Difficult to treat 'forced tutoring'

Currently, extra teaching and learning are carried out according to Circular 17 of the Ministry of Education and Training, issued in 2012. In which, cases that are not allowed to teach extra include primary school students and students who have studied two sessions a day at school. Public school teachers are not allowed to organize, but are only allowed to participate in extra teaching outside of school; they are not allowed to teach their regular students without the principal's permission.

The Ministry requires teachers and schools not to cut down on the main curriculum to teach extra classes or teach ahead of schedule. Students can take extra classes if they need to, voluntarily, and with their families' consent.

"Do not use any form of coercion to force families and students to take extra classes," the regulation states.

Circular 17 initially also outlined the procedures and authority for licensing extracurricular tutoring and standards for classroom facilities. However, in 2014, the Investment Law removed the provision that tutoring was a conditional business, so the above provisions were also abolished.

At the end of August 2024, the ministry issued a draft circular amending the rules on extra teaching and learning. Some changes include removing the requirement for teachers to ask the principal for permission to teach their students. Instead, teachers only need to make a list, report and commit not to force students to take extra classes in any form. At the same time, teachers will not use the examples, questions, and exercises taught in extra classes for in-class tests.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Head of the Ministry's Secondary Education Department, the new regulation aims to eliminate formal procedures, effectively control this activity and solve the "issue that has caused public concern" that students have to attend extra classes taught by outside teachers, even if they do not want to.

Although both the current regulations and the draft emphasize "voluntariness", Mr. Nguyen Hoang Chuong, former Principal of Loc Phat High School, Lam Dong, said that it is very difficult to determine and resolve the issue of forcing students to take extra classes.

Because if so, this is "very sophisticated", in many forms, from attitude, words, actions, to "inserting" knowledge from the classroom into the in-class test.

"No principal can control all of this. The school chooses the final exam questions, while regular tests are still the teachers' initiative. The feasibility of the draft is very low," said Mr. Chuong.

Agreeing, Mr. Nguyen Van Ngai, former Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, acknowledged that teachers have many ways to attract and influence students.

"In extra classes, if we only give 1-2 lessons similar to the test, students who do not attend extra classes will be at a disadvantage. Or with oral tests, if the teacher wants to ask difficult questions, students will have a hard time getting out, even if they are not outside the curriculum. Therefore, in the long run, students and parents will worry about the results and become psychologically inclined to attend extra classes," said Mr. Ngai.

Ms. Thuy Lan, 36 years old, in Dong Da district, Hanoi, said that her daughter was pressured by her homeroom teacher and scolded many times in class after she did not register for her extra classes. In the end, the mother had to let her daughter go to school, and the above mentioned situation ended. Therefore, the regulation "sounds ideal", but she does not think it can be implemented.

"I'm also worried that if we don't have to ask for permission like before, teachers will have more excuses to pressure students," she said.

Apart from the adjustments, the draft does not change the regulations on organizing extra classes. According to the law, civil servants and public employees are not allowed to organize businesses, including public school teachers. They are allowed to participate in extra classes but are not allowed to organize businesses in this activity. However, it is not uncommon for public school teachers to open extra classes.

According to a survey of more than 12,500 teachers by Ho Chi Minh City National University, published late last month, about 8.1% of teachers teach extra classes outside of school, mainly in the subject groups of math, literature, English, physics, and chemistry.

Ms. Phuong, a Literature teacher at a secondary school in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, said it was wrong according to regulations because she "secretly taught" at home.

She said that in her early years in the profession, she also registered to teach at a center, but her income was divided in half or she was only paid by the hour regardless of the number of students. Therefore, she rented a place to open a tutoring class herself.

"At first, I wore a mask all the time because I was afraid of being caught. When I heard that there was an inspection team, I dismissed the class. Doing an honest job, earning money by sweat and toil, is like smuggling," she said.

The female teacher then switched to teaching at home. She mainly teaches 10th grade exam preparation, so Ms. Phuong usually "closes" her classes in the summer. This is also her way of "avoiding scandal" because at this time she does not know which class she will teach or be in charge of. Currently, she accepts about 70 students, tuition depends on the number of lessons, and her average income is 40-50 million VND per month, double her salary at school.

"I'm lucky because the board of directors and colleagues understand the shortcomings in management, so they let it go, as long as there are no negative consequences," she said.

Ms. Linh, a primary school teacher in Ha Nam, is about to enter her 11th year of teaching at home. As a “village teacher,” she teaches both math and Vietnamese. Ms. Linh said the process of opening a class was “not complicated,” just preparing a room at home, buying a board and some desks, and then informing the students.

Asking permission from the principal to teach her students was just a "show off" thing, and there were even years when she didn't apply and wasn't reminded of anything. She said she was willing to register to teach at a center, but there weren't any in her hometown. To teach extra classes, teachers still opened their own classes.

With 35,000 VND per student/session, Ms. Linh said her income has improved significantly. By teaching only 3-4 sessions a week, she can earn 20 million VND per month, double her salary.

Ms. Phuong and Ms. Linh both see that tutoring is a legitimate way for teachers to earn money through their labor, so they want this form to be legalized. More than 63% of the 12,500 teachers surveyed by Ho Chi Minh City National University shared this desire. Many teachers asked why other majors and professions are allowed to do extra work but teachers are not, or why teachers who teach at school are not allowed to teach extra work, while freelance teachers are free to do so.

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".

Master Ho Sy Anh, former researcher at the Institute of Educational Research, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, affirmed that it is impossible to ban extra teaching and learning. This is a real need. To avoid negativity, he said that schools must be serious in testing and evaluation so that teachers do not take advantage of scores as a tool to force students to attend extra classes.

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.

*Parents and teachers names have been changed