After the Lunar New Year, many schools in Nghe An province stopped offering extra classes.

The school has stopped offering extra classes.

"Since after Tet (Lunar New Year), our school has stopped organizing extra classes for all students," shared Ms. Tran Thi Thu Huong, Principal of Hai Hoa Secondary School (Vinh City).

Previously, according to the school's plan, the second semester was scheduled to begin on January 20th. However, due to the extended Lunar New Year holiday, students only officially started the new semester on February 3rd, about a week before the start of the new semester.Circular 29This is in effect. Due to the limited time remaining, the school has decided to temporarily suspend extra classes starting from the second semester.

According to the school principal, stopping extra classes at this time would present difficulties. This is because, although Hai Hoa Secondary School is located in Vinh City, it is quite far from the city center. There are currently no tutoring centers in the ward. For a long time, besides attending school, the school's students (if any) have mainly received extra tutoring at home from teachers within the school.

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I believe that, given the current circumstances, not organizing extra classes or tutoring within the school will create many difficulties for parents and students, especially those in their final year. If students attend outside classes, parents will also face financial burdens due to the difference in tuition fees, ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 VND per session.

Ms. Tran Thi Thu Huong - Principal of Hai Hoa Secondary School (Vinh City)

Although no solution has been found yet, in order to maintain the quality of teaching and learning at the school, Hai Hoa Secondary School is currently considering other options. It is expected that from the beginning of April, free exam preparation classes will be organized for graduating students, with each subject not exceeding 2 lessons per week.

After the Lunar New Year holiday, most junior high schools in Vinh City have stopped offering extra classes at school. Many school leaders said this is to comply with the directives of Circular 29 regulating extra classes and tutoring. Regarding extra classes for other groups such as academically weak students, gifted students, or students in their final year, there is still no feasible plan in place as they are awaiting further guidance.

At the high school level, many schools will also stop offering extra classes this week. At Thai Hoa High School, the principal said that at the school's Party branch meeting at the beginning of the year, they discussed calling on teachers throughout the school to volunteer to teach for free to graduating students.

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It's not easy to get teachers to offer free extra tutoring. Therefore, before implementing the policy, the school discussed it within the Party branch to seek opinions. Initially, they will focus on teachers currently teaching 12th grade.

Teacher Luu Cong Linh - Principal of Thai Hoa High School

Regarding the cessation of extracurricular tutoring within schools, teacher Luu Cong Linh acknowledged that it would lead to difficulties for the school, especially in improving the quality of education. However, according to the Principal of Thai Hoa High School, implementing Circular 29 is consistent with the 2018 General Education Program with the aim of "orienting and developing students' self-learning abilities and improving the quality of teaching and learning."

Therefore, immediately after Circular 29 comes into effect, the school will further tighten the quality of teaching in regular classes and strengthen guidance on self-study for students at home. For students in their final year, the school will discuss plans to organize free tutoring for them with the prescribed duration.

Schools in mountainous areas are not under pressure from Circular 29.

Que Phong High School has nearly 1800 students, including almost 600 12th-grade students. In preparation for the 2025 High School Graduation Exam, the school has decided to continue offering extra classes for students despite Circular 29 taking effect on February 14th. Sharing his thoughts on this, Mr. Nguyen Hong Tu, the school's Vice Principal, said: "To best prepare our students, we have encouraged teachers to continue providing extra classes in the afternoons. The school has also determined that these classes will be free of charge."

During the discussion, teacher Nguyen Hong Tu also said that, given the characteristics of the mountainous district, many students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, so the school's teachers volunteering to teach for free is not "unusual": In previous exam seasons, in addition to teaching in the afternoon, our teachers also volunteered to provide free tutoring for students in the evening. Although it is hard work, we are determined not to disrupt the students' studies.

Besides offering free classes, Que Phong High School is also discussing adjustments to some of its class schedules. It is expected that the number of morning classes will be shortened from 5 to 4. Subjects such as physical education and experiential activities will be moved to the afternoon. In addition, the school is also considering a plan for a single afternoon session of regular classes to allow students to have Saturdays off and give those living far away more time to return home: "Over 1,000 students at our school are boarding far from home. Therefore, if they have too many afternoons off, it will be very difficult to manage them. That's why we will adjust the schedule so that they can still participate in activities and study at school in both the morning and afternoon."

At Muong Long Ethnic Boarding Junior High School, Principal Lo Kham Phu stated: "Our school operates on a two-session-per-day schedule, with regular classes in the morning and extra tutoring in the afternoon. We have never charged for extra classes or tutoring, so even with the implementation of Circular 29, it will not affect our teaching and learning activities."

Regarding Circular 29, according to the plan from February 14th, extra tutoring in schools will be conducted for three groups: remedial classes for weak students, enrichment classes for gifted students, and classes for students in their final year, and will be free of charge.

Previously, on February 6th, at the conference to disseminate and implement Conclusion 91-KL/TW, Resolution 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo, and the Education Development Strategy organized by the Ministry of Education and Training, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong also stated that the regulations on tutoring and supplementary classes are intended to protect the dignity of teachers: “Tutoring and supplementary classes are educational activities related to the professional activities of teachers and students. The Ministry's view is not to prohibit tutoring and supplementary classes, but only to prohibit violations of regulations on tutoring and supplementary classes; those that are not in accordance with the regulations. Tutoring and supplementary classes must be in the best interests of students. That is, there should be no coercion or any form of coercion.”

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The Ministry's leadership's stance is that in public schools, teachers who receive state salaries and use state-owned facilities should not be allowed to offer extra tutoring for parents or students.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong gives his opinion on the issue of extra tutoring and supplementary classes.