Over the past five months, such a class has been held at an apartment building in HCM City every Saturday and Sunday, attracting many children who will begin Grade 1 soon. Each student has to pay VND100,000 (USD4.54) for the 2.5-hour lesson. 

An extra class for children to practise writing and maths before they start Grade 1

The class is quite crowded and noisy. Children mostly are instructed to write for hours and they have a 10-minute break.

Anyone who failed to complete the writing as required has to do this during the break.

After writing, they are also taught maths. The teacher often reminds, shouts and scolds the children during the lesson.

Nguyen Quoc Dat from Binh Tan District said that his wife took his child to an extra class for study before Grade 1. Since joining the class, his son seemed to be afraid of school.

According to Dat, a teacher said to him that she used a ruler to tap children’s hands when they wrote incorrectly. He opposed this while his wife was totally agreed with her, saying that this would help their children to pay more attention to the writing.

Dang Ngoc Sinh in Binh Thanh District is in the same situation. Her children are now attending an extra class for children before Grade 1. The class opens from 10:30 am to midday as the teacher’s schedule is quite full.

Sometimes, when a teacher comes late, the children have to wait until 11 am to start the lesson and the class finishes at 1 pm, upsetting the family’s plans, Sinh said. But claims she is proud now that children can write well.

At such many classes, children even do not have tables to study so they sit on the floor to write.

Dr.Tran Lan Huong from the Ministry of Education and Training advised parents not to force children to learn writing and maths before they start Grade 1 as it can have a negative effect on their children.