Children go to school on Saturday morning, parents cry out!

In the 2025-2026 school year, many secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City will schedule students to go to school on Saturday mornings.

A STEM lesson of 7A1 class students at Ly Phong Secondary School, An Dong Ward, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG

Meanwhile, from Monday to Friday, school ends at 4:00 p.m.

Suffering with advanced schools

"In previous school years, my child never had to go to school on Saturdays. On the weekends, I sent him to basketball practice and English classes at the center. In the 2025-2026 school year, the school has scheduled a schedule that requires students to go to school on Saturday mornings.

Besides, from Monday to Friday, school ends at 4pm, and work hasn't ended yet, so how can we pick up our children?

I talked with the homeroom teacher and was told that this year the school is following the regulation of teaching 2 sessions/day of the Ministry of Education and Training.

The daily timetable must not exceed 7 periods, while last year students had 8 periods per day," said Ms. T., a parent of Ly Phong Secondary School, Ho Chi Minh City (old District 5), one of the secondary schools implementing the advanced, integrated model.

Similarly, Ms. Tram, a parent whose child is studying at Hoa Lu Secondary School, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Thu Duc), also said: "Hoa Lu Secondary School is one of the advanced and integrated schools in Ho Chi Minh City.

Schools implementing this model will apply enhanced programs with subjects such as second foreign language, international information technology, STEM, life skills...

That means the number of subjects is more than the standard program. This forces the school to arrange 4-5 more periods on Saturday mornings when implementing the regulation of teaching a maximum of 7 periods/day.

This problem affects students' rest, family life as well as participation in extracurricular activities and weekend trips .

Not to mention that when the school teaches 4 periods in the morning and 3 periods in the afternoon, students finish school at 3:45 pm, making it difficult for parents to pick up their children, especially for families with young children at different levels of education because most of us parents go to work and finish school at 3:45 pm.
around 5pm

According to Ms. Huynh Thi Kim Oanh - Principal of Ly Phong Secondary School, an advanced and integrated school must comply with the regulations of this model on teaching information technology and foreign languages ​​to ensure "output" according to international standards, teaching STEM, life skills, and physical education.
optional...

Last school year, the school was allowed to teach a maximum of 8 periods per day, which was not a problem. This year, the new regulation only allows 7 periods per day, causing difficulties for the school. Currently, the English intensive classes have to study on Saturday mornings, while the remaining classes only study from Monday to Friday.

Regarding students leaving school early, Ms. Oanh shared: "The school is also under a lot of pressure when students leave school and their parents cannot come to pick them up. We have to arrange an area called "waiting house" for students to wait for their parents for 45 minutes, and assign someone to look after them."

No advanced also learn on Saturday

But not only advanced and integrated schools, many other secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City also have timetables requiring students to study on Saturday mornings.

"When we saw the timetable with Saturday morning classes, we immediately asked the homeroom teacher but only received the answer that the school followed the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.

I do not agree with the above explanation. The ministry issued the regulation on teaching 2 sessions/day, each day cannot exceed 7 periods to reduce the workload for students. And schools that require students to go to school on Saturdays increase the workload for both students and teachers.

Looking at our child's timetable, we see that there are 5 subjects in the school's curriculum that parents have to pay separate tuition for: STEM, international IT, life skills, talent, and English with foreign teachers.

"All of them are included in the official school timetable. Why not reduce the number of subjects in the school curriculum so that students do not have to study on Saturdays?", a group of parents of 8th graders at Le Van Tam Secondary School (formerly Binh Thanh District) were upset.

Speaking with Tuoi Tre , a leader of Le Van Tam Secondary School said: "The school arranges the timetable for students according to Official Dispatch No. 4567 of the Ministry of Education and Training on teaching 2 sessions/day.

In which, the study schedule of secondary school students is at least 5 days/week, maximum 11 sessions/week, each day no more than 7 periods, each period 45 minutes. The subjects in the school program are also subjects permitted by the Department of Education and Training.

It is true that schools are not wrong when they schedule students to take extra classes on Saturday mornings because that is exactly 11 sessions/week.

However, the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that the general education program for students in grades 6 and 7 only has 29 periods/week, and students in grades 8 and 9 only have 29.5 periods/week.

Schools teach from Monday to Friday, which is 7 periods, for 5 days, which is 35 periods. So even if they don't teach on Saturday mornings, schools can still include the school program in 5.5 - 6 periods/week depending on the grade level.

Everyone knows that the current school program is too easy to implement. This is a program that does not have tests and assessments like other subjects. It only needs to be linked with partners (educational enterprises outside the school) and parents agree to pay tuition fees to be able to implement.

Forcing students to take extra classes on Saturday mornings shows that schools are taking on too much, including too many subjects and lessons from the school's curriculum into the official timetable.

Does the HCM City Department of Education and Training know about this? Or is it because the department does not regulate the maximum number of periods or subjects each grade can study in the school's curriculum, so schools can freely include them in their timetables?

* Ms. HANH (parent in Duc Nhuan ward, Ho Chi Minh City):

There should be a special mechanism for advanced schools.

Before, students had 8 classes a day, so I didn't pay attention. Now my daughter has to study on Saturday mornings, I want to ask for her to leave the advanced, integrated school. Because studying on Saturday mornings has taken away her time to play sports and learn talents and foreign languages.

I suggest that the ministry and the department should give advanced and integrated schools their own mechanism. With strict requirements on "output", schools need to teach 8 periods/day, instead of 7 periods like other normal schools.

Can I not study on Saturday?

A life skills class for students at Nguyen Van To Secondary School, Ho Chi Minh City. This is an advanced, integrated school, but students do not have to attend extra classes on Saturdays - Photo: NHU HUNG

The answer is yes, because many secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City have implemented it and received support from parents.

At Nguyen Du Secondary School, Ben Thanh Ward, all grades 6, 7, 8, and 9 only study from Monday to Friday.

In the morning, students start school at 7:30. After 4 periods, the end of school is 11:00. Then it is time for lunch and break. The first period of the afternoon starts at 1:30, students will study 3 periods and finish at 4:10.

Mr. Cao Duc Khoa, principal of Nguyen Du Secondary School, shared: "In the near future, we plan to open a number of after-school clubs such as a robot club, soccer club, basketball club, table tennis club... for students who cannot leave school at 4:10 p.m.

This is an after-school club, parents who are interested can register, otherwise they can skip it. The clubs are expected to end at 5pm, making it convenient for parents to pick up and drop off their children.

Similarly, at Nguyen Van To Secondary School (old District 10), although the school implements an advanced, integrated model, students still only study from Monday to Friday.

A school leader said the school has sent its educational plan and revenue and expenditure plan to the ward People's Committee. After the plan is approved, the school will organize a consultation with parents with two options.

Option 1: Students still study 7 periods per day as prescribed. After the 7th period, there is an advanced program on STEM, life skills, sports, etc., ensuring that school ends at 4:30 or 4:45 p.m. Option 2 is to study on Saturday mornings, and school ends at 3:45 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

"No matter which option is chosen, parents will not have to pay extra fees for advanced subjects, because these subjects are already included in the advanced and integrated tuition fees," he said.

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HOANG HUONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/con-di-hoc-sang-thu-bay-phu-huynh-keu-troi-20250908230250321.htm