How long is a school day in Vietnam?

How long is school in Vietnam?

Okay, so like, school in Vietnam? It's twelve years, total. Totally twelve.

It's broken down into sections tho. Five years are primary school. Then, there's four year for secondary. Almost done.

• Primary: 5 years
• Secondary: 4 years
• High School: 3 years

And lastly, you do high school for, uh, three years. After that you're done, well with basic edumacation, anyway! Most kids do the daily thing, so like, every day school basicly. My cosuin went there and that's what she said.

What time do schools finish in Vietnam?

Okay, so, Vietnam school finish times? It's... complicated. I remember my little cousin, An, in Hanoi. Damn, that kid.

He used to grumble every morning. Up at 6 AM? Seriously?

His schedule was brutal. Breakfast, a quick banh mi, gone by 6:30. School started, like, right after. Early!

Elementary schools? They seemed to wrap up around 11 AM or noon, some days. But then... the afternoon sessions.

High schoolers? They’re in the trenches until 4 or 5 PM, easy. Longer if they’re prepping for those killer university entrance exams. Talk about pressure! My aunt was always stressed about it.

It depends on the... grade, honestly. And whether it's a public or private school and the day of the week.

• Elementary (Primary):
  • Morning session: Finishes around 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM.
  • Afternoon session (optional): 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM.
• Middle School (Secondary): Ends around 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM.
• High School: 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM.
• Extra Classes: Many students attend extra classes outside of school hours, pushing their study time even longer. Those classes might end very very late.
• Saturday Classes: Some schools have classes on Saturday mornings too.

Plus... extracurriculars. An had English tutoring, piano lessons... the works. Never a break!

What is school life like in Vietnam?

School. Vietnam. Thirteen years. So it goes.

Life is rote learning. A grind.

• Primary: Five years. Foundation laid, or not.
• Secondary: Four years. Adolescence looms.
• High School: Three years. Future tense. Or not.

General knowledge? They aim. Talent development? A dream. Or just a saying?

Daily grind? Most show up. I should know. Remember Grandma's pho? It wasn't this bland.

What age do you finish school in Vietnam?

So, Vietnam, eh? Finishing school. Grades 10 to 12. Ah, yes, the sweet agony of adolescence.

You're mostly done, academically speaking, around 18. Give or take, like my ability to parallel park.

• Upper Secondary School (grades 10-12). Not mandatory! Shocking, I know.
• It's like a choose-your-own-adventure book, but with higher stakes, and less fun.
• Think intense exams; higher education—or vocational training. Decisions, decisions.

National exams dictate destinies! Dramatic. Like my aunt's love life.

• These exams? Gatekeepers of the future. No pressure.
• A bridge, perhaps, to the shimmering land of higher learning. Or not.
• Vocational training exists. Like a Plan B. A perfectly respectable Plan B.

Imagine, 18 and facing the big wide world. With a degree? Maybe. With skills? Hopefully! My attempts at cooking suggests vocational training are valuable.

• Post-graduation? A world of possibility!
• From Hanoi's bustling streets to...well, I’m bad at geography. You get it.
• The future awaits! Filled with pho, motorbikes, and existential dread.

Ah, life. School is just the beginning! Or the end. Depends on those exams.

Some random stuff:

• Ever tried durian? It’s…an experience.
• Vietnamese coffee is strong. Like, really strong. Be warned.
• I once saw a monkey riding a motorbike in Vietnam. True story.

How many years is college in Vietnam?

Ugh, college years in Vietnam...it's not a simple number. I remember Thanh's sister, she studied to be a dentist.

Six years! Six freakin' years.

• Bachelors (Cử nhân): 4-6 years.
• Medical/Dental: 6 years. That's intense.

Five years if you're stuck doing industrial engineering? What is it with engineering needing extra time? I wonder if that's still true.

• Industrial Engineering: 5 years.
• Most degrees: 4 years. Like my cousin's business degree.

Four years for social sciences... makes sense, right? Is it even worth it though? So many factors, so many choices...

• Social Sciences: 4 years.

Wait, six years for medicine/dentistry is fixed. What about pharmacy, is that the same, similar or different?

My mom always wanted me to become a doctor. Nope.

Was it really six years for all of medicine and dentistry? I'm positive.

What does a typical school day look like in Vietnam?

Okay, Vietnam school... hum.

8:20 AM start, that's early! My school starts way later. Wonder if that's for all of Vietnam? Maybe just the cities.

• Morning: Four to five classes. Blah.
• Snack break: Probably banh mi, those are so good.
• Lunch: Bet it's rice. Always rice, right? Or pho, yum.
• Afternoon: Two or three more classes. Ugh, long day.

Monday to Friday, standard. What do they learn though?

• My curriculum: Math, Eng, Sciences, etc.
• Viet curriculum: No clue! History? Vietnamese? Geography?

Do they have after school clubs? I mean, besides tutoring. Like, chess club, I'd win.

• Clubs? Who knows
• Tutoring: I'd suck at tutoring.

Snack break is a big deal though, food is life! Did I remember to pack a snack today? Dang it.

What is the school schedule in Vietnam?

Okay, so school in Vietnam... It's kinda weird, thinking back to when my cousin, Linh, was still in high school. I visited her back in 2023, in Hanoi.

School started... uh... sometime around late August, not the official 'back to school' date though. The real show starts on Sept 5th. The opening ceremony felt HUGE. So many speeches! Lasts till December.

Then bam! Short break, right? Like, barely time to breathe after Tet.

Mid-January, boom, semester two starts. Poor Linh! That lasted until May. Seemed brutal to me.

• Two Semesters: Basically what everyone says.
• First semester: Late August - December
• Second Semester: Mid-January - May
• My personal take: Way too much school.

Thinking of Linh complaining about her math teacher, Mr. Hung... Man, she hated him. Always saying how unfair the tests were. Guess school's tough everywhere. She even tried to bribe her friend, Mai, for the answers once! What a mess.

Vietnamese curriculum... I never quite understood it. So much memorization! It felt very different from what I was used to in California.

What time does school start in Vietnam?

School in Vietnam often operates on a dual-shift system to accommodate a large student population. I mean, I know my cousin Thanh had to do that!

• Morning Shift: Typically, this runs from about 7:00 AM to 11:15 AM.
• Afternoon Shift: This generally spans from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. It's quite the schedule.

Students usually attend only one shift per day, receiving around four hours of instruction. Time is a funny thing, isn't it? Its perception shapes everything.

What time does school end in Vietnam?

Ugh, Vietnam school hours! My school's weird.

• Spring/Summer: 6:55 AM start, 10:35 AM end.

So early! Wonder if other schools are like that.

• Four lessons, but feels like ten.

Reddit probably has answers. Do most kids do full days?

• The Vietnamese education system is so tough!

No joke, tough.

My cousin An said her school day is longer. Wait, how long exactly?

• An's school: Maybe different timing.

Gotta ask her again. Late spring start feels illegal.

What is the biggest problem of the Vietnamese education system?

Outdated methods... yeah, that's it. The biggest problem? Old teaching.

It's like... they're stuck in the past, still.

• Rote learning. My younger cousin, Linh, she's always complaining. Memorize, memorize, memorize.
• Teacher-centered. It's always the teacher talking. Never any space. You cant even ask a stupid question.
• No critical thinking. They don't teach kids how to think. Just... what to think.

It kills their... I don't know. It kills their spark. It's sad, you know? Linh's getting good grades, but is she learning anything?

I dont think so. Outdated teaching kills the kid inside. It sure did me.