At this time, localities have taken strong actions to tighten extra teaching and learning to reduce pressure on students according to Circular 29 (effective from February 14). In fact, tightening extra teaching while exam pressure still exists makes parents and students worried.
Parents with children in their final year of high school are confused.
Having a child in grade 9, who is in the "hot water" stage of studying for the entrance exam to grade 10 of a public high school, when she received the information "All extra classes have been stopped", Ms. Nguyen Thuy (Nui Truc street, Dong Da district, Hanoi) "can't sit still".
Ms. Thuy said that not only she but the parents of her children's entire class were confused when receiving the information. Because the entrance exam to grade 10 of public high schools in Hanoi is too stressful and pressured when the passing rate to public schools in recent years is only over 60%. Without extra classes and support from teachers, it will be very difficult for children to achieve their goals.
"My child's goal is to get into Viet Duc High School - a top public high school in Hanoi - so the benchmark score is very high. My child is confident in Math, but his scores in Literature and English are unstable. Since the beginning of the year, I have hired a tutor to teach my child English. For Literature, in addition to taking extra classes with the teacher in the whole class, my child and 3 other friends also take private lessons with the teacher. Now that I have received information that the extra classes at school, both the general class and the private class, are all closed, I don't know how to handle it!", Ms. Nguyen Thuy worriedly said.
Many parents with children in the final grade are worried when schools stop offering extra classes. Illustration photo: TH
Ms. Nguyen Thuy has invested a lot in her child's extra classes to achieve her goal of entering a top school. Therefore, when the school and teachers stop giving extra classes, Ms. Thuy will definitely have to find another solution for her child. "Maybe I will find a good tutor to tutor my child. Or I will find an educational center for my child to study. This will also take a lot of parents' time because it is not easy to find a good teacher right away. The pressure of exams is still very high, because if the school and teachers do not give extra classes, the burden will be even heavier on the shoulders of parents and students," Ms. Nguyen Thuy shared.
The gap between good and bad is getting bigger and bigger.
Not every family has the conditions like Ms. Nguyen Thuy’s family to invest heavily in their children’s extra-curricular education. Especially for students who do not take extra classes at school and are not able to study on their own, the quality of education will become a matter of concern.
Many teachers worry that the quality of education will decrease if extra classes are banned in schools.
According to teacher Pham Bich Nguyet (Yen Lam Secondary School, Yen Mo, Ninh Binh), regular classes are only enough for teachers to impart basic knowledge in textbooks to students. Extra classes at school are the time for teachers to practice so that students can have more proficient test-taking skills.
"Students with good abilities can easily adapt to studying in class without extra classes. But for average or weak students, the lack of support from extra classes can cause them to fall behind, especially in the context of a heavy and demanding curriculum. That makes the gap between good and poor students increasingly widen," said Ms. Nguyet.
"For students to be able to study well without having to attend extra classes, the core issue lies in teaching during regular school hours. As with my Literature subject, if students master the skills of doing exercises, they will know how to do any problem they encounter.
According to the new program, students do not need to memorize as much as before. They only need to understand and master the skills to do the test, then they do not need to take extra classes.
A lesson of the new program includes 4 sections: Warm-up, Forming new knowledge, Practice, Application. Teachers allocate reasonable time to teach according to this process so that students will grasp the knowledge required by the educational program.
Teacher Dang Thi Phuong (My Hung Secondary School, Nam Dinh City)
What worries Ms. Nguyet and many teachers is that there will be a difference in education quality between urban and rural areas when implementing the ban on extra teaching and learning in schools.
"In the city, families with better economic conditions will hire tutors and find good centers for their children to study. For rural families, if they do not take extra classes at school, many families cannot afford to send their children to extra classes at the center because the tuition is much higher than the tuition at school. This reality shows that if rural students are not really good and do not study well on their own, they will lose to urban students in the race to get into university," Ms. Nguyet analyzed.
Tightening tutoring in the short term may help reduce time and financial pressure on parents, but if the pressure of studying and taking exams does not decrease, parents and students will still be forced into a "vortex" of wasting time and money looking for tutors and extra classes. This puts even more pressure on families who do not have the means.
Extra teaching and learning can only be "cooled down" and dealt with at its root when the curriculum is reduced, students no longer have to participate in fierce competition to get a place in the entrance exams for high school and university...
"For Math, a class period is only enough time for teachers to impart basic knowledge to students. To help students master the skills of doing exercises, teachers can guide students on how to study on their own by assigning more exercises, providing reference materials and guiding review methods. This not only helps students absorb knowledge better but also forms proactive learning habits."
Teacher Pham Mai Hoa (My Phuc Secondary School, Nam Dinh City)
* To be continued
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/bai-1-ap-luc-thi-cu-khong-giam-siet-hoc-them-khien-phu-parents-hoc-sinh-cang-them-lo-20250212162242496.htm
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