As children around the world prepare to enjoy summer when time off from school means spending their days doing what kids love, Vietnamese children are ‘enjoying’ their 'break' in a more academic manner.

Officially, schools in Vietnam commence on the fifth day of September every year and end around late May or early June, which means students are supposed to have at least two and a half months of summer vacation.

In reality, however, few children are lucky enough to enjoy a full school-free summer break, as most Vietnamese parents are aware not to let their kids get rusty on their schoolwork or they may fall behind their peers when the new school year starts.

Thus, many parents in the country are already signing their kids up for summer school for a wide range of subjects to prepare them for the fierce race ahead.

“Wednesday was the first day of summer school for my oldest kid,” said Nguyen Mai, a mother of two in Ho Chi Minh City and a high school teacher herself.

Mai’s two kids, one in eighth grade and the other in third grade, are all taking classes this summer, with the older one studying four subjects - math, physics, chemistry, and English every morning from Monday to Thursday.

When questioned whether the kids can enjoy their summer with so much schoolwork, Mai said they still had the afternoons and three-day weekends to have fun.

The mother added that her youngest child’s summer curricula included music, fine arts, physical education, English, math, and Vietnamese.

“It’s good that the habit of studying will be maintained throughout summer,” Mai concluded.

“So they can accustom themselves to the first grade” is a common reason given by parents at Chau Van Liem Elementary School in District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, for signing their fresh ‘kindergarten graduates’ up for summer classes at the school, a brief on-site survey by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday found.

As many as 200 such ‘kindergarten graduates’ had been enrolled for summer classes at the school after only four days of registration.

“Summer classes are like a baby-sitting service,” a parent named Nguyen Vu said. “Parents like me wouldn’t know where to send our kids to during summertime without these classes.”

“It’s a pity that the school only has classes in the morning though,” another parent at Binh Tien Elementary School in District 6 said. “If there were classes in the afternoon, I would sign my daughter up for those, too.”

Meanwhile, Dang Nguyet Thao, mother of a third grader at the same school, said even if the school had not opened classes in the summer, she would still have sent her kid to teachers’ houses or private schools for tutoring, as “[her] kid needs a place to study in the summer anyway.”

As observed by Tuoi Tre reporters, all but two elementary and middle schools in District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, are running classes this summer, with some even offering full-time classes to meet parents’ needs.

The content of these classes includes both curricular and extracurricular subjects, with the former focusing mainly on revising the previous year’s knowledge and mentoring students with unsatisfactory academic performance.

Extracurricular subjects vary from foreign languages and computers to more active activities such as swimming, performance arts, and talent clubs.

According to the principal of a private high school in the city, the objective of summer classes is to reduce the workload on teachers and students during the formal school year.

“If we packed all the required knowledge into nine months, the students would be extremely stressed,” the headmaster explained.

“In addition, the spare time we get from such a reduced schedule would be reserved for talent and soft skill classes, art performances, and social activities,” he added.

“They can’t just learn and learn.”

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