From the next school year, all levels of education in Nghe An may have Saturdays off.

Convenient for teachers and students

"After more than 20 years of teaching, I finally have Saturday mornings for my family" - that is the sharing of teacher Nguyen Hai Trieu - teacher at Nghi Phong Secondary School (Vinh city).

This is also the joy of hundreds of teachers and students of Nghi Phong Secondary School from the second semester until now. The school has been waiting for many years to have a Saturday off. Last school year, although it had been proposed, this policy was not approved by the Nghi Loc District Department of Education and Training.

The adjustment was only implemented from the beginning of the 2025 school year, after schools in Nghi Loc district and Cua Lo town (old) were merged into Vinh city.Saturday offThe school has arranged for students to study an extra regular session every Monday afternoon.

According to teacher Nguyen Dinh Dai - Principal of Nghi Phong Secondary School, the choice of having students study all day on Monday was carefully considered and calculated by the school. Because, before that, students had 2 days off on Saturday and Sunday, so their psychology was comfortable and not too pressured to study. The arrangement of the Monday timetable will also be adjusted "lighter" to reduce stress for students.

Vinh City is the pioneer in the whole province to let students have Saturday off and schools are proactive in implementing it. Therefore, from the first 2-3 schools (5 years ago), up to now, all secondary school students in the whole city have implemented Saturday off with many benefits.

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"The policy of having Saturday off school is supported by parents, students and teachers of the school. Students have 2 full days of the weekend to spend time with their families, go back to their hometowns, and have fun... In addition, the city has agreed to have Saturday off school in most schools. Therefore, if the remaining schools do not implement it synchronously, they will have difficulty in organizing teaching and learning or participating in city-wide activities such as training, professional development and other extracurricular activities.

Teacher Nguyen Dinh Dai - Principal of Nghi Phong Secondary School

In Ky Son district, many teachers working far from home also have more time to spend with their families since the district education department has a policy of not going to school on Saturdays. This is suitable for the boarding school model because students have two more days on the weekend to visit their parents.

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"The special feature of our school is that the students are boarding students, they stay at school from Monday to Friday and only go home on weekends. Therefore, when they have Saturday and Sunday off, they will have more time to spend with their families, and commuting will be more convenient and easier. In addition, this is also suitable for teachers, because more than half of the teachers at the school are from the lowlands who work and have to live far away from their families. If they have two days off on the weekend, teachers can take advantage of going home on Friday afternoon and have the opportunity to stay longer with their families, saving too much time commuting."

Teacher Nguyen Quang Tuan - Vice Principal of Nam Tip Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Ky Son)

Empowering schools

Since 1999, the Ministry of Education and Training has issued Circular 36/1999/TT-BGDDT on guidelines for implementing the 40-hour working regime for the Education and Training sector. In which, it agreed to allow junior high schools and high schools to organize teaching and learning 5 days a week from Monday to Friday, with 5 periods per day, with Saturday and Sunday off every week and implemented throughout the school year.

However, although the policy has been issued for many years, its implementation is still facing many difficulties. In fact, in Nghe An, the number of localities implementing it is still very small.

Previously, one of the main reasons was that schools did not have adequate facilities (lack of classrooms to ensure each class had 1 room for 2 sessions/day) and lack of teachers. In addition, the arrangement of a regular afternoon session was "stuck" because many schools prioritized classrooms and sessions for extra teaching.

From the above reality, after Circular 29 came into effect, extra teaching and learning in schools has basically ended (only remaining for some subjects), so implementing Saturday school holidays has become feasible. However, to implement it, there needs to be a common policy from the education sector, from the locality or it is necessary to give the initiative to the schools.

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We believe that having Saturday off at this time is appropriate, and the school can do it for many reasons. The school has enough facilities to ensure that each class has a classroom, and enough teachers to ensure the correct curriculum. Furthermore, after Circular 29, afternoon extra classes at school have been reduced, remaining only for a few subjects and only some extracurricular activities. If we have Saturday off, we only need to adjust the schedule from one morning session to the afternoon to ensure the school's curriculum and teaching plan.

Teacher Le Chi Thanh - Principal of Quang Trung Secondary School (Hung Nguyen)

Sharing the same opinion, teacher Nguyen Tran Duc - Vice Principal of Anh Son High School said: "Having Saturday off at this time is appropriate. However, in order not to disrupt the learning of students and teachers, we plan to adjust the Saturday off schedule from the beginning of the next school year. This will make it more convenient for the school to arrange teaching plans."

Regarding this issue, recently, after Circular 29 came into effect, Nghe An Department of Education and Training issued a document on the implementation of school year tasks.

It includes content encouraging schools to agree with parents to develop a school education plan to organize 2 sessions/day to improve the quality of comprehensive education and develop skills for students from the 2025-2026 school year.

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Adjusting some classes at secondary and high schools to the afternoon is to create conditions for schools to have Saturday off. This is also in line with the wishes of many parents, students, teachers and is suitable for the current practical context. In the short term, Saturday off has only been implemented at secondary schools in some localities. However, from the next school year, the policy can be expanded to high schools across the province.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Chief of Office of Department of Education and Training