The Ministry of Education and Training’s (MOET) Circular 29/2024 stipulates that schools and teachers must not provide extra paid lessons to their students. They can organize off-working hours classes, but must not charge students for the lessons.

The students attending the off-working hours classes are those who need additional lessons to improve their learning achievements, or those who need refresher courses to attend competitions for excellent students. Extra teaching can also be provided to students to help them review for important exams.

This circular came into effect on February 14, when teachers and students in secondary and high schools were preparing for the grade 10 entrance exam and high school finals.

Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Principal of Trung Vuong Secondary School in Hoan Kiem district, told VietNamNet that since March 1, the school has been conducting review sessions for over 400 grade-9 students. 

The school will help reinforce their knowledge through “zero-dong lessons” held in the early morning, Thursday afternoons, or at times suitable for teachers and students in each class. 

Before launching the free classes, students will register with their homeroom teachers. Then, depending on the situation of each class, teachers of Literature, Maths, and Foreign Language will arrange free supplementary lessons at appropriate times, ensuring compliance with regulations. In fact, the free model has been used for many years at Trung Vuong Secondary School.

Tran Thi Minh Hai, Vice Principal of Dich Vong Hau Secondary School in Cau Giay District, said the school has 330 grade-9 students and has developed ‘zero-cost lessons’ under the spirit of Circular 29. This will help students prepare for the high school entrance exam. 

She noted that after the circular ban, students tend to be more self-disciplined in their studies and more proactive in receiving knowledge and practicing self-study skills.

Other schools in Hanoi, such as Nguyen Phong Sac Secondary School, Mai Dong Secondary School, Dinh Cong High School, and AnKhanh Secondary School have also begun conducting free review sessions and established “zero-cost lessons” for final-year students.

Hoang Duc Thuan, Principal of Cao Ba Quat High School, said that the school decided to open training classes for final-year students who need them, without charging fees.

“The school encourages all teachers to voluntarily register to teach final-year students for free,” he said.

However, he commented that encouraging teachers to work for free is just a temporary solution. In the long term, there should be funding to support extracurricular teaching at school.

Hoang Thanh