On the afternoon of September 24, Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Nga - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ha Tinh City - said that from the 2024-2025 school year, Ha Tinh City will pilot a program for secondary school students to have Saturdays off.
This policy, according to Ms. Nga, has been agreed upon and supported by the leaders of Ha Tinh City People's Committee and Ha Tinh Province Department of Education and Training.
The Department of Education and Training of Ha Tinh City has been planning to implement this project for the past 3 years after several provinces and cities across the country had implemented it effectively and received high approval from teachers, parents and students.
“This comes from the support of parents and teachers. Because most parents in the city are civil servants and public employees who have Saturday and Sunday off, they want their children in middle school to also have Saturday mornings off so they can have time with their families to go out, travel, or go back to their hometown to visit grandparents and relatives.
Through understanding, I know that some parents are still wondering whether their children will go to extra classes on Saturdays. I confirm that the Department has instructed public schools and teachers under the City Education Department not to teach extra classes on Saturday mornings" - Ms. Nga affirmed.
In addition, Ms. Nga analyzed that secondary school teachers are also civil servants, and education civil servants as well as civil servants of some other agencies and professions all have Saturday and Sunday off. For example, preschool and primary school teachers also have Saturday and Sunday off, so secondary school teachers also want to have these days off. This is the need of 100% of teachers.
Having Saturday morning off does not affect the program or the quality of study because it has been fully arranged for 5 days a week from Monday to Friday. Instead of having an afternoon off on 5 days a week, they go to school an extra afternoon to have a full 2-day weekend off, Saturday and Sunday.
"I believe that after a two-day weekend break, both teachers and students will be healthy and have positive energy to teach and learn better in the new school week," Ms. Nga shared.
According to the investigation of Lao Dong Newspaper, Ha Tinh City currently has 9 secondary schools with 332 teachers and more than 7,700 students. The pilot program for secondary school students in Ha Tinh City to have Saturday off school will be implemented starting this school week.
