Under the Ministry of Education and Training's new circular on regulations governing parent representative committees, which takes effect on November 15, parent meetings must be held at the beginning of the school year to discuss students' care, upbringing and learning; agreement on areas requiring coordination between families and teachers; and election of the parent representative committee.

Subsequent meetings may be held during the school year when necessary in person, online or in a hybrid format.

The new rules will change the current practice of holding three parent meetings a year: at the beginning of the school year, at the end of the first semester and at the end of the school year.

Meetings only when necessary

Nguyen Thanh Huyen, a mother of two children in fourth grade and kindergarten in Hanoi, said ending the requirement to hold three parent meetings a year is a reasonable move.

The meetings mainly serve to provide general updates or report on class income and expenditure, she said. Most information about students' learning and daily activities is already regularly shared by teachers through Zalo, Facebook and other communication channels.

"Information from teachers reaches parents very quickly these days. If there is anything that needs discussing, parents and teachers can contact each other directly rather than having to wait for a meeting. Meetings should be held only when they are truly necessary," Huyen said.

She also noted that requiring parents to attend a fixed number of meetings could interfere with their work, particularly for those who struggle to arrange their schedules. However, she believes in-person meetings should not be eliminated entirely, as they give teachers and parents more time to discuss learning plans, ways to support their children, and approaches to managing and educating them.

Pham Thi Tuyen, a mother of an primary school student in Hung Yen, said in-person parent meetings still offer benefits that online discussion groups cannot easily replace. By visiting the school, parents can directly observe their children's classrooms, dining areas and daily living spaces, while also meeting homeroom teachers and other parents.

"When communicating through Zalo, parents mainly learn about their own children. At meetings, they gain a broader picture of the entire class's activities and can see the environment in which their children study and spend their time. Meeting teachers in person also helps parents understand them better and have more open and in-depth discussions," she said.

Tuyen said her child's school usually holds meetings on weekends or after 5 pm, with each session lasting about an hour. The meetings mainly cover students' academic performance, daily activities and general class events. Despite her busy work schedule, she has never missed one.

However, she believes that although schools should no longer be rigidly required to hold three meetings a year, they should retain two, corresponding to the two semesters. This would eliminate meetings that are not truly necessary while preserving opportunities for families and schools to meet in person.

Parents want meetings to better understand their children

Dao Ngoc Hue, whose child is in the ninth grade in Hanoi, said the new rules would give schools greater flexibility, but parents should not assume that fewer meetings are always better.

"The frequency of meetings should depend on students' ages, academic performance and issues that arise during each school year. In the final years of a school level, when students face many exams, schools could even hold four or five meetings a year so teachers can share information and work with parents to help guide their children," Hue said.

She added that from the final years of secondary school through high school, students often undergo significant psychological and physical changes and become more susceptible to influences from friends and their surrounding environment. 

In-person meetings give parents additional information to help identify problems their children may be facing. They also provide an opportunity for families and schools to agree on ways to support students, rather than responding only after a problem has become serious.

"Zalo and online tools are very useful, but they cannot always facilitate detailed discussions about the entire class. When an issue requires coordination among multiple parents and teachers, meeting in person still has its own value," she said.

Thuy Nga