Vietnamese students have to learn harder and do more home exercises than foreign students, but this does not mean that Vietnamese are better than foreign.

Le Thu Trang in Dong Da district in Hanoi complained that the family’s activities have been upset since the day the daughter goes to primary school. Trang has to spend more time to meet and see off the child everyday in the morning and afternoon, and then spend 2-3 hours in the evening to help the child to deal with numerous home exercises.

“After the dinner, I have to solve math and Vietnamese language exercises with my daughter until 10 pm, when I get so tired and have to go to bed. Besides, my daughter also has to practice writing and learn English,” she complained.

“My daughter always complains that she is tired. However, she has no other choice than learning and learning. If she does not do home exercises, she would be punished by the teachers,” she added.

Trinh Trung Ha in the Trung Hoa – Nhan Chinh residential quarter of Thanh Xuan district also said the members of his family don’t have time for relax and entertainment, because they have to spend all of their time to help the son in his study.

“I have been told that the main task of first graders is learning to read and write. Why do we still force them to learn so hard?” he questioned.

“My son stays at school in the morning and afternoon, and he has to do home exercises in the evening. He has lost weight since he began going to school,” he complained.

In reply to the parents’ complaints, Vu Mai Huong, a primary school teacher in Thanh Xuan District, said parents should learn more about the hard work of teachers.

First graders are the ones who have just left kindergarten, who have to learn a lot of necessary skills, from the way of holding pens to the way of speaking their mind.

“A lot of students drop off in the classes, or cry all the time, which takes us much time to deal with the problems,” she said.

Under the current regulations, a class must not have more than 35 students. However, there are up to 60 students in every class. That explains why teachers do not have enough time in the class to give instructions to students or mark work papers. Therefore, students have to complete their exercises at home.

Huong also said that while many parents complain about the overloading, other parents always ask teachers to give more exercises to students.

Doan Bich Ha, a housewife in Ba Dinh district, said that a lot of parents at the parents’ meeting held earlier this academic year, asked the teachers to give as many home exercises as possible.

“They said that they feel worried about the children, who spend most of their time in the evening to watch TV or play games. If they have to do home exercises, they would not waste time on games anymore,” Ha said.

Vu Thi Thanh T, a primary school teacher in Tay Ho district, also said that teachers really do not want to give too many exercises to students, because they would have to spend more time on marking the school works.

The young teacher said a lot of Vietnamese parents are too demanding, and they put high hopes on the children’s learning records; therefore, they wish to see their children learn hard.