Teaching 2 sessions/day without charge: Reviewing necessary and sufficient conditions

Localities are reviewing conditions regarding staff, classrooms, equipment, etc. to develop a suitable implementation roadmap, ensuring quality when implementing 2 sessions/day at secondary and high school levels.

Parents and school agree

With 2 children preparing to enter grade 6 and grade 10, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Lien (Phuoc Long ward, Ho Chi Minh City) affirmed that the policy of studying 2 sessions/day at junior high school and high school without collecting additional tuition fees is humane, appropriate, and helps parents reduce part of the cost of studying. Ms. Lien said: “My husband and I work during office hours, our house is more than 10km from work, going to school in the morning and coming back in the afternoon. If our children study 1 session, no one will take them to school, and there will be no time to take care of them during the remaining session. Studying 2 sessions, the children eat lunch at school, so we can work with peace of mind.”

Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Quynh (Son Tra Ward, Da Nang City) shared: “In the past 2 school years, Le Do Secondary School has organized a pilot program for some classes with 2 sessions/day. In addition to subjects such as: Physical Education, Local Education , Fine Arts, Music, Experiential Activities, students are also supplemented with subjects such as Literature, Math, English, Natural Sciences... However, in the second semester of the 2024-2025 school year, the school stopped the pilot because it no longer collects tuition fees for cultural subjects".

Ms. Ngoc Quynh said that although the 2-session/day classes of Le Do Secondary School do not have boarding schools and have to pick up and drop off their children 4 times a day, parents are very reassured and supportive. “The time to pick up and drop off children to school is almost the same as the parents' working hours, so it is convenient to arrange. Children study and do homework at school, so parents do not have to waste time taking them to extra classes at centers. The problem of managing study and living hours if children only attend 1 session at school is almost completely solved when the school organizes 2 sessions/day,” Ms. Quynh informed.

From the school's perspective, Mr. Huynh Thanh Phu - Principal of Bui Thi Xuan High School (Ben Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) said that the school is implementing a timetable from Monday to Saturday. On Saturday, students only study in the morning. According to Mr. Phu, the new program evaluates students based on their abilities and qualities.

In addition to study time, students need to have club activities in the afternoon to develop their abilities and qualities. “Studying 2 sessions a day not only gives students more time to study and participate in clubs and groups at school, but also limits the time they are exposed to temptations in society,” said Mr. Phu.

Similarly, Mr. Dinh Van Trinh - Principal of Nguyen Hien Secondary School (Tan Thoi Hiep, Ho Chi Minh City), expressed his agreement with the policy of studying 2 sessions/day. "Teachers will reduce their workload, share morning and afternoon teaching sessions reasonably, increase practice opportunities for students instead of focusing only on theory. In the remaining time, teachers have the opportunity to exchange lectures and learn more experiences.

Of course, implementing this policy in big cities will be difficult due to the large number of students while the classrooms are not enough, and we also have to calculate more staff. But with a plan and step by step, it will be possible to do it," said Mr. Trinh.

The problem of teacher shortage

Schools in remote and disadvantaged areas of Lai Chau province are facing many challenges when implementing two-session schooling per day. Among them, the shortage of teachers is one of the biggest barriers.

In the 2025-2026 school year, Dao San High School (Lai Chau) plans to add 2 more classes, bringing the total number of classes to 9 with 450 students. Mr. Nguyen Duc Thuan - Principal, said: "Teaching 2 sessions/day is one of the solutions to fundamentally and comprehensively innovate education. However, it needs to be implemented flexibly according to the actual local situation and specific conditions.

At the same time, teaching 2 sessions/day requires a flexible, reasonable schedule, a harmony between studying and experiential activities, designing a curriculum suitable for the psychological characteristics of students as well as ensuring adequate facilities and teaching staff. Currently, Dao San High School only has 14 teachers. According to the payroll, the school is short of 4 staff. At the same time, the projector system and desks and chairs have degraded. These are barriers to implementing 2 sessions/day teaching.

Nam Cha Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities, Muong Mo Commune (Lai Chau) currently has 440 students in 10 classes. However, the school only has 12 teachers, lacking about 10 teachers on the payroll.

Principal Bui Van Phi shared: “The school meets national standards, so the facilities meet the requirements of teaching 2 sessions/day. However, the biggest difficulty is the shortage of teachers. Especially in the subject of Information Technology, due to the lack of teachers, teachers have to learn by themselves to teach students. Implementing 2 sessions/day, the standard number of periods/week for teachers will increase.”

Similarly, Huoi Luong Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities in Phong Tho Commune (Lai Chau) also lacks 11 teachers on the payroll. According to Vice Principal Nguyen Anh Giang, the school faces some difficulties in implementing 2-session/day learning, which are teacher resources and management of non-boarding students.

The school is expected to have 730 students, of which more than 400 are boarding students. For the 300 students who are not boarding students, if teaching is conducted in two sessions per day, they will have to go home at noon and return to school in the early afternoon. Meanwhile, their homes are far from the school, so it is very difficult to implement.

“We are proposing to the province and communes to supplement the number of missing teachers. In the immediate future, we will sign contracts with teachers of Fine Arts, Music, etc. At the same time, we hope to have more mechanisms to help students in especially disadvantaged areas enjoy boarding benefits. Then, they will not have to go back and forth during the day, creating conditions for organizing two sessions of teaching per day effectively,” Mr. Giang expressed.

Deployment according to schedule

Nguyen Trai High School (Lien Chieu, Da Nang City) has 29 classes with 30 classrooms. Information from Mr. Nguyen Duc Phuoc - Principal of the school: "If only counting the number of classrooms, the school is qualified to organize teaching and learning 2 sessions/day in the 2025 - 2026 school year. The school's Pedagogical Council is very in agreement with this policy.

Regarding staff, the school can take on STEM lessons, life skills..., clubs by subject and some talent clubs. Thus, it can meet the schedule of elective subjects in the second session.

Through reviewing the physical facilities, according to information from the Principal of Nguyen Trai High School, due to the project to renovate and build some items of the school being suspended, some classrooms are currently not up to standard to organize teaching and learning according to the requirements of the 2018 General Education Program. Many classrooms need to add a cooling fan system; the school's auditorium and multi-purpose gymnasium have degraded, posing a risk of being unsafe.

“The school recommends early investment in completing facilities and improving teaching conditions so that two sessions per day can be implemented soon, helping students and teachers reduce the workload in each session, giving them the opportunity to practice skills and develop comprehensively,” said Mr. Phuoc.

In the 2025-2026 school year, Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary School (Lien Chieu, Da Nang City) has 52 classes but only 25 classrooms, forcing it to use the council room and subject rooms as classrooms.

“If teaching and learning are organized in 2 sessions/day, basically, the teaching staff can meet the demand if the problem of classrooms is solved. At a minimum, the ratio of 1 class/classroom must be ensured. In addition, the Natural Science department must have at least 4 rooms; the IT and English department must have at least 2 rooms/subject,” Principal Bui Quy Quoc informed.

In guiding schools to review their facilities and staff to develop a plan to organize 2 sessions/day, Khanh Hoa Department of Education and Training requires schools, if organizing 2 sessions/day, to ensure the ratio of 1 classroom/class, facilities, and number of students/class according to current regulations; have enough minimum teaching equipment according to regulations; ensure the structure of teachers for subjects, educational activities, and staff according to current regulations, including teachers teaching extra hours and guest teachers.

Currently, the classroom/classroom ratio of junior high school in Khanh Hoa is 0.85 but is unevenly distributed in localities and there are local surpluses and shortages. Khanh Hoa Department of Education and Training recommends that the Provincial People's Committee direct departments, branches and sectors to arrange land and funding to build more classrooms, subject rooms, auxiliary and multi-functional rooms according to regulations. The implementation of 2-session teaching/day in junior high school will be implemented according to a roadmap, in which, in the 2025-2026 school year, it will be organized in schools that meet the requirements of facilities, classrooms and staff, with a target of about 50% of schools.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/day-hoc-2-buoingay-khong-thu-phi-ra-soat-dieu-kien-can-va-du-post743702.html