Concerned about school hours in Ho Chi Minh City

The regulations on school start and end times of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City are the basis for schools to build timetables.

Based on the guidance on implementing general education tasks for the 2025-2026 school year of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training issued a daily study schedule for preschool and general education in the area in the 2025-2026 school year specifically for each level.

Hard time, high demand

According to the Department of Education and Training, the issuance of regulatory documents is to provide educational institutions with a common basis for building timetables.

Accordingly, for preschool education, school opening time is from 6:30 am, pick-up time is from 7 am onwards and no later than 8 am, drop-off time is from 4 pm. Preschool education facilities must arrange a sufficient number of teachers and staff to ensure absolute safety for children during their study and activities at school.

For general education, from primary to high school, in the morning, the first period starts at 7:00 a.m. and no later than 8:00 a.m. The morning class ends no earlier than 10:30 a.m. In the afternoon, the first period starts no earlier than 1:00 p.m. and no later than 1:30 p.m. The afternoon class ends no earlier than 4:00 p.m. and no later than 5:00 p.m.

Regulations on school entry and exit times for students are causing many concerns.

The city's Department of Education and Training requires public schools to develop plans to prevent students from arriving late or leaving early from gathering in the area in front of the school gate.

The arrangement of time slots must ensure smooth traffic in front of the gate and around the school during rush hours.

For schools located close together on the same road, it is necessary to coordinate and stagger school dismissal times by at least 15 minutes to reduce traffic congestion.

The leaders of the city's Department of Education and Training requested principals of units to proactively arrange school plans, build flexible and appropriate timetables to ensure compliance with prescribed time frames; ensure the health of children, students and workers at the unit.

The People's Committees of wards, communes and special zones are requested to monitor, inspect and urge the implementation at educational institutions under their management. At the same time, strictly handle violating units.

Many schools will be confused.

The principal of a primary school in Ho Chi Minh City said that many schools have long designed a timetable of 4 periods in the morning and 3 periods in the afternoon. The current "rigid" regulations on detailed morning and afternoon hours, school start and end times, have caused many schools to be very confused.

"If according to the above regulations, primary school only finishes school at 3:30 p.m. and students are allowed to leave in the next 30 minutes, what will they do during that time?" - the principal stated the situation.

According to this principal, in the case of 30 minutes before dismissal time, if the students stay at school, will the teachers be ready to look after them?

If the teacher does not agree to stay for an extra 30 minutes, it cannot be forced. Furthermore, although the school is not dismissed before 4 p.m., many parents are still unable to pick up their children during that time.

"There will be a situation where parents ask teachers to pick up and look after their children, and extra teaching and learning will easily arise and change during this time," said the principal, affirming that such a rigid regulation on study time is only suitable for schools that cannot yet organize two sessions per day.

The principal of a school in Ben Thanh ward commented that the content "Schools located close to each other on the same road need to coordinate to stagger school dismissal times, at least 15 minutes apart to reduce traffic congestion in the area" is not feasible.

Because each educational institution has its own "characteristics", it is difficult to accept that another school will leave 15 minutes before or after your own school. The principal also cannot decide which school will leave first and which school will leave later.

A school leader in Xuan Hoa ward, after raising similar concerns, commented: "Should the city's Department of Education and Training let schools take the initiative in closing time? It would be reasonable to just set a rule that it doesn't end after 5 p.m. every day?"

Flexible on Saturday

Responding to the issue of students having to study on Saturdays, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, for schools that have organized two sessions per day, Saturday morning classes are used to organize training for excellent students, tutoring for students who have not achieved their goals, or other educational activities according to the needs and wishes of parents and students on a voluntary basis.

For schools that do not have the conditions to teach 2 sessions/day, to ensure the time to convey learning content, schools prioritize arranging classes during the week. Only when conditions are really not met will they arrange classes on Saturday morning.

Thus, the organization of educational activities on Saturdays is considered and flexibly weighed based on the conditions of facilities, teaching staff and practical needs of each school and each locality.

Many schools in Hanoi also complain about difficulties.

In Hanoi, talking about the Ministry of Education and Training's regulations on students' study time, the principal of an elementary school in Hoan Kiem ward commented that the maximum of 7 periods per day causes students to finish school earlier than last year, usually at 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

If you want to extend it to 4-5pm for the convenience of parents, you have to add STEM, sports, arts, life skills classes, etc.

However, studying these subjects in all grades after 3:30 p.m. is not simple. In fact, STEM, sports, arts, and life skills are not compulsory educational activities - there will be cases where students do not register for them, so how to manage these students is a problem that needs to be considered.

The principal of an elementary school in Yen Hoa Ward said that the Ministry of Education and Training’s regulations on extra teaching and learning do not allow extra classes at the elementary level. Therefore, to allow students to finish school at a time convenient for their parents, schools must arrange additional free classes.

However, this is difficult because teachers work according to teaching quotas, not office hours. Schools cannot force teachers to teach beyond their quotas without their consent.

Y.Anh

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ban-khoan-voi-gio-hoc-tai-tp-hcm-196250912222555805.htm