Hold the principal accountable if there is a violation.
In an official dispatch sent to schools under its management, the Department of Education and Training of Ba Dinh District (Hanoi) affirmed that the situation of illegal extra teaching and learning has been happening recently, causing outrage among parents and the public.
The leaders of the Ba Dinh District Education Department also requested schools to strengthen supervision and inspection of extra teaching and learning activities. In particular, the behavior and attitude of teachers who force students to take extra classes need to be paid special attention to promptly handle and review violations.
Schools must also review joint teaching programs, after-school clubs, life skills education, supplementary teaching, English and other foreign language familiarization, etc. to ensure that these activities are voluntary and have agreement between the school and parents. At the same time, schools must publicize the list of licensed tutoring facilities to organize activities for parents to know.
According to regulations, the school principal is responsible to the Department of Education and Training for any violations of regulations. Schools with staff and teachers who violate regulations on extra teaching and learning will not be considered for emulation titles during the school year.
Not only in Hanoi, in Hai Phong, the City People's Committee has also just issued a document requesting the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong to preside over, together with the People's Committees of districts, departments, branches, and related units to focus on rectifying so that extra teaching, extra learning, and educational linkage at public educational institutions can promote real effectiveness, and gain high consensus from students and parents.
In case of detecting an educational institution or unit violating legal regulations or creating negative public opinion, causing resentment among parents, according to authority, it is possible to request to stop organizing joint teaching and learning to conduct inspection, examination, and rectification of activities; not to let hot spots of public opinion and resentment among students and parents occur.
Similarly, in Vinh Phuc, the Vinh Phuc Department of Education and Training has strengthened state management in this field. In the 2024-2025 school year, the department is researching and considering proposing solutions to ensure that joint teaching does not affect the main curriculum, is allocated reasonable time and does not create pressure on students; continue to direct the resolution of existing problems and limitations in the management of checking lesson plans and teaching content of joint activities at some units.
If managed well, tutoring can be a rewarding activity.
In recent years, in addition to extra teaching and learning, joint activities such as: Teaching foreign languages with foreign elements, information technology, life skills, STEM education, Math thinking... have increasingly flourished.
These activities are expected to bring positive effects, but in reality, there are still limitations. In some places, there are even signs of forcing students to study, causing resentment among parents.
Talking to Lao Dong about extra teaching and learning, Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh - former Director of the Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Training - said that many countries such as Korea and Singapore have had very successful models of supporting extra-curricular learning, where teachers can teach extra lessons legally and in an organized manner, but are not allowed to teach students in their own class to avoid conflicts of interest.
This shows that, if tutoring is closely managed and implemented properly, it can support students in consolidating their knowledge. Especially for students who need more time and individual guidance to understand the lesson, tutoring is necessary.
"If Vietnam decides to include tutoring in the scope of professional activities of teachers, there must be strict and transparent regulations on implementation conditions and ensure that tutoring does not affect the quality of formal teaching. This will help tutoring become a useful activity, beneficial to students without causing injustice" - Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh shared.
