Continued frustration over 'voluntary subjects' and links

At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, the familiar story of previous years recurred when parents were upset with their children's schedules, which included many 'voluntary subjects' and required paid tuition.

NOT PROVIDED WITH SATISFACTORY INFORMATION

On the evening of September 15, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (name requested to be changed), a parent whose child is a 3rd grade student at a primary school in Linh Xuan Ward (HCMC), reported to Thanh Nien reporter about her child's class schedule (given in the class group on the evening of September 13) with 7 main subjects arranged in 5 periods in the morning and 2 periods in the afternoon.

In terms of time, 3:15 pm ends 7 regular classes. The remaining time from 3:40 pm to 4:15 pm every day from Monday to Friday is for after-school clubs (math, swimming, life skills, STEM experiential activities, digital citizenship) - students register voluntarily and pay.

"According to the direction of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, afternoon classes cannot end before 4 p.m., so is the above timetable correct?", Ms. Hoa asked.

Parents in Ho Chi Minh City pick up their children after school. In the first week after the school opening, parents continuously complained about the unreasonable arrangements in the timetables and dismissal times...

PHOTO: NGOC DUONG

In addition, regarding the content of the subjects, this parent said that when the school distributed the form to collect opinions about registering for "voluntary subjects" and joint subjects, she did not register for subjects such as swimming, IC3 SPARK informatics. In addition, she also did not register for club subjects outside of regular school hours in the afternoon (a total of 8 periods/week). However, in her child's timetable, she still saw these subjects. She said that the homeroom teacher announced in the class group: "According to regulations, students will leave after 4:00 p.m. every day. Therefore, students who do not participate in extracurricular classes such as IC3 international informatics, mental math, digital citizenship, as well as clubs such as chess, Chinese chess, aerobics, modern dance, etc., will be arranged by the school to study by themselves, read books and have a teacher on duty to manage these classes." However, she did not see any specific announcements about how the children will learn on their own, or whether there is a specific educational program, because the children have at least 8 free periods a week, and the free periods are long. The most obvious example is on Tuesday afternoon, there is a swimming period from 2:40 pm to 3:15 pm, followed by a club swimming period from 3:40 pm to 4:40 pm. Children who do not learn to swim will have a total of 120 minutes of "free" time.

In addition, this parent also questioned the English subject called "Let's Smile English" with 2 periods/week. She registered her child to study intensive English, from grade 1 until now, it has been 8 English periods/week. However, in grades 1 and 2, there is English communication with native speakers; English curriculum Family & Friends ; English math - science . "In grade 3, I saw Let's Smile English again. The school did not explain satisfactorily why they did not continue to study English math - science but switched to Let's Smile English, what is more effective for students, what are the advantages, but only said in general that it is still in the supplementary English program of the intensive English class that parents registered for", this parent informed.

According to the parents, at 8:22 p.m. on September 15, after receiving many comments from parents about the school's timetable and curriculum, the homeroom teacher of this 3rd grade class announced information about the Let's Smile English and international computer science subjects in the class group. At the same time, she texted: "Regarding the timetable, the school is currently in the process of adjusting it to be more suitable. As soon as there is an official announcement, I will send the TKB (abbreviation of timetable - PV ) back to the parents."

On the afternoon of September 16, after receiving feedback from Thanh Nien reporters, it was learned that the principal of the elementary school in Linh Xuan Ward is reviewing and adjusting the timetable.

Why is there a controversy about the timetable every year?

In recent years, every school year, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has issued official dispatches to guide schools at all levels to organize 2 sessions/day, and to organize school programs and clubs outside of regular school hours. Most recently, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City issued Official Dispatch 2174 on instructions to organize 2 sessions/day for general education from the 2025-2026 school year as well as Official Dispatch 2258 on study time for preschool children and high school students in the city. However, why are there still scenes at the beginning of the school year where parents are upset about arranging timetables, organizing "voluntary subjects", and unsatisfactory connections?

Grade 3 timetable, announced on the evening of September 13 of an elementary school in Linh Xuan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY PARENTS

Mr. N., a parent with a child studying at primary school in Binh Tan Ward (HCMC), said that he and many other parents really hope for transparency and publicity in education, which should start with the school publicly announcing its programs, affiliated units, publicly introducing subjects, and committing to quality... For example, at the end of the previous school year, or the beginning of this school year, the school invited parents to come publicly, introduce information, and answer specific questions. If parents saw the effectiveness and transparency, they would not hesitate to register their children, depending on their abilities. In reality, many schools seem to only "reluctantly" introduce information when faced with resistance from parents.

THE BURDEN OF MONEY ON PARENTS' SHOULDERS

Notably, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa said that based on the fees for all types of educational services in the school, subjects of the school program, after-school clubs (if studying all subjects, including swimming), and meals at school, a student must pay nearly 2.2 million VND/month. Not to mention that at the beginning of the school year, parents have to pay enough money for their children to go to school, such as uniforms - up to millions of VND, textbooks, notebooks and school supplies, shoes, health insurance, etc.

"If a family has a stable income in Ho Chi Minh City, this payment level is not a problem. However, a family with 2-3 children, whose parents are workers, having to pay nearly 2.2 million VND/month is very difficult. Especially after the Covid-19 epidemic, the economic situation of many families has declined, especially in Linh Xuan Ward, where many students are children of workers. I am very happy to know that students at all levels, from 3-month-old kindergarten to grade 12, are exempt from tuition fees from this school year. I strongly support the education sector's policy of helping students develop comprehensively. Students need to develop diverse qualities and abilities. However, the linked, "voluntary" subjects in the 2-session/day curriculum seem to be creating inequality in the same public school. Although we know that children who do not register will sit reading books, play in the library, or be watched by teachers in class, we are moving towards a modern, fair education, all for children. "Therefore, the feeling that children sit back in class while their friends go to school - even in the same public elementary school - will make them think that they cannot study because their family does not have money. That feeling is heartbreaking for parents," Ms. Hoa confided.

Channels for parents to reflect and contribute ideas

Responding to Thanh Nien reporters, lawyer Nguyen Hung Quan, Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, said: "When seeing that the school arranges an inappropriate timetable for their children between compulsory subjects and supplementary subjects that they are not registered to study, parents can contribute their opinions publicly and directly through the parent representative committee to reflect this unreasonable situation to the school's board of directors."

"If the majority of parents have opinions that their children do not study supplementary subjects but the school still does not change the timetable to account for this inadequacy, then parents have the right to make a written petition to the chairman of the People's Committee of the commune/ward for primary and secondary schools; to the director of the Department of Education and Training for high schools or to the chairman of the People's Committee of the province/city directly under the Central Government to have their opinions recorded and their thoughts and aspirations resolved in a reasonable manner for the common interests of the students," emphasized lawyer Quan.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tiep-tuc-buc-xuc-vi-mon-tu-nguyen-lien-ket-185250916221228373.htm