VietNamNet Bridge – While the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) tries to think of the measures to stop private tutoring, a National Assembly Deputy admits that private tutoring is the main source of income for her and her family.

The prolonged argument about whether to allow teachers giving private tutoring and students going to extra classes still has not come to an end.

MOET has taken drastic measures to prevent teachers from giving extra lessons to students to have extra income, after a lot of parents complained that their children have to attend the private tutoring classes unwillingly, and educators affirmed that private tutoring would kill students’ creativeness.

The parents said that they don’t have the right to decide whether to go to extra classes. If their children don’t attend the classes run by their teachers, they would receive bad marks from the teachers.

Psychologists said that students, especially primary school students, need to have time to relax, because “all works and no play would make Jack a dull boy,” affirming that no need to stuff students’ heads with too many additional things, except the lessons at school.

Nevertheless, teachers argue that receiving extra lessons is a demand that exists in reality, and that it is quite reasonable if teachers run their classes to satisfy the demand.

According to Le Thi Ngoc Diep, Headmaster of Nguyen Binh Khiem Primary School in HCM City, the students who have demand for extra lessons include the weak students who need extra help with some learning subjects, or the ones, who prepare to attend the entrance exams to the schools for the gifted.

Especially, primary school students want to go to extra classes because their parents want to have someone taking care for them while they are away at business.

Meanwhile, teachers have the high demand to give private tutoring to get money to cover the basic needs.

Agreeing with Diep, Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc, Headmaster of the Gia Dinh High School, a National Assembly Deputy, said she herself earns her living mostly on giving private tutoring to the students, who prepare for the university entrance exams.

The competition among students to obtain the seats at universities is really very stiff, and only the best students can be selected. Therefore, students all want to attend private tutoring classes in order to have better knowledge to attend the exams.

Cuc said her daughter also had to attend a private tutoring class when she prepared for the exams to a prestigious high school. Since the school is one of the 10 best high schools in the city, it set very high requirements on students. If students did not attend private tutoring classes, they would not pass the exams to the school.

Cuc explained that students want extra lessons because they want to be prepared in the best way for the exams. Meanwhile, students now all want to study at prestigious schools, because the training quality can decide the future of the students.

Meanwhile, Do Duc Huyen, President of Ngoi Sao people-founded High School, has warned that if students have to learn too hard, they would lose their creativeness and cannot develop in a natural way.

He stressed that students should try to improve their capability and knowledge with self-educated methods, while they should not rely on the lessons from teachers.

Tien Phong