VietNamNet Bridge – The “thirst for summer classes” has become more serious than ever. Parents have to queue up through the night to register summer classes for their children.

When new academic years begin, parents have to queue up through the night to apply for studying at grammar schools. And when summers come, they have to queue up through the night to scramble for seats at summer classes.

Summer classes overloaded

Clubs, education centers, sports centers and schools announced before that they would only accept registrations for summer classes in early June 2011. However, parents have to contact the education centers in late May in order to get forms of application. It would be not a surprise at all if someone sees parents jostling with each other in front of education centers.

On the first day of accepting registrations for sports classes at the October 10 children’s house, in Ba Dinh district in Hanoi, many parents were present in front of the house when it was dark, though the house only began working at 7.30 am.

The parents said that their children wished to learn swimming and some other kinds of sports and they needed to scramble for seats at the classes. Those, who turned up at the children’s house at 7.30 am were told that they did not get the opportunity to buy the application forms.

Pham Huy Quang, who lives in Thanh Cong residential quarter, said happily that he was lucky enough to register a seat for his daughter at a swimming class at the October 10 children’s house, which has been well known as a good address for sports practices. However, he sadly said that it took him too much time and exertion to do that.

“Queuing up for the right to go to sports classes is the thing which can be seen only in Hanoi,” he complained.

However, Quang was still luckier than many other parents. The managers of the October 10 Children’s House said that there is only one swimming pool large enough for 1200 children, while the demand is 10 times higher.

The same situation is also occurring at the Hanoi Children’s Palace. Parents have been told that they need to register summer classes on the days between May 15 and May 31. However, the seats at “golden hours” (9-11 am and 3-7 pm every day) ran out prior to May 31. Especially, the classes for “hot” subjects like drawing or music had been full since mid May.

Where to send children to in summer?

Standing in front of the notice board and seeing the schedules of summer classes, Pham Thi Ha, a parent in Hoan Kiem District asked the 7-year old son: “What do you want to go, a drawing or life skill class? Let me know immediately, so that I can arrange my time to meet and see you off”.

“I learned drawing at school already. I went to a life skill class last summer already. Now I have to go to the countryside,” the boy answered. “But no one can take care for you in the home village,” she replied.

Finally, Ha decided to send the child to a day-boarding class, where the boy can stay in the daytime.

Ha related that last year she sent the boy to a life skill training class. However, she was discouraged with what he was taught. The boy simply learned how to introduce about himself, his family and classes.

“He learned these things at schools already,” she said. However, she did not regret bringing the son to the live skill class, because she needed to keep the boy somewhere, while she still had to go to work.

Meanwhile, a psychologist, an advisor at the Hanoi Children’s Palace, said that parents should not put too high of hopes on summer classes, and they should not expect that their children can become other people just after the training courses in summer. Summer classes are just the places where children can go to play and entertain themselves.

Source: Tien phong