Parents struggle to pick up their children early after the regulation banning extra tutoring, what does the Ministry of Education and Training say?

The fact that schools charge more for extra classes after Circular 29 took effect has caused many parents to worry about having to pick up their children earlier.

After Circular 29 on extra teaching and learning of the Ministry of Education and Training took effect, schools simultaneously stopped offering extra teaching and extra teaching with fees. Thus, students will study according to the exact duration of the 2018 General Education Program as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training. For primary school students, teaching is done 2 sessions/day, with no more than 7 periods per day.

The fact that schools are closing more classes and students are leaving school earlier has caused many parents to struggle to arrange a time to pick up their children.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duc, whose child is in grade 3 at a primary school in Dong Da district (Hanoi), said that the school used to organize extra classes for students in the afternoon after the main school hours. But after Circular 29 was issued, the school announced that it would stop all extra classes and students would leave school at around 3:30 p.m.

“Most parents are still at work when their children finish school, so they can’t come home early every day to pick up their children. Parents’ representatives have also suggested that the school organize extracurricular activities for their children, such as sports clubs, English clubs, etc., or arrange teachers to help look after their children until school ends, but so far they have not received a response from the school,” said Mr. Duc.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Hien, whose child is studying at primary school in Ha Dong district (Hanoi), was also worried when the school announced the suspension of afternoon extra classes.

“My family did not have anyone to pick up their children at 3:30 p.m., so we had to hire someone to pick up our children at this time. Parents from each class met, agreed, and sent a petition to the school board, requesting that the school have a plan to support parents, such as organizing after-school activities or simply arranging for teachers to look after students at school until parents can pick up their children in the late afternoon, but the school has not yet made an official announcement.”

Ms. Hien said that if the school organizes clubs for talents such as music, singing, sports, etc., even if they charge fees, she is still willing to let her child participate, both to help her child gain new skills and to fit her parents' pick-up and drop-off time.

Speaking about parents' concerns about picking up and dropping off their children when the timetable changes at the recent seminar "Circular 29: Opportunity or challenge for education?", Director of the Department of Secondary Education (Ministry of Education and Training) Nguyen Xuan Thanh said that in organizing educational activities in schools, it is not just about bringing students into the classroom to teach. When implementing the 2018 program, the Ministry issued an official dispatch 5512, instructing teachers to properly perform their role as organizers, inspectors, and orienters of students' learning activities, not just teachers.

Teachers prepare lessons in such a way that they assign tasks to students, then check and support, let students discuss with each other to develop other abilities, and then conclude. By doing so, students' self-study ability will be trained right from each lesson of the program and when the time is up, students still have many things to do on their own.

“There are even many activities that apply knowledge to practice, with open questions that students will have to do outside the classroom. At that time, the school still has space, why expel the children from school? The school is public, there are security guards, the children can stay at school, do not have to submit applications or pay any money. Students will continue to do the application activities assigned by the teacher together.

But the application here is not giving a sheet of paper to do homework. The application is today learning chemistry, see what substances are in your family meals. Or learning about thermal expansion, students see if there is any place at home that needs to be protected against thermal expansion," Mr. Thanh cited.

The Director of the Secondary Education Department emphasized that there are many other activities that apply knowledge with many open questions, leaving time for children to do and write and submit to the teacher. All of those spaces and times in schools need to be given to students. Schools that have libraries need to be opened to the maximum to serve the children to read books.

“Is a school education plan that only has a timetable correct? Just imagine, if there are 7-8 periods a day and children have to sit in class for that many periods, without any extra classes, when will they be active to achieve the desired capacity? Schools themselves need to feel responsible for the students who trust their school,” said Mr. Thanh.

Nguyen Trang (VOV.VN)

Link: https://vov.vn/xa-hoi/phu-huynh-loay-hoay-don-con-som-khi-thong-tu-29-co-hieu-luc-bo-gd-dt-noi-gi-post1155802.vov

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