HCMC: Parents are upset because many voluntary subjects are 'intercepted' into regular school hours

Parents: We have no choice

Reporting to Tien Phong newspaper, a parent whose child is in grade 7 at Nguyen Huu Tri Secondary School (Tan Nhut commune, Ho Chi Minh City) said that the school's timetable inserts subjects from the school's curriculum (ie voluntary subjects with fees) into regular school hours, leaving parents with no choice.

According to parents, the timetable includes International Computer Science, Native English, STEM in the mornings, and Life Skills in the afternoons. In total, students have to study 9 periods of subjects in the school curriculum.

Timetable of Nguyen Huu Tri Secondary School (Tan Nhut Commune, HCMC). Photo: NVCC

“The staggered timetables leave students with no way out and force them to study. The regular tuition is free, but the new school curriculum subjects really make parents suffer,” said a parent (who asked to remain anonymous).

According to the school's announcement, the fees for the following subjects include: Life Skills 80,000 VND/month/student, Native English 200,000 VND, STEM 180,000 VND and Information Technology 180,000 VND. Thus, parents must pay an additional 640,000 VND per month if their children study all of the above subjects.

The school speaks out

Speaking with Tien Phong, Mr. Pham Minh Trung, Principal of Nguyen Huu Tri Secondary School, affirmed that before the new school year began, the school held a meeting to gather parents' opinions on the implementation of the school's program.

“Parents in the whole school agree to let their children study on a voluntary basis. Based on the parents’ registration, the school will arrange the study schedule. Students with difficult circumstances will still be given the opportunity to study these subjects for free,” said Mr. Trung.

Regarding the arrangement of some core subjects on Saturday mornings, Mr. Trung explained: “The school only has 17 teachers out of 17 classes. The school has to ask teachers from other schools to come and teach, so it is forced to arrange some core classes on Saturdays.”

Contrary to the principal’s statement, parents said they did not receive registration forms for their children to study subjects in the school’s curriculum or were asked for their opinions in any way. “The school arranged the timetable itself. Parents had no choice,” the parents said.

At the recent conference to give opinions on the general education plan, Ms. Lam Hong Lam Thuy, Head of the General Education Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, informed that there are currently 15 categories of educational support service activities that are allowed to be collected under the socialization mechanism, including foreign languages with 6 sub-categories. However, not all schools are allowed to implement this.

“Some schools include many activities, from learning foreign languages with foreign teachers, learning math, learning software… causing pressure for parents and students. We recommend that schools consider and only choose a maximum of 2 additional contents in the foreign language section outside the main curriculum,” said Ms. Thuy.