No fee, maximum teaching period is 7 hours/day
This is the first time the Ministry of Education and Training has issued unified and detailed instructions for all three levels of education, from the principles of implementation, time frame to educational content.
Accordingly, primary school teachers will teach 2 sessions/day with a maximum of 7 sessions/day, each session is 35 minutes. Session 1 teaches the main curriculum according to regulations; session 2 is for consolidation, supplementation, skills education, experience, career guidance activities...
For secondary and high school levels, teaching 2 sessions/day is not mandatory but is implemented in places with sufficient conditions. The school arranges a minimum of 5 school days per week, a maximum of 11 sessions/week; no more than 7 sessions per day, each session is 45 minutes. The content of the second session focuses on three main groups: Advising unqualified students, training excellent students and reviewing for the final exam...
A new highlight is that the Ministry of Education and Training does not strictly regulate that the morning is the session 1, the afternoon is the session 2; it does not allow the alternation between compulsory lessons and parts according to needs in the same session. The school is flexibly organized according to actual conditions.
In addition, to ensure fairness and reduce the financial burden on parents, the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that no tuition fees for the second session are collected. Funding is allocated from the local budget, while promoting socialization...
Proactive and flexible in implementation
On August 12, speaking with reporters, Ms. La Thi Thanh Huyen - Principal of Muong Xen Secondary School (in the mountainous commune of Muong Xen, Nghe An province) - said that this school year, the school has 505 students, 13 classes but only 12 teachers, a shortage of up to 14 people. Regarding the implementation of teaching 2 sessions/day according to the general plan of the industry, Ms. Huyen said: "Although it is difficult, in the 2025-2026 school year, we still balance the teaching force to organize 2 sessions/day. All afternoon classes are free.
In addition to school hours, students also participate in art clubs, English, traffic safety... However, the contract to hire artists, artisans, and athletes to train students' talents cannot be implemented due to lack of funding and difficulty in finding suitable human resources in mountainous areas.
At Ha Huy Tap High School (Thanh Vinh Ward), Mr. Cao Thanh Bao - Principal - said that the school also organizes the main school class in the morning, free school in the afternoon for cultural subjects, reviewing exams, and training excellent students; at the same time, giving students to participate in English clubs, arts, traffic safety, and sports. "The stadium and multi-functional house are open for free so that students can operate freely. We also organize physical education classes on Saturdays to facilitate students, said Mr. Bao.
Ms. Lieu Thi Kham - Principal of Trang Phai Primary and Secondary School (Lang Son) - shared that the Department of Education and Training of Lang Son has issued a document guiding the implementation of teaching and learning in 2 sessions/day. According to the department's instructions, the school has collected opinions on the organization of the study.
Ms. Kham said that the school's current difficulty is not having a boarding kitchen, and the facilities are not ready for students to stay for lunch. In addition, the shortage of teachers has forced many teachers to teach part-time, increasing the number of teaching hours, while the budget is allocated according to the current teacher payroll quota. This leads to delays in the budget to pay overtime teachers' salaries...
"In the coming time, when implementing 2 sessions/day, the school and teachers hope to pay more attention, especially regarding policies for teachers' staff, as well as investing in facilities for children to study safely, so that teachers can work with peace of mind" - Ms. Kham said.
At Chieng Noi Primary School (Son La province), the facilities for teaching in 2 sessions are also being prepared. Mr. Ha Cong Minh - Principal of the school - said that the biggest difficulty for the school is the arrangement of boarding areas to meet the needs of students.
" next school year, the number of boarding students will increase compared to the previous school year with 50 students. There is a dining area, but the sleeping area is currently overloaded. Regarding the solution, the school has submitted a petition to the Commune People's Committee to request permission to use the surplus committee building after the merger. This building is right next to the school, with many floors and many classrooms, so if allowed to be used, it will be very convenient" - Mr. Minh said.
If in mountainous provinces, the implementation of teaching 2 sessions/day still faces many difficulties and limitations that need to be resolved, then in Hanoi and some provinces and cities, organizing teaching 2 sessions/day at the primary level is not new.
For example, in Hanoi, according to statistics from the Department of Education and Training, 100% of primary schools organize teaching sessions/day. At the secondary level, about 60% of schools are qualified to organize teaching sessions/day. For high school level, the rate of schools qualified to organize 2 sessions/day is still modest, mainly concentrated in private schools.
Similarly, in Ho Chi Minh City, organizing 2 teaching sessions/day has been implemented for many years. According to the report of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training at the time before the merger, the rate of teaching 2 sessions/day at primary school level is currently at 92.98%; the rate of teaching 2 sessions/day at secondary school level is at 93%.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training recognizes that teaching 2 sessions/day contributes to improving the quality of education, developing according to qualities and abilities based on a diverse educational environment, helping students have a healthy environment to develop, parents feel secure; having more time for students to work in groups, participate in collective activities, experience and develop personal abilities...
Expecting a real second class, helping to develop learners' abilities
As a parent with 2 children in primary and secondary school, Ms. Pham Quynh Thu (Thanh Hoa) supports the policy of teaching 2 sessions/day. However, what she cares about is the second session, what content, knowledge, and skills will students learn.
"I want to know what my two children will learn, whether I can choose the content or not. In elementary school, I expected my child to learn more life skills. For those in junior high school and high school, they can include career orientation content in the second session instead of learning cultural knowledge" - Ms. Thu suggested.
Mr. Nguyen Van Luc - former teacher of Trinh Phong Secondary School, Khanh Hoa - said that teaching 2 sessions/day in previous school years has been implemented by some secondary schools, but most of the second session of the school organizes additional teaching of some subjects such as Math, Literature, English as the main subject and has fees. Therefore, Mr. Luc hopes that the teaching of the second session of the 2025-2026 school year should be strictly implemented according to the instructions of the Ministry of Education and Training. In addition, Mr. Luc also noted the cost of teaching 2 sessions/day.
"It is necessary to clarify that social funding cannot be used to pay for teaching two sessions/day because otherwise it will lead to a bienlation in turning the second session into extra teaching time with student fees" - Mr. Luc said.
Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Chief of Office of Nghe An Department of Education and Training - said: "The policy of organizing 2 teaching sessions/day is completely correct, aiming to develop comprehensive capacity for students.
The general viewpoint of the industry is to implement promptly, comprehensively, synchronously, remove any difficulties, or propose solutions to superiors. Although this is the first year, there are still many surprises, but with high determination, we believe we will successfully implement the program.
