Circular 29 'makes it difficult' for primary schools to teach two sessions per day.

Many schools are closed in the afternoon.

Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School is one of the very few schools in Hung Nguyen district that offers a boarding program. This is convenient for students and parents as the school organizes classes for two sessions per day with 32 lessons per week. Previously, with this number of lessons, the school held classes from Monday to Friday and had Wednesday afternoons off. However, now, students have the whole day off on Wednesdays to facilitate the school's boarding program. The number of lessons for each grade has also changed: grades 1 and 2 have 28 lessons per week, grade 3 has 29 lessons per week, and grades 4 and 5 have 30 lessons per week.

As the homeroom teacher of the first grade, Ms. Cao Thi Lan and many parents of the class shared a feeling of "disappointment" when the curriculum changed. Most regrettably, since last week, first and second graders at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School have no longer been able to study English because the school no longer has the funds to hire teachers.

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We feel disheartened. Every day parents ask, "Can we pay for our children's tuition?" I don't know how to answer, even though that's what we want so that our children's education isn't interrupted.

Teacher Cao Thi Lan - Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School

Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Primary School currently has 29 classes with 39 teachers, including 1 Head of the Youth Union and 1 teacher on maternity leave. The current teacher-to-class ratio is 1.31 teachers per class.

Recently, to ensure sufficient teachers for two teaching sessions per day, the school contracted three additional teachers, including two English teachers and one Literature teacher. Since February 14th, in accordance with Circular 29, which temporarily suspended the collection of fees for the second teaching session, the school has terminated the contracts of these contracted teachers.

According to Mr. Phan Xuan Loi, the school principal: "This is an undesirable situation for the school, but if we hire more teachers on contract, we won't have the budget to pay for it."

Since the beginning of last week, instead of teaching two sessions a day, Hoang Tru Primary School (Nam Dan) has adjusted its schedule, with students in grades 1, 2, and 3 now only attending morning classes; students in grades 4 and 5 also only have a few sessions of two classes a day.

Sharing this information, Ms. Vuong Hong Lien, the school principal, said: "Currently, the teacher-to-student ratio at our school (including the Head of the Youth Union) is 1.37 teachers per class. If we had enough teachers to teach two sessions a day (including additional teaching duties), the school would need two more teachers. Because we don't have enough teachers, we are forced to temporarily suspend some classes and require teachers to take on more responsibility for assigning homework, guiding students to do homework at home, and supplementing their self-study at home. The school also hopes that the district will soon have a replacement plan so that teaching at the school can return to stability."

No unauthorized fees will be collected.

Due to a shortage of primary school teachers, in previous years, Nam Dan district was one of the localities that proactively provided funding to schools to ensure a minimum of 1.33 teachers per class. To ensure sufficient teachers for two teaching sessions per day, depending on the ratio of each grade level and school, schools would mobilize contributions from parents, with each student contributing around a few tens of thousands of dong per month.

Following Circular 29, Nam Dan district has instructed schools to return the additional fees collected from parents to maintain two-session-per-day teaching (in cases where fees were collected for the second semester). Simultaneously, the district is temporarily directing schools to organize teaching according to the actual number of teachers available. They are also developing plans to advise the district on allocating additional budget.

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The current teacher-to-class ratio in Nam Dan district is 1.36 teachers per class, and compared to the guidelines of the Department of Education and Training, the shortage of teachers is not significant. We are currently estimating that providing additional funding to schools would require approximately 1.6 billion VND. However, this is only partial support to motivate teachers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thai Huyen - Head of the Education and Training Department of Nam Dan District

Many localities are considering options for allocating funds to maintain two-session-per-day teaching in primary schools amidst a teacher shortage. Meanwhile, due to the implementation of Circular 29, the practice of collecting additional fees to cover extra teaching hours or hiring additional contract teachers, as was previously done, has been stopped because it is not in accordance with regulations.

Practical implementation has also shown that calculating compensation for the shortage of teachers is proving difficult, and it is unlikely that teachers will be paid the full amount for overtime hours as stipulated. Therefore, many localities have been considering adjusting their teaching plans.

Mr. Tran Xuan Nhuong, Head of the Education and Training Department of Quynh Luu District, said: "Previously, the amount of social mobilization to pay for extra teaching hours for teachers was nearly ten billion VND per year. Under current conditions, it is difficult for the district to subsidize an equivalent amount. Therefore, for the time being, we are encouraging schools to maintain two-session teaching per day and balance the number of teaching hours according to the current number of teachers. The district is also having to balance the number of teachers among schools to ensure fairness for students. We cannot allow a situation where some schools have students receiving the full number of hours while others have fewer due to uneven teacher numbers."

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31 out of 33 primary schools in Do Luong district are currently offering half-day schooling, and stopping the two-session-per-day schedule would disadvantage students and create difficulties for parents. Therefore, we have requested teachers to increase their teaching hours (25 hours/week, 2 hours more than the regulation). If teachers exceed this number of hours, the department will advise the district to provide some financial support to the teachers. In addition, we are implementing measures to space out the number of hours in each session and increasing experiential learning activities. This way, students can still maintain a two-session-per-day school schedule.

Mr. Nguyen Tat Tay - Head of the Education and Training Department of Do Luong District

Regarding the implementation of the two-session-per-day teaching schedule, following the difficulties encountered in implementing Circular 29, the Department of Education and Training has issued two documents requesting the District Education and Training Departments to promptly advise the District People's Committees on providing financial support to continue implementing the education plan with a duration of 32 lessons/week and 9 sessions/week for all grade levels.

In cases where funding is insufficient, schools should adjust their teaching plans flexibly, ensuring that all required content and duration for compulsory subjects are covered, and that the goals and requirements of the 2018 General Education Program are met, while also being appropriate to the characteristics and target students, as well as the conditions of the school and the locality.

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The Department has also requested schools to recalculate the teacher-to-class ratio to 1.39 teachers per class, with teachers teaching 23 lessons per week (excluding additional teaching hours). The main purpose is to prioritize ensuring sufficient cultural subject teachers for schools and to maintain the two-session-per-day teaching schedule.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hoa - Head of Primary Education Department, Department of Education and Training

My Ha