VietNamNet Bridge – Summer is not the time for Vietnamese students to relax, but the time for them to learn the things which are not taught at school.

Le Phuong, a state employee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has decided bring his 7-year old son to a 2-month English course in summer.

Phuong said he is not sure if two months are long enough for a training course. Phuong has also noted that the foreign language centers where the teachers are foreigners, all set very high tuitions.

However, he does not have any other choice. The boy would only have two months for the summer holiday, while he would come back to school in the second half of August, before the official new academic year opening day in early September.

Where to go learning in summer is also the question raised for the parents whose children have “graduated” from kindergartens. The parents in urban areas all think that their children need to be well prepared to go to primary school after the summer. Therefore, the children would have a busy summer holiday to practice reading and writing.

Thanh Loan, a young mother, complained that she has to pay VND130,000 a day to send the small daughter to a writing practice class run by an old retired teacher. The sum includes the tuition and the lunch. Loan believes that this is the “optimal solution” for her and the child, even though it is really costly, and though she is not sure if the training course is really necessary for the girl.

Le Thao Nhung in Nam Trung Yen residential quarter in Cau Giay district in Hanoi, also said that in previous years, the two children were sent to extra classes for all the 2 months. However, she has doubts about whether the learning during summer holiday is helpful. Though the children went to classes, their learning capability was not improved, while they felt tired all the time.

Nhung has decided to free the children from the extra classes this summer and let them play during the holiday.

“I would leave them with an old woman who would take care of them,” she said.

“The woman is not a teacher who does not have necessary pedagogical skills. However, I would rather leave them there than confine them to their rooms at our house,” she added.

However, Nhung admitted that she may change her idea later. “All of my relatives’ and friends’ children still go to class in summer. And I feel insecure to let them play. They may forget all the knowledge they received at school,” she complained.

Meanwhile, well off families may register the live skill training courses for their children. Such training courses have been mushrooming to satisfy the increasingly high demand. Vietnamese parents nowadays believe that their children should be educated with the western style, i.e. that they need to be not only good at scientific knowledge, but also need to be dynamic enough to get adapted to all circumstances.

However, such training courses are relatively costly, about VND4-8 million each.

Vu Thu Hao, Director of a live skill center in Ba Dinh district, said parents began registering the training courses in early April.

Hoang Cam Tu, a psychologist, believes that it would be better if parents can arrange reasonable play and study schedules for their children in summer. Overwork would make children tired, while immoderate play would make them lazier.

Nguyen Hien