A Ho Chi Minh City-based university has taken students by shock when it announced the timetable for the upcoming semester, with classes starting as early as 6:00 am and ending a little after ten at night.
A screenshot of the class time announcement of the University of Technology, a member of the country’s leading Vietnam National University, was posted on the school’s Facebook page on October 18 and immediately sparked controversy among students.
According to the new academic schedule, there will be 17 separate class sections a day at the university, with the first one starting at six in the morning, and the last one ending at 10:10 pm.
Each period is 50 minutes long and is followed by a ten-minute break.
Classes after 6 pm will not be followed by a break so as to be able to finish the school as early as possible.
The new schedule is supposed to be implemented from the next semester.
While many students expressed strong opposition towards the new academic timetable, the school’s professor claims it only benefits students.
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| The screenshot of the new school time |
6-to-10 classes
The school did note in the timetable that the 6:00 am class and the one that starts from 9:20 pm to 10:10 pm should “not be scheduled regularly.”
For the earlier class times, lecturers are encouraged not to teach continuously without a break.
The screenshot of the document on the university’s Facebook page has received over 200 comments and 610 shares so far.
Many students expressed their concerns and frustration towards the new class times.
“Studying from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm can only result in hospitalization,” one of the comments claims.
A student named Phuong Linh expressed her doubts whether the school had even taken into consideration student’s needs and desires, as well as teachers’ thought on this.
“I believe that not even a third of students and teachers would want this,” she said.
“Moreover, the question is whether it will be conducted like this in real life as the ten-minute break time could last much longer than expected.
“Has anyone asked students what they truly want, or whether they would agree to it?”
On the other hand, some students found it “normal” or did not seem to be concerned with the matter.
Back-up classes
Prof. Bui Hoai Thang, head of academic training with the University of Technology, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that students used to begin their classes at 6:30 am, which was claimed to be too early, so from next semester on most students will begin the classes at 7:00 am.
“However, to be prepared for special circumstances, the school still allocated class times at 6:00 am,” he added.
For instance, Thang said, students of part-time programs who live in the rural area and want to finish the course quickly can take those classes.
“This is well noted in the announcement,” the professor said, indicating that many students have misunderstood the academic timetable and others were too quick to judge.
According to Thang, the current laws stipulate that an education institution properly register such class times as 6:00 am as it is not encouraged to be teaching at such unusual times.
Just because the University of Technology has registered to start classes at 6:00 am does not necessarily mean it will do so, he underlined.
“In fact, full-time students will not start school earlier than 7:00 am,” he added.
Moreover, while in previous semesters students had to be attending lectures for 6 consecutive periods, the streak will be reduced to five from the next semester on, “which is why the new timetable will only benefit students,” according to Thang.
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