Will there be increased pressure for extra classes?

Many provinces have implemented Saturday off for students.

Lao Cai province has piloted giving junior high school students Saturdays off since 2019 and will complete this policy for high school students from March 2024.

After Lao Cai, Lai Chau officially applies the school schedule from Monday to Friday, with Saturday and Sunday off for students at all levels. This decision is based on the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training on the 40-hour work week and the proposal of the local education sector.

Before Lai Chau , many other localities also made similar decisions with different scales of application.

A class of teachers and students at Ba Dinh Secondary School (Ba Dinh district) at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.

Recently, the Department of Education and Training of Ha Tinh City (Ha Tinh Province) has piloted a program for secondary school students to have Saturdays off from school in the 2024-2025 school year. This is to reduce the pressure on teachers' working hours and increase students' rest time.

Currently, Ha Tinh City has 8/9 secondary schools piloting Saturday off.

In Nghe An, many secondary schools in Vinh city and mountainous districts are piloting allowing secondary school students to take Saturdays off from 2023, based on the school's facilities meeting the 2-session/day schedule.

In Hanoi, in recent years, some high schools have not held regular classes on Saturdays, such as Phan Huy Chu High School, Yen Hoa High School, Dai Mo High School, FPT High School, etc.

Is there increased pressure?

According to the Ministry of Education and Training's guidance on teaching two sessions per day for junior high and high school levels, if teaching all day, schools are not allowed to teach more than four morning periods for junior high school and five periods for high school.

The maximum number of afternoon classes is 3, the maximum number of classes per week is 42 for middle school and 48 for high school. Schools are proactive in arranging a schedule of 5 or 6 days/week.

Currently, primary schools in most localities study 2 sessions/day, 5 days/week. Meanwhile, secondary and high schools in many places are studying half-day from Monday to Saturday to ensure the prescribed curriculum framework.

Therefore, the policy of letting students have Saturdays off received the agreement of many parents and students.

However, many people are concerned that if Saturday and other school days are closed, students will have to study more classes, and have to add afternoon classes on weekdays. In addition, many parents and teachers have the mentality of letting their children study extra on weekends. So, will this create more pressure for students?

Regarding this issue, in an interview with reporters, Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam - Chairman of the Education Council of Dinh Tien Hoang High School (Hanoi), Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology, said that the implementation of studying 2 sessions/day and 5 days/week is related to facilities, number of classrooms as well as teaching staff.

Therefore, schools that allow students to take Saturdays off need to arrange timetables, conduct teaching and learning according to requirements, and not cut corners on the program.

According to Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, taking Saturday off school should be considered appropriate for each age group. In particular, for high school students, who are grown up and can manage their own time, this should be encouraged.

However, Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam also said that for students preparing to take the transfer exams, if they are allowed to take a day off from regular school, they will most likely have to take extra classes.

“Instead of studying culture, students will have a Saturday to study gifted subjects and participate in extracurricular activities. In addition, teachers will also have an extra day for professional development. If this spirit is true, students should be given Saturdays off,” Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam stated his opinion.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/cho-hoc-sinh-nghi-hoc-thu-7-lieu-co-tang-ap-luc-hoc-them-10291455.html