Students of a high school in HCMC attend the school opening ceremony in 2018. The opening day of the 2020-2021 school year might be postponed to August 15, 2020 – PHOTO: THANH HOA

According to the initial plan, the first day of school for kindergartens, high schools and vocational schools was slated for August 1, 2020. The opening ceremony for the new school year would be held on September 5, 2020, and it would end no later than May 31, 2021.

However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2019-2020 academic year will end on July 15, one and a half months later than scheduled. Therefore, if the 2020-2021 academic year begins on August 1 as initially planned, the summer vacation will only be for two weeks.

Describing postponing the first day of the 2020-2021 school year to August 15 as necessary, Nguyen Thu Lan, mother to a seventh and a third grader, said, “Although children didn’t go to school during the pandemic, they still had to attend online classes and couldn’t travel. Therefore, a two-week-long summer vacation is too short.”

Duong Toan, father to a first grader, said the 2020-2021 school year should only begin in late August or early September so that children can enjoy a longer summer vacation.

Although the 2019-2020 school year is scheduled to end on July 15, some provinces and cities such as Nghe An have accelerated the study program to end the school year before July, thus ensuring students enjoy a longer vacation.

In Hanoi, senior high schools such as Nguyen Du and Trung Vuong are holding the final exams for students, while Nguyen Tat Thanh High School and HUS High School for Gifted Students have already ended the 2019-2020 school year. SGT