Editor's note:

Extra classes are becoming an invisible and unavoidable pressure for many families. VietNamNet opens the forum Extra Class Pressure with the hope of recording and discussing this story in depth with readers.

We look forward to receiving feedback from parents, teachers, students and educational administrators about their practical experiences, lessons learned and proposed new solutions to this issue of great concern to society.

The article below is the concern of a parent in Hanoi.

I have 3 children, the eldest is in 11th grade at a school in Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi. My child and family are striving to enter a major medical university.

To reach this goal, I have been trying my best. Since grade 10, in addition to school time, I have studied 4 subjects: Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology. Each subject is 2-3 hours/session, costing 240-250 thousand VND.

Since entering 11th grade, my child's extra classes have included 2 English sessions per week to prepare for the IELTS exam, increasing his chances of being admitted to university. The total monthly cost for my child's extra classes is more than 7 million VND.

According to plan, in November 2025, I will take the IELTS test, in March 2026 I will take the Aptitude and Thinking Assessment Test, then I will spread my application, take the university entrance exam...

So, every week, in addition to the mornings and 2 afternoons at school, my child has 6 extra classes in the evenings and all day on Sundays. There are some classes that are more than 10km from home, I don't feel comfortable letting my child ride the electric bike by himself, and I can't take him to and from school because I have to worry about taking care of my 2 children in 6th and 4th grade after work, so I have to hire a motorbike taxi for my child.

There are days when my child has 5 classes in the morning, 4 in the afternoon, then rushes to 3 hours of extra classes in the evening - not having time to eat at home, having to eat on the way. Feeling sorry for my child's hard work, I always try to think of what to feed him to ensure his health. In addition to the usual meat and fish dishes, every week I maintain a full meal of salmon for my child because I heard this dish is rich in fat that is good for the brain.

I see that my child studying a lot is also hard, but if he does not, he will fall behind more and more. The important thing is that he wants to study and even asks to take extra classes because he is afraid of being inferior to his friends and not being able to get into the school of his choice.

A few days ago, when my son had just finished his first midterm exam, I asked him: "Did you do well on the test? What do you think your score will be?" He replied innocently: "How would I know? Aren't you going to let me be happy until the day I know my score?"

When I tried to argue: "You go to extra classes all the time, but you're not sure if you can do well on the school's questions, how can you compete in the real world?", the boy replied: "Mom, you thought I was the only one who went to extra classes! Now the school knows that all students go to extra classes, so they set difficult questions. Now everyone is the same!"

In fact, looking around, I rarely see children who do not go to extra classes, especially those who are about to enter stressful exams such as high school or university. Just 2 years ago, my child and 2 of his friends, every week, studied 2 sessions until 10-11pm at the math teacher's house, then 4-5 other sessions until 9-10pm to finish reviewing Literature and English. My child's friend also went to study with 2 different teachers for each subject, one to practice questions, the other to review knowledge.

My children and my whole family just breathed a sigh of relief when they entered high school, and immediately got back into the swing of preparing for the university entrance exam. Well, let's think positively, going to extra classes is also an opportunity for my children to broaden their horizons, to see that there are many talented friends out there, they have to try harder, not just seeing themselves at the top of the class is not enough to feel secure.

I told my child that studying is a job, if you want to advance, if you want to be better than others, you have to work hard. Moreover, if you want to study and work in the medical field, you need to get used to the constant cycle, never give up.

In fact, if your child is not very excellent or studies in a specialized high school or a top school, and does not have any national or international awards, he or she will have to work very hard to get into a top university. If he or she studies superficially and goes to a mediocre school, it will still be expensive, and the future is unknown.

When looking at the children's busy extra-curricular schedules, many people often complain that we are creating learning machines, making our children lose their childhood. But if we don't participate in this cycle, where will our children stand? We also want our children to relax, to be together as a family on the weekends, simply going out for ice cream, going back to the countryside to visit grandparents instead of our children running around to take extra classes, the father working as a "xe om", the mother doing housework... But what other choice do we have? My family hasn't had a meal together for a long time.

Khanh Xuan (Hanoi)

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Why do students need extra classes? Regarding the Ministry of Education and Training drafting a circular regulating extra teaching and learning, some people are concerned that the 2018 general education program was introduced with many innovations and advantages, so why do students still need extra classes?