School proposes to close on Saturday, parents are "some happy, some worried"

Recently, some principals in Ho Chi Minh City have proposed that students have Saturdays off. Although this is not the first time this proposal has been made, it has still caused controversy among parents nationwide, because this means that students must increase the number of class periods from Monday to Friday to ensure full implementation of the educational program.

"I really hope my child gets 2 days off on the weekend"

This is the sharing of Ms. Ngoc Mai (Ba Dinh, Hanoi). From the beginning of the school year until now, when her daughter is in 7th grade, Ms. Ngoc Mai's family has been in a situation where "on Saturday, parents stay home to play, waiting for their child to go to school".

“In elementary school and grade 6, I attended a boarding school so I had Saturdays off. But from grade 7 on, my school stopped organizing boarding schools for students, so I went to school every afternoon during the week, except Sundays.”

It's been less than 2 months, but Ms. Mai said she already feels "very bored" with this study schedule.

“Before, on the weekends, my family often took our children out, went back to the countryside to visit grandparents, or gathered the children's families and a few close friends to organize meals and let the children meet and play together.

But today my child goes to school on Saturday, and it's in the afternoon, so in the morning the whole family just sleeps in, gets up to cook, has lunch, and then my child goes to school. That's just right."

After that, the couple also hang around to sleep, rest until the afternoon when their child comes home, then they can take the child out to eat or go to the bookstore, or "wander" around the supermarket a bit.

“I feel like it's a waste of time because there's still a Sunday, when my child wants to rest at home after a week of school, and it's also difficult to arrange a picnic to change the atmosphere.

Life is stressful now, so I think weekends are really important to recharge. If the school could rearrange the schedule so that my child could have Saturday off and have more opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, that would be great,” said Ms. Mai.

Mr. Vu Minh Khang (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City), whose child is in 10th grade, also hopes his child will have more days off.

"Currently, children are at the age we often call "the age of eating and sleeping", they need time to participate in physical activities, even more sleep time to "take advantage" of growing up, not just sitting all week studying in school. Especially in grade 10, when children do not have to endure too much pressure like in the final year, I hope the school will rearrange the schedule so that children can have more days off" - Mr. Khang expressed.

"I support Saturday off" - Minh Long, Khang's son, happily said.

Can other types of pressure be applied?

Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huyen (Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi) does not expect any change because"My studies are on track."

“My child is in 9th grade and only attends morning classes from Monday to Saturday. Usually, around 12pm, he comes home, eats, rests until around 3pm, then he studies Math, Literature, and English. Four days a week, he has extra classes in the afternoon from 1-3pm, and two days a week, he studies in the evening from 6-8pm.

In the evening or afternoon, when he doesn't have extra classes, he does his homework assigned by his school teacher or his extra class teacher, and at the same time, I still ask him to do some housework. Usually, he finishes all his homework and chores around 10:30 pm before going to bed."

According to Ms. Huyen, this is currently a suitable study schedule for her child's health and biological rhythm.

“In the second semester, near the 10th grade entrance exam date, my child may have to increase the time for extra study, even the time for reviewing at school. Therefore, I think that if the school shifts the study time from Saturday to weekdays, my child will have to study 6 periods at school a day and come home around 1 pm, which is too tiring. After that, all the daily activities and studying will be pushed back, or extra study will be pushed to Saturday... it will still be the same, even more unreasonable,” Ms. Huyen expressed her concern.