Ho Chi Minh City will regulate that school will not end before 4:30 p.m.

Studying 2 periods in the afternoon and then going home is not reasonable.

In response to many complaints from parents about the fact that some schools have set early school dismissal times for the new school year, affecting parents' pick-up and drop-off, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, informed that he is asking for the opinion of the department director to issue a document regulating school admission and dismissal times for students of all levels in the 2025-2026 school year.

According to Mr. Minh, the Department of Education and Training Office plans to propose that students' morning school hours should not start before 7am and after 8am. Morning school hours should not end before 10:30am. Afternoon school hours should not end before 4:30pm.

The Chief of the Department of Education and Training acknowledged that currently, many primary, secondary and high schools have inappropriate school schedules for students. Some schools let students finish school at 3:00 PM or 3:30 PM, making it difficult for parents to pick up and drop off their children.

At the meeting to give suggestions for building the school program held yesterday, September 10, 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' starting and ending times appropriately, ensuring stability and creating convenience for parents when taking their children to school. Some schools teach 5 periods in the morning and only 2 periods in the afternoon for students to go home, which is unreasonable.

No formal classes on Saturdays

Also yesterday, in response to many complaints and messages from parents about schools arranging unreasonable timetables, students having to study on Saturdays, especially at the junior high and high school levels taking place in the first days of the 2025-2026 school year, the leaders of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City gave specific instructions on organizing 2 sessions/day, organizing school programs...

Accordingly, Ms. Lam Hong Lam Thuy, Head of the General Education Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, requested schools to review and make flexible arrangements to ensure that they do not cause public outrage, especially when the new school year has just begun.

According to Ms. Thuy, not all schools from primary to secondary school have the conditions to organize 2 sessions/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. Ms. Lam Thuy noted that Ho Chi Minh City issued a list of educational activities and support services that are allowed to be collected from socialized sources. For example, foreign language learning includes 6 sub-categories. However, that does not mean that schools organize all 6 contents. The selection needs to be appropriate and not put pressure on students and parents.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc informed that the General Education Department had discussed with the leaders of the General Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Training and agreed that 7 periods/day are only for implementing the main curriculum. Therefore, schools are proactive and flexible, but must ensure that 7 periods/day are for the 2018 General Education Program. After these 7 periods, they can implement the school curriculum.

According to Mr. Quoc, organizing 2 sessions/day requires attention to the active participation of students. Mr. Quoc directed schools not to schedule regular classes on Saturdays. Saturdays should be arranged to nurture excellent students, tutor underachieving students, organize clubs... with the active and voluntary participation of students.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tphcm-se-quy-dinh-khong-tan-hoc-truoc-16-gio-30-185250911081507389.htm