Quang, a parent at Nguyen Van To Secondary School, complained that his child finishes school very early in the afternoon. “My wife and I finish work at 5.00 pm, but my child is dismissed at 3.45 pm, which makes pick-up very difficult,” he said.

Similarly, Chu Lan from former Thu Duc City, whose child is in 8th grade, said: “Last year, my child finished at 4.45 pm, but this year, he comes home by 4 pm. I’ve had to leave work early just to pick him up.”

In response to parents’ feedback about early dismissal times, Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the HCMC Department of Education and Training, said the department is seeking the director’s approval to standardize school start and end times for the 2025-2026 school year. 

The draft proposes morning classes start no earlier than 7am and no later than 8am, with morning sessions ending no earlier than 10.30 am and afternoon sessions no earlier than 4.30 pm.

Flexible timetables, no core classes on Saturday

In recent days, parents at several HCMC schools have voiced concerns about Saturday morning classes, especially at schools following the advanced international integration model. Some core subjects under the 2018 general education program (GEP 2018) are being scheduled on Saturday mornings, while school-developed subjects are taught from Monday to Friday. 

Nguyen Bao Quoc, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Education and Training, explained that the regulation of two school sessions per day with a maximum of 7 periods is meant to implement GEP 2018. However, schools are allowed to flexibly arrange timetables, including having more than seven periods on some days.

A major challenge for many secondary and high schools is the lack of consensus with parents regarding Saturday morning classes. This stems from a misunderstanding of the term “no more than seven periods per day,” leading some schools to schedule additional periods on Saturdays.

After receiving feedback, the department consulted with the Ministry of Education and Training and reached a common understanding: the 7-period limit applies only to GEP 2018. For second-session activities, schools can organize more than seven periods.

With this approach, students will not be required to study core GEP 2018 subjects on Saturday mornings. Saturday classes will only take place if there is demand and voluntary registration from students.

The HCMC Department of Education and Training has also clarified other issues.

Two-session schooling is common in HCMC, especially in former HCMC areas. Activities for second session requiring parental contributions include career guidance, experiential learning, STEM/STEAM, life skills, digital skills, AI, foreign languages, sports, arts, and career counseling, as well as activities tied to city and education sector initiatives.

Thuy Nga