Parents react because their children have to go to school on Saturday, what does the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training direct?

As the new school year begins, parents with children studying at secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City are surprised by the timetable, as their children have to go to school on Saturday mornings even though they have been studying twice a day from Monday to Friday.

Ms. Nguyen Mai, whose child is in grade 7 at Hoa Lu Secondary School (Tang Nhon Phu Ward), said that last school year, her son studied from Monday to Friday, 8 periods per day. On Saturdays, he participated in clubs on a voluntary basis. Ms. Mai's child finishes school at 4:30 p.m. every day. She picks him up at 5:15 p.m., depending on the day and her work schedule.

"At the beginning of this school year, when I received the schedule, I was shocked. Pick-up time for my child is 3:45 p.m., and there are 5 extra classes on Saturday morning, including 2 English classes, 1 Literature class, and 2 Math classes. It's too much for students to arrange 5 regular classes on Saturday," said Ms. Mai.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training believes that schools can balance more than 7 periods/day, depending on the actual conditions of each school. (Illustration photo)

Ms. Mai added that she and her husband work in District 7 (old) and District 10 (old), so it is very inconvenient to pick up their child at 3:45 p.m. If so, she has to ask the company to pick up her child at 3:00 p.m.

"If we have to work one or two days like that, we can ask the company, but asking for permission to leave at 3pm every day and then driving to Tang Nhon Phu ward to pick up our children is something that hardly any company will agree to. If we let our children take a motorbike taxi, we are not at ease, not to mention that it is very difficult to book a car during traffic jams or when it rains. Not all parents can afford to hire someone to pick up and drop off their children," said Ms. Mai.

Similar to Ms. Mai, Mr. Le Phong, whose child studies at Huynh Khuong Ninh Secondary School (Tan Dinh Ward) said that last school year his child studied 2 sessions/day from Monday to Friday, had Saturday off, and finished school at 5:00 p.m.

This school year, my child's schedule is to finish school at 4:15 p.m. and have 5 classes on Saturday morning. "The schedule is really not suitable for the children or their parents. I think that on Saturday, the children should be given a break, participate in skill and talent classes that they like, or have free time to prepare lessons, do homework... I hope the school will consider and arrange flexibly for the convenience of students and parents," Mr. Phong suggested.

Many parents of several other secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City also had similar reactions when the school arranged a Saturday morning class schedule for students, lasting 3-5 periods, depending on the school.

Regarding the above issue, responding to VTC News Electronic Newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the Department has requested secondary schools to arrange reasonable, flexible and proactive timetables in real conditions, not spreading to Saturdays (main subjects), ensuring stability as in previous school years, avoiding affecting the personal plans of students and parents.

According to Mr. Quoc, the duration of 7 periods/day when teaching 2 sessions/day is to implement the 2018 General Education Program. In addition to ensuring the full teaching of the General Education Program, the school can flexibly arrange the activities of the 2nd session according to the instructions.

The biggest problem currently in implementing 2-session teaching is the lack of agreement between schools and parents about studying on Saturday mornings. Part of the reason comes from a misunderstanding of the regulation of "no more than 7 periods/day" of the Ministry of Education and Training .

The Department's leaders said that the implementation of the 7-period/day regulation only applies to the 2018 general education curriculum; schools can proactively balance the activities of the second session, but absolutely cannot include the main curriculum in the 8th period.

“Schools do not teach the 2018 General Education Program on Saturday. Instead, this day can be used for supplementary activities such as training excellent students, tutoring weak students, sports , clubs…”, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc emphasized.

Previously, on August 5, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Official Dispatch No. 4567/BGDĐT-GDPT on guidelines for organizing 2-session teaching/day for general education to specify Directive No. 17/CT-TTg dated June 6, 2025 of the Prime Minister.
According to the Ministry's direction, organizing two-session teaching per day is carried out according to a specific roadmap, not immediately mandatory for junior high school and high school levels.
For primary school, teaching two sessions per day is mandatory, with a duration of no more than 7 periods/day and a minimum of 9 sessions/week (equivalent to 32 periods). Each class period is 35 minutes. This regulation remains unchanged from the present.
Middle and high school students study a maximum of 7 periods per day (reduced by one period for high school students) and no more than 5.5 days per week (reduced by 0.5 days). The duration of a period is 45 minutes.
The content of the second lesson will be flexibly designed by schools, focusing on activities to develop students' abilities and qualities.
Core subjects will be taught in the morning. The afternoon will be devoted to activities on culture, arts, STEM, STEAM, reading culture, life skills, digital literacy, foreign languages and sports, meeting the diverse interests and talents of students.

South

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/phu-huynh-phan-ung-vi-con-phai-di-hoc-thu-bay-so-gd-dt-tp-hcm-chi-dao-gi-ar964693.html