Tuyet said that to prepare for her first-grade child in HCM City, she hadto pay more than 1 million VND to buy three sets of school uniforms andone physical education uniform that cost nearly 600,000 VND.
Similarly, Huynh Tan Minh in Go Vap district had to spend 1.5 to 2million VND (65-87 USD) to prepare for his first-grade child.
The Government will not subsidise the new textbooks, so the parents have to buythe new textbooks for their children, he added. Nguyen Thanh Trung, chief ofthe secretariat at the city’s Department of Education and Training, said thatall five sets of textbooks, approved by the education ministry, will beabout 300,000 VND (12.9 USD) each, nearly double compared to last year'stextbooks.
The city will spend a part of its budget to buy sets of textbooks forstudents with financial difficulties if they cannot afford to buy them, Hieusaid.
In Tan Phu district, which is one of the localities having thelargest number of low-income migrant workers in the city, aprincipal of a school in the district said the school will seek donationsto buy textbooks for students with financial difficulties.
Of the five sets, the Chan Troi Sang Tao textbooks were chosen by 80 percentof the city’s schools.
Nearly 1 million copies of the textbooks have been printed, accounting for81 percent of the total textbook copies issued in the city, according to VietnamEducation Publishing House Co. Ltd.
Because the textbooks were written by many authors from the southern region,words and phrases as well as data are familiar to students.
“Many primary teachers in the city also took part in compiling them,” Hieusaid.
He said the city’s teachers are using new teaching and testing methodologiesthat will be compatible with the textbooks.
To meet the demands of the new training programme, Hieu said thathaving enough classrooms for first graders is a challenge becauseschools face a shortage of classrooms. The city’s land fund for building moreschools is limited.
The new training programme will require first-graders to study throughout theday. In the morning shift, students will study Vietnamese, maths, and othersubjects. In the afternoon shift, they will receive instruction throughvarious activities.
First-graders will study six days per week instead of five days if they studyall day.
The city has instructed educational sup-departments and schools to review theirfacilities and teaching aids and devices, Hieu said.
The city has 551 primary schools, including 484 public schools, an increase offour compared to the previous academic year.
There are 3,550 classrooms for the first grade for the 2020-21 schoolyear, with a shortage of 443, according to the department.
Hieu has instructed schools to use classrooms, halls and schoolyards toorganise activities to teach skills to first graders if they lackclassrooms./.