Teachers and schools stop tutoring

After Tet At Ty, Ms. Huyen Trang, a secondary school literature teacher in Phu Ly, Ha Nam, closed her extra classes. "I had to stop anyway, so I closed it at the beginning of the month to make it easier to pay the rent," said the 28-year-old teacher.

For the past two years, Ms. Trang has taught about 30 students. With a tuition fee of 60,000 VND per session, minus 3 million VND for rent and electricity and water, Ms. Trang earns about 11-12 million VND per month - double her current salary at school.

Most of the students were from her regular homeroom class. According to the new regulations that took effect on February 14 by the Ministry of Education and Training, teachers are not allowed to give extra lessons for money to students they are teaching at school. Therefore, she stopped teaching because "there were only a few students in the other class, and the tuition was not enough to cover the rent."

Ms. Hong Nhung, a literature teacher at a high school in Binh Dinh, will be teaching extra classes until February 13. Like Ms. Trang, her students are mostly in regular classes. Ms. Nhung said she was worried about the quality of the class, but was forced to stop so as not to violate regulations. In addition, the two teachers also wanted to "hear" how their colleagues were doing and what instructions the school had.

Not only teachers, many schools also stop tutoring.

In Hanoi, Mr. Hoang Chi Sy, Principal of Luu Hoang High School in Ung Hoa District, said that extra classes at the school have stopped since the Tet holiday. According to him, this is the beginning of the second semester, and "trying" to teach until February 14 and then stop will not be effective. The same is true for other schools in the district.

In the parent meeting before Tet, the Board of Directors of Hai Boi Secondary School, Dong Anh District also announced the suspension of extra classes. Van Quan Secondary School, Ha Dong District issued a similar announcement.

In An Giang, the leader of Tan Chau High School said that the extra-curricular program and second-session teaching will also stop from next week. Previously, students of all grades had 2-3 extra-curricular classes per week, depending on the subject.

Schools in An Giang are required by the Department of Education and Training to strengthen guidance for students to self-study or assign learning tasks under the advice and supervision of subject teachers to ensure effective review for the 10th grade entrance exam and high school graduation.

In Binh Duong, Bau Bang High School confirmed that it will stop extra classes and tutoring after Tet, following the direction of the Department of Education and Training.

Many high schools in Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Hanoi... have announced to stop tutoring. Some schools in Ho Chi Minh City such as Le Van Tam Secondary School, Binh Thanh District, have reduced the tutoring program from 4 to 2 periods/week for each subject: Literature, Math, English.

The reason is that the new circular requires that schools teach extra classes without charging and only teach three groups: those with unsatisfactory results in any subject in the previous semester; those selected to foster excellent students; and final year students who voluntarily register to review for the 10th grade exam and graduation exam.

Principal Hoang Chi Sy said that public schools do not have any significant sources of income other than the budget, so they cannot organize free tutoring. He and his colleagues are waiting for instructions from the Department of Education and Training.

"I hope to have guidance as soon as possible, ideally before February 14, to have a basis for implementing the next plans," Mr. Sy said.

Secondary and high schools have been teaching extra classes for a long time because students only attend one session per day. Realizing that this is a real and necessary need, the People's Councils of many provinces and cities have issued resolutions on the fee, commonly around 3,500 - 6,000 VND per session.

Managers see this as meeting the need for low-cost, safe extra-curricular learning for students; improving the quality of education; increasing school revenue to cover many extra-budgetary activities; and increasing teachers’ income. Therefore, if no money is collected, and no additional budget is allocated, both teachers and students are at a disadvantage, according to many principals.

In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training has encouraged and guided qualified high schools to implement two-session teaching a day. Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Principal of Le Van Tam Secondary School in Ho Chi Minh City, assessed that adjusting the teaching time for the second session for some subjects would certainly affect the quality of education and review for final year students.

"The most stressful time is the final exam review period for 9th graders, we don't know how to handle it," said Mr. Tuan.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Director of Secondary Education Department, Ministry of Education and Training, said on January 9 that extra teaching and learning is a need of both students and teachers. Learning to be better and develop oneself is a legitimate desire.

However, in reality, there are students who, even though they do not want to, still have to take extra classes organized by teachers and schools. Some students go to extra classes just to avoid being out of place with their friends, to feel guilty towards their teachers, or even to avoid unfamiliarity with the test. This makes students have a packed schedule from morning to night.

The Ministry issued Circular 29 on extra teaching and learning to avoid the above situation.

According to the Government Office, this regulation has received much approval, but there are still many concerns. Some opinions say that the root of extra teaching and learning is due to the heavy curriculum, while the mentality of valuing degrees among many people is still quite common. Currently, the curriculum, textbooks, high school graduation exams, and university admission methods are all new, and the "competition" rate to enter prestigious universities is increasingly fierce. Studying only to serve exams, so extra teaching and learning will continue to be distorted.

Therefore, Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long directed the Ministry of Education and Training to review and grasp the feedback information to promptly have solutions.

*Teacher's name has been changed