(Dan Tri) - Booking round-trip tickets for January 26 (December 27) and February 1 (January 4), Ms. Hoa felt heartbroken when she spent more than 30 million VND just on tickets for her family in the countryside to celebrate Tet for 5 days.
Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, in Binh Tan, Ho Chi Minh City, has just booked tickets to return home for her family of four. Her family will fly to Hanoi, then continue to book a car to return home about 80 kilometers from the airport.
When she learned that students in Ho Chi Minh City had 9 days off for Tet this year, Ms. Hoa was worried because the number of days off was not as abundant as in previous years. In addition to the time constraints, for those who have come to Ho Chi Minh City to work far from home like her, the cost of travel is also heavy.
Teachers and students in Ho Chi Minh City during the Spring Festival program at school (Illustration: Hoai Nam).
Ms. Hoa said that with fewer days off, the family traveled at the peak time. The airfare alone for the couple and their two children cost nearly 31 million VND; plus the taxi and transportation costs for the 4-way trip from home to the airport cost more than 2 million VND.
This amount of money is for her family to "buy" 5 days of Tet holiday with family, which is more than 6 million per day just for travel expenses.
The children are scheduled to have 9 days off, but before the holiday, the family plans to spend 1-2 days finishing work, cleaning, preparing, and shopping; and after the holiday, they have to come back a day early to prepare for the children to go to school, so they only have 6-7 days off. Of that, they spent 2 days traveling by train or bus during Tet, so in reality, they can only be in the countryside for about 5 days.
According to Ms. Hoa, each parent has their own circumstances, some have a shared schedule, some are freelancers, they can more or less proactively arrange their work, but all have to "follow" their children's school schedules. When students have a short Tet holiday, families will have to limit their Tet time frame according to their children's schedules.
"Every year, students have 14 days off for Tet. It is true that there are cases where families have to find a place to send their children, but in many families like mine, the father or mother arranges to take the children back to their hometown first or the children go back to their hometown early with relatives. Trains and buses are cheaper and the children also have a longer break.
This year my children have a short vacation, I planned not to go back because traveling is too expensive and too urgent, but this year is my father's 80th birthday, I can't not go back," said Ms. Hoa.
Parents have to wait for their children... for Tet holiday
Ms. Tran Le Dinh, residing in Phu Huu, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, who works in the communications department of a bank, said that in her company, people who live far from home are given priority to take leave 3-4 days before the official schedule. This helps employees avoid peak travel times, as well as have more time with their families.
With their children having a short Tet holiday, many parents in Ho Chi Minh City are having difficulty planning to return to their hometowns or travel for entertainment (Photo: Hoai Nam).
This year, she plans to take a break from December 23rd. According to the original plan, the three of them would return to their hometown in Thanh Hoa first, and her husband would return later as usual. But this year, the children will only be off school on the 26th of Tet, so she has to stay and wait for them, and the whole family will move during the peak season.
After nearly 15 years of working in Ho Chi Minh City, this is the year Ms. Dinh sees students having the shortest Tet holiday, in previous years the children had about 14 days off.
"This year, students will have the same holiday schedule as adults, so there will be a possibility of overloading transportation during the peak days of Tet. The family can only go home for Tet for 5-6 days, and if the paternal and maternal families are far apart, it will be too stressful for the children," the mother said.
The case of Mr. Tuan, in the old District 9, is even more tragic when the couple runs a construction materials business. Before December 20, the store closes and everything is done.
Every year, when the child has a 2-week Tet holiday, his family arranges to return home very conveniently, but this year, according to the child's vacation schedule, he and his wife have not decided whether to return home or not, even though for the family this is the only and most important reunion of the year.
"Many people say that if they don't come home for Tet, they will come home during the summer, but in the summer, the family cannot see their siblings who are also working far away, and the children cannot see each other. For me, there is no occasion in the year that can make up for the atmosphere of reunion and connection during Tet," said Mr. Tuan.
Lunar New Year 2025, students in Ho Chi Minh City will have 9 days off, from January 25 to February 2, 2025 (Photo: Hoai Nam).
According to some parents working far from home in Ho Chi Minh City, the education sector and schools can consider allowing students to have a slightly longer Tet holiday or flexibly let students take early leave so that parents can proactively arrange their time during Tet, have more free time for their children to visit their hometown or travel, avoiding the peak of overloaded trains and buses during Tet.
Many non-public schools give students 13-14 days off for Tet
This allows families to proactively plan for Tet and students to have time to travel back to their hometowns and travel during the holidays. Many non-public schools in Ho Chi Minh City give students more time off for the 2025 Lunar New Year than the general schedule.
Students of Royal School, Ho Chi Minh City, have 14 days off for Tet (Photo: BT).
At Royal School, students will have a 14-day Tet holiday, from January 22 to February 4, 2025. Students will return to school on February 5, 2025.
The staff, teachers and employees will also start their break from January 22, 2025, but will return to work 2 days earlier than the students, from February 3, 2025.
According to the announcement of the ICS Bilingual School System, students will have 13 days off for Tet, from January 23, 2025 to February 4, 2025 (ie from December 24 to January 7).
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/hoc-sinh-tphcm-nghi-tet-it-me-xot-ruot-30-trieu-di-lai-cho-5-ngay-o-que-20241202155842377.htm
Comment (0)