District 10) still leave school very early. Mr. Dang - a parent of a student at this school complained, "My child left school at 3:45 pm while my parents had to work until 5 pm. This is very inconvenient."
Balanced arrangement, students will not have to study on Saturday
Having been the principal of a school belonging to the advanced international integration model in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. PHH said that schools can completely arrange to study only 7 periods/day and 35 periods/week without having to study on Saturdays. The characteristic of this model is that the school must organize English and IT teaching according to international standards... The goal is that at least 90% of junior high school graduates can use English at level A2 or higher, of which at least 30% have international foreign language certificates at the corresponding level; 100% have knowledge and skills in information technology, of which at least 50% meet international IT standards.
In addition, schools following this model will have to organize learning and experiential activities; comprehensive education in schools; sports activities, art education, social activities, etc.
Although there are many activities to do, this principal believes that schools can flexibly use the last periods not in the general program to replace them with the advanced program. Thanks to that, Saturday will be a break for students to recover, regenerate and study. Schools also have time to carry out other activities.
Implementing the 2018 General Education Program, many schools in Ho Chi Minh City still only allow students to study from Monday to Friday, with Saturdays off. For example, at Nguyen Du Secondary School (old District 1), the school still adheres to the schedule of 7 periods/day, 35 periods/week and does not have to study on Saturdays.
“The arrangement is very simple because the 2018 General Education Program is 29 periods/week for grades 6-7 and 29 and a half periods for grades 8-9. Thus, there are still 5 and a half to 6 periods/week left, enough to implement the school program. If the schedule is arranged appropriately and balanced, teaching will not be pushed to Saturday morning. This is something that schools can absolutely do,” said Mr. Cao Duc Khoa, Principal of Nguyen Du Secondary School.
At the conference to give opinions on the general education plan this morning, September 10, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, directed to prioritize 7 periods/day for the 2018 General Education Program. The remaining programs will be balanced if they are included in the remaining periods.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/xao-tron-thoi-khoa-bieu-hoc-sinh-tan-truong-som-nhung-van-phai-hoc-ca-thu-7-2441155.html
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