Parents react because their children have to study on Saturdays, what does the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City say?

At the conference to deploy the general education plan on the morning of September 10, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, emphasized: "Schools are not allowed to organize teaching of the 2018 General Education program on Saturday mornings."

According to Mr. Quoc, the new regulation of the Ministry only allows a maximum of 7 lessons per day, applied to the main curriculum. If it is necessary to organize additional lessons outside the curriculum, they absolutely cannot be included on Saturday mornings.

For private schools, schools will proactively develop educational plans and must have consensus and agreement on tuition and study costs with parents.

Previously, many secondary schools had arranged an additional Saturday morning to ease the pressure of the timetable, but this caused disruption to the lives of students and parents. Some schools even arranged only 2-3 periods and then let students go home, leading to many frustrations.

The Department representative said that schools need to review and rearrange their schedules flexibly. Saturdays should only be reserved for tutoring weak students, nurturing gifted students or club activities.

Ho Chi Minh City students during the 10th grade entrance exam. Photo: Pham Nguyen

Ms. Lam Hong Lam Thuy, Head of the General Education Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said that the Department will soon issue a document with detailed instructions on the timetable framework, helping schools stabilize their organization in the 2025-2026 school year.

According to Ms. Thuy, even at the elementary to middle school levels, not all schools have the conditions to organize two sessions per day. If possible, schools should limit classes on Saturdays. Some schools have flexibly turned Saturdays into self-study or online learning sessions, which is a direction worth considering.

Regarding additional content, the Department noted that schools should only choose a maximum of two activities such as STEM, life skills, English with native teachers, etc. The organization should be based on the spirit of voluntariness, not putting pressure on students and parents.

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has nearly 500 secondary schools with about 760,000 students, of which more than 93% of schools in inner-city areas have implemented two-session learning per day.