Ho Chi Minh City proposes not allowing students to leave school before 4:30 p.m.

TP.HCM đề nghị không cho học sinh tan học trước 16h30 - Ảnh 1. — Students of Dang Tran Con Primary School, Ho Chi Minh City on the first day of school for the 2025-2026 school year. In the near future, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training will issue a document regulating school entry and exit times for students at all levels - Photo: Provided by the school

"The Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City is asking for the opinion of the department director to issue a document regulating school entry and dismissal times for students of all levels in the 2025-2026 school year.

In particular, students' morning school hours do not start before 7am and after 8am. Morning school hours end not before 10:30am. Afternoon school hours end not before 4:30pm," Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, informed at a meeting with principals of secondary and high schools in Ho Chi Minh City on September 10.

According to Mr. Minh, currently many primary, secondary and high schools in the city have inappropriate schedules for students. Among them, some schools let students finish school at 3:00 PM or 3:30 PM, causing difficulties for parents in picking up and dropping off their children. Even parents who are officials and specialists of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training are also facing this problem.

Also at the above meeting, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, requested that schools should be flexible when organizing 2 sessions/day.

"It is necessary to calculate the students' school entry and exit times appropriately, ensuring stability and creating convenience for parents when taking their children to and from school. Some schools teach 5 periods in the morning and only 2 periods in the afternoon for students to go home, which is not acceptable," Mr. Quoc affirmed.

It is known that in the 2025-2026 school year, general schools across the country will teach 2 sessions/day according to new regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training . In which, each day teaches a maximum of 7 periods, so many schools set a very early dismissal time (3:00 p.m. or 3:30 p.m.), making parents upset.

Where does the funding come from to teach 2 sessions/day?

The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has just issued a document guiding the teaching of 2 sessions/day. Accordingly, this activity has 2 types:

One is the educational activities in session 2 carried out from the budget (i.e. parents do not have to pay tuition), including : Reviewing for the 10th grade entrance exam, reviewing for the high school graduation exam no more than 6 periods/week; carried out from the beginning of the school year;

Consolidate for students to complete learning content; review and tutor students whose learning results of the previous semester's final subject are not at the required level (no more than 2 periods/subject/week; first-grade classes will implement from the second semester of the school year; remaining grades will implement from the beginning of the school year);

Nurturing excellent students by subject (no more than 2 periods/subject/week; implemented from the beginning of the school year until students take the exam).

Second, educational activities in session 2 are carried out from socialized sources , including: Career guidance activities, experiences, STEM/STEAM, life skills, digital skills, AI, foreign languages, sports, culture, arts and career counseling...

Activities and learning content aim to organize and implement projects and plans of the city and the education sector.

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HOANG HUONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tp-hcm-de-nghi-khong-cho-hoc-sinh-tan-hoc-truoc-16h30-20250910212337753.htm