'No more than 8 lessons per day, students must study on Saturday'

Ho Chi Minh City High schools say if the timetable is no more than 8 periods per day as prescribed, students will have to study on Saturdays, with no time to rest.

The issue was raised at a meeting of high school principals in Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of October 10.

Previously, some schools in Ho Chi Minh City were reported to have arranged a 9-period schedule per day, causing students to be overloaded. The Department of Education and Training has made adjustments, requiring all schools to follow the regulations, only allowing a maximum of 8 periods.

Mr. Luong Van Dinh, Principal of Thanh Loc High School, District 12, said that some schools have made adjustments after the Department's direction. However, he said that "following the regulations is not necessarily reasonable."

"After the repair, I felt sorry for the students because they had to go to school more days and more shifts. This is not necessarily a good thing," Mr. Dinh said.

To explain further, Mr. Do Dinh Dao, Principal of Nguyen Huu Tho High School, District 4, said that the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that the main curriculum has an average of 30 periods per week, the second-session curriculum has about 6-8 periods, and the school curriculum (skills classes, STEAM, career guidance) has 4-6 periods. The total number of study periods per week for students is usually more than 40.

"The requirement of an eight-period timetable per day is very difficult to implement. If adjusted in this direction, schools will have to arrange their timetable on Saturdays," said Mr. Dao.

He said the school had consulted each parent about the timetable. Most parents agreed to let their children study 9 periods a day so that they would not have to go to school on weekends. Therefore, he proposed that the Department give autonomy and an open mechanism to school leaders in integrating lessons and arranging a timetable suitable to the situation.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc at the conference on the morning of October 10. Photo: HP

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, shared that decades ago, students only learned knowledge from textbooks. Nowadays, students need to be supplemented with practical knowledge and skills, so Life Skills, Science, Foreign Languages, and Information Technology lessons are included in schools according to projects to improve students' capacity and qualifications.

"This is necessary, but schools need to balance and understand what needs to be done, how much is enough, and when implementing it, they must have the consent of parents," said Mr. Quoc.

According to Mr. Le Duy Tan, Head of the Secondary Education Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, the regulation on the number of study periods per day has been carefully studied to ensure the effectiveness of students' learning. Therefore, schools should not add more periods, causing students to be overloaded.

He suggested that schools reduce Skills, Foreign Languages, Information Technology, and STEM classes according to enhanced learning projects for 12th graders.

Ho Chi Minh City has more than 200 high schools with more than 260,000 students, all of whom study two sessions a day. According to the Ministry's regulations, schools are free to distribute curriculum for subjects. If teaching two sessions a day, the school will teach no more than 5 periods in the morning, no more than 3 periods in the afternoon, and no more than 6 days a week.

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