4th May 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The Vietnam government has recently released new regulations regarding private tuition in the country in an attempt to stop what they see as over-working some primary school students. The new law prohibits giving private tuition to students who also attend primary school classes in both the morning and the afternoon. There has been a similar regulation in place since 2007, and many people are cynical about the effect that the new guidelines will have.
A small sample of 8 parents were interviewed, and all of them said that their children attended afterschool tuition classes. The parents said that private tuition is never offered to them as being compulsory, but the tutors are usually also the students’ teachers at school, and it’s implicit that if a student does not pay for, and attend, the afterschool tuition then the teachers will award them bad grades for their regular schoolwork.
The trouble is that the government’s guidelines are relatively easy to navigate around, and many teachers will simply claim that they are providing childcare for the parents. Also, the government does allow afterschool reading and writing practice provided that it doesn’t fall under the banner of private tuition, but with no clear distinction between the two it’s virtually impossible to prove that ‘private tuition’ is taking place.
The rewards are great for tutors, with hourly rates of 50,000 Dong (£1.50) per hour, and many tutors earning 15 million Dong (£450) a month, so tutors are prepared to try and operate under the radar. Parents often welcome the extra tuition, and head teachers admit that if they don’t allow tutors to use their classrooms then they will just hire private rooms.