Teachers want to legalize home tutoring

Associate Professor Dr. Do Phu Tran Tinh, Director of the Institute for Policy Development, Ho Chi Minh City National University, on November 18 reported the results of a study on the lives of preschool and primary school teachers in the Southern region, conducted in three provinces: Binh Thuan, Tay Ninh and Hau Giang. This is a scientific topic at the Ho Chi Minh City National University level, conducted in September and October.

Mr. Tinh said that of the more than 12,500 teachers surveyed, 25.4% said they taught extra classes in school and 8.2% taught extra classes outside of school. The main subjects taught extra classes were math, literature, English, physics, and chemistry. Elementary school teachers taught an average of 8.6 hours a week, while middle school and high school teachers taught 13.75 and 14.91 hours, respectively.

According to the research team, the types of extra teaching provided by teachers are very diverse, such as teaching at school, at home or at centers; teaching online and on open learning data repositories.

"At school, there are mainly extra tutoring activities, extra classes, and graduation exam review with the agreement of the school and parents. Extra teaching at the center mainly falls into the group of foreign language teachers. In addition, teachers also teach extra classes directly or online at home, although this is still prohibited," the report quoted.

Directly interviewing more than 130 teachers and administrators, the research team said that many teachers now see extra classes as a real and legitimate need. In addition to the desire to improve their children's academic performance, many parents cannot pick up their children on time after school so they want their children to take extra classes to fit their working hours.

"Many teachers ask why other professions and fields are allowed to work part-time but teaching is not, or why teachers who teach at school are not allowed to teach part-time while freelance teachers can open classes. These are questions that need explanations," the research group raised.

According to regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, teachers are not allowed to teach extra classes outside of school with their regular students without permission from the principal. In addition, according to the law, civil servants and public employees are not allowed to organize businesses, including teachers.

The ministry is drafting a new draft on this, which is expected to eliminate formal procedures, such as requiring permission from the principal to teach their students. Instead, teachers can teach, but must make a list of students, report to the principal, and commit not to force them in any form. At the same time, teachers will not use examples, questions, and exercises that have been taught to test and evaluate students.

In a study by Ho Chi Minh City National University, more than 63% of teachers expressed their desire to legalize extra teaching, including home tutoring and online tutoring, to increase legitimate income.

Teachers said that although the basic salary has increased from 1.8 to 2.34 million VND, the income from teaching only meets half (51.8%) of the family's monthly spending needs.

Many teachers admit that teaching "underground" at home seriously damages the image of teachers in the eyes of students and society. However, because of the burden of making a living, they are forced to do so.

In-depth interviews with school administrators also showed that most administrators knew which teachers were teaching at home or at other locations, but turned a blind eye unless parents reported it.

Teachers believe that legalizing home tutoring helps maintain the noble image of the teaching profession in the eyes of students and society, "better than doing side jobs that are less related to the profession".

Recently, many National Assembly deputies and leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training have said that tutoring is a real need. Therefore, the parties proposed to include tutoring in the conditional business sector, in order to avoid distortion, facilitate management, and ensure the rights of both teachers and students.