How has HCM City restricted private tutoring?

Since the Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 17/2012 regulating private tutoring, HCMC has rolled out numerous guidelines for implementation. The city government introduced various measures, including increased supervision of in-school teaching hours to prevent under-teaching that pushes students toward paid lessons. Violations have been met with strict penalties.

Each academic year, the HCMC Department of Education and Training (DOET) issues directives requiring school principals to remind teachers of their responsibility to deliver full lessons and to refrain from unauthorized tutoring. District education departments are also tasked with monitoring and organizing official teaching activities to ensure education quality.

The DOET has repeatedly mandated a total ban on private tutoring for students already enrolled in full-day school programs and for all primary students. Teachers are discouraged from chasing performance metrics and are required to ensure students progress without coercing them into private lessons. Violations lead to disciplinary action.

Following the Ministry’s release of Circular 29 on tutoring, DOET Director Nguyen Van Hieu instructed district education heads and school principals to disseminate the new regulation to all staff, students, and parents. He emphasized strict adherence, ordered inspections, and warned against unauthorized tutoring both inside and outside the school system.

Director Hieu also stressed that test and assessment design must align with the 2018 General Education Program and avoid pressuring students into extra classes. Still, he advised schools not to neglect supplemental support for struggling students and year-end exam preparation for graduating classes.

District education departments were instructed to inspect tutoring activities, ensuring primary schools follow the ban on private lessons and implement the full-day school program in line with the national curriculum.

District 12 was the first to form a tutoring inspection task force in February 2025. Just two weeks later, DOET launched a citywide inspection campaign across more than 60 schools in 15 days. The Department directly inspected 16 schools, while authorities in 21 districts and Thu Duc City checked 46 primary and secondary institutions.

To improve transparency, DOET has launched a public website listing authorized tutoring centers and registered teachers for parents and students to monitor.

Private tutoring still sneaks in

Despite increased oversight, illicit tutoring continues in various forms within schools and centers. In December 2024, a surprise inspection by authorities in Binh Hung Hoa B Ward (Binh Tan District) uncovered multiple unauthorized tutoring sites.

Among them was a location run by a teacher from Vinh Loc High School, who hosted three classes with 50 students - including many she taught during regular school hours. Other Vinh Loc teachers were also found tutoring their own students at the same facility.

In mid-March 2025, Binh Hung Hoa A Ward authorities inspected several tutoring centers and found more violations.

At the Y My Tutoring Center, two classrooms hosted 37 primary students from Binh Thuan, Phu Dong, and Lac Hong schools. They were mainly studying Vietnamese and Math for third grade. At Thien Ngan Tutoring Center, 18 students - mostly from Phu Dong Primary School - were present. The center lacked required agreements with parents, did not post tuition rates, schedules, or teacher lists as mandated by Circular 29.

Teachers found coercing students into tutoring have faced disciplinary measures. One example involved a teacher from N.V.L High School, who was exposed online for sending messages “suggesting” Chemistry lessons. The teacher was ordered to stop unauthorized tutoring and had their quarterly bonus - worth tens of millions of dong - cut.

Despite efforts to clamp down, authorities acknowledge that tutoring meets a genuine need and should be respected. Parents must be allowed to choose how their children receive extra academic support.

Speaking with VietNamNet, Le Thi Mai from District 10 said her 11th-grade child attends a nearby licensed center, attending classes freely with parental approval. After school ends at 4:45 PM, the student exercises, eats dinner, then bikes to class.

On days with two subjects, lessons run from 5:45 PM to 8:45 PM; for one subject, from 7:45 PM to 8:45 PM. Tuition is around USD 32 per subject per month. Her child studies four subjects - Literature, Math, English, and Chemistry - costing a total of USD 128 per month.

In Binh Thanh District, Bui Minh Phuong opts for at-home tutoring for her two children. Her eldest studies Math, Physics, and Chemistry from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM daily. The younger child studies Math, Physics, Chemistry, and English on a rotating schedule from 5:15 PM to as late as 10:00 PM. She pays USD 18 per two-hour session, totaling USD 560 to 600 monthly for both children.

According to DOET Chief of Office Ho Tan Minh, the city has 1,300 tutoring centers with 3,300 registered teachers. However, the real figure is likely higher due to unregistered activity. The Department is considering a policy to ban tutoring after 8:00 PM and is gathering feedback before submitting the proposal to the city government.

“HCMC is a major urban area with frequent traffic congestion during rush hour,” Minh said. “After school ends around 4:00 or 5:00 PM, students need time to get home, eat, and rest before heading to tutoring centers. But ideally, all such activities should conclude by 8:00 PM.”

Le Huyen