Is April 4 the Thanh Minh Festival of 2025? Are teachers in Vietnam entitled to days off for tomb sweeping during the Thanh Minh Festival of 2025?

Is April 4 the Thanh Minh Festival of 2025?

The Thanh Minh Festival of 2025 (also known as Tomb Sweeping Day) is one of the important days in the culture of Vietnamese people and many East Asian countries. Descendants shall show respect to their ancestors through tomb-sweeping rituals, grave cleaning, and offerings.

According to the lunar calendar, Thanh Minh is the fifth solar term in the “twenty-four solar terms”, occurring after the Spring Equinox, starting around April 4 or 5 in the solar calendar and ending on April 20 or 21.

In 2025, the Thanh Minh Festival will take place on April 4 in the solar calendar, which corresponds to March 8 in the lunar calendar. On this day, families typically gather to renovate graves, light incense in remembrance of their ancestors and may organize an offering right at the grave site or at home. This is not only an occasion to express gratitude to those who have passed but also an opportunity for descendants to learn and maintain the tradition of "when drinking water, remember its source".

Besides visiting the graves, Thanh Minh is also a time for family gatherings, strengthening the bonds between generations. Additionally, during this period, the weather is usually pleasant, with clear skies, making it ideal for outdoor activities such as picnics or spring outings.

Thus, Friday, April 4 (equivalent to March 7, 2025, in the lunar calendar) is the Thanh Minh Festival of 2025.

Note: The information is for reference purposes only!

Is April 4 the Thanh Minh Festival of 2025? (Image from the Internet)

Are teachers in Vietnam entitled to days off for tomb sweeping during the Thanh Minh Festival of 2025?

According to Article 112 of the Labor Code 2019 which prescribes the public holidays when workers are entitled to leave with full pay:

Public holidays

1. Employees shall be entitled to fully paid days off on the following public holidays:

a) Gregorian Calendar New Year Holiday: 01 day (the 1st of January of the Gregorian calendar);

b) Lunar New Year Holidays: 05 days;

c) Victory Day: 01 day (the 30th of April of the Gregorian calendar);

d) International Labor Day: 01 day (the 1st of May of the Gregorian calendar);

dd) National Day: 02 days (the 2nd of September of the Gregorian calendar and the previous or next day);

e) Hung Kings Commemoration Day: 01 day (the 10th of the third month of the Lunar calendar).

2. Foreign employees in Vietnam are entitled to 01 traditional public holiday and 01 National Day of their country, in addition to the public holidays stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The Prime Minister shall decide the specific public holidays mentioned in Point b and Point dd Clause 1 of this Article on an annual basis.

Thus, the Thanh Minh Festival of 2025 is not prescribed as a public holiday on which teachers and employees, in general, are entitled to a fully paid day off.

However, teachers can still apply for a leave on this day through:

(1) Paid Leave

According to Article 114 of the Labor Code 2019, teachers are entitled to 12 to 16 days of paid leave if they have worked for a full year. Therefore, if a teacher has remaining paid leave or can borrow future leave days, they can use such leave for tomb sweeping with their family during the Thanh Minh Festival of 2025.

(2) Accumulated Leave

- Teachers can negotiate with their organization or superiors to take leave multiple times or combine leave to a maximum of 3 years at a time according to Clause 4, Article 113 of the Labor Code 2019.

- If superiors agree to combined leave, teachers are entitled to paid leave for those days.

(3) Unpaid Leave

Teachers can negotiate with their organization or superiors to be allowed unpaid leave if they have exhausted their annual paid leave or want to save paid leave days.

Note: Taking additional days off by combining leave or unpaid leave must be agreed upon and approved by superiors or the organization with which you are working; unapproved leave will be considered unauthorized absence.

May teachers in Vietnam simultaneously teach extra classes at multiple centers?

Article 4 of Circular 29/2024/TT-BGDDT on cases where extra classes in Vietnam are not allowed:

1. Extra classes for primary school students must not be organized, except in cases of training in arts, sports, and life skills.

2. Teachers currently teaching at schools are not allowed to offer external extra classes with fees to their students according to the school's educational plan.

3. Teachers from public schools are not allowed to participate in managing or operating external extra classes but may be involved in teaching extra classes.

Under Clause 1, Article 6 of Circular 29/2024/TT-BGDDT (effective from February 14, 2025) on external extra classes:

External extra classes

1. Organizations or individuals providing external extra classes with fees for students (hereinafter referred to as extra class centers) must fulfill the following requirements:

a) Register the business in accordance with the law;

b) Publicly disclose on web portals or post at the location of the extra class center regarding the subjects for which extra class is organized; the duration of extra class for each subject according to each grade; the location, form, and schedule of extra class sessions; the list of teachers of extra classes and the fees for extra class before enrolling students in extra classes (according to Form No. 02 in the Appendix attached to this Circular).

2. Teachers teaching external extra classes must ensure good moral character and possess the professional capacity suitable for the subject of the extra class.

3. Teachers teaching at schools who wish to provide external extra classes must report to the Principal or Director or head of the school (hereinafter referred to as the Principal) regarding the subject, location, form, and schedule of their extra classes (according to Form No. 03 in the Appendix attached to this Circular).

Thus, under the above regulations, teachers teaching external extra classes must ensure good moral character and possess the professional capacity suitable for the subject of the extra class. There is no prohibition against simultaneously teaching extra classes at multiple centers.

However, teachers teaching at multiple places should note that they must only teach at extra class centers that have made business registration; ensure good moral character, and possess the professional capacity suitable for the subject of the extra class.

Additionally, in cases where teachers currently teaching at schools teach external extra classes, they must report to the Principal or Director or the head of the school about the subject, location, form, and time of their extra classes.