Many Hanoi universities have refused to change school hours as ordered by local authorities early last month, citing “inconvenience” as the reason.
Duong Van Ba, a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Education and Training, told Tuoi Tre newspaper that Hanoi traffic police had complained many universities declined to obey the order which was meant to reduce traffic jams during rush hour.
The ministry has thus issued a written directive which demands immediate obedience from those schools, Ba said.
The capital started to change work and school hours on January 1 amidst growing concern over increasingly serious traffic jams.
College and high school students are accordingly required to start before 7:00 am for morning shifts and finish after 7:00 pm for afternoon classes.
Previously, they began school at 7:00 am or 7:30 am and ended around 5:30 pm.
The new schedule quickly faced protest from high school teachers, students, and parents who complained it put many adverse influences on their daily life.
Teachers said staying longer at school stole their quality time while high students grumbled it was unreasonable for them to start earlier but finish much later.
Parents, meanwhile, have been worried about their children’s health and safety since the new school hours were in effect.
Recently, Hanoi allowed high school students to go home earlier, around 6:00 pm, following those public complaints.
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