As Thanh Nien reported, on July 24, although the new school year has not yet begun, Ho Chi Minh City has not yet implemented collection levels, but some high schools have collected money from parents when submitting admission applications, causing the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training to issue urgent instructions.
These schools set their fees when the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has not officially announced the fees for the 2013-2024 school year and the Department of Education and Training has not issued regulations guiding revenue and expenditure at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year.
Receipts of payments from new 10th grade students applying for admission
PARENTS PROVIDED
Speaking to Thanh Nien reporters on the evening of July 24, Mr. Le Hoai Nam, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said that the department had received the information and requested that any school that had collected the money must refund the parents who had paid. At the same time, Mr. Nam said that the service fees to support educational activities other than tuition fees, to meet the needs of learners of educational institutions, were implemented according to the resolution of the provincial People's Council.
Specifically, at the meeting in mid-July 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council passed a resolution regulating revenue and revenue levels, revenue and expenditure management mechanisms for services serving and supporting educational activities of public educational institutions in the 2023-2024 school year. This is to help the implementation of revenue and expenditure in schools to be public, transparent and have general supervision.
Therefore, Mr. Le Hoai Nam requested that while waiting for the above resolution of the City People's Council to be officially issued and take effect and the implementation document of the City People's Committee, units should note not to collect any fees, including temporary collection, before the 2023-2024 school year begins.
Don't "put the cart before the horse"!
"To be honest, I looked at the receipt of the first year payment of a school and was a bit... shocked by the amount of 4,390,000 VND. In which, there are items that I think are inappropriate such as: uniform backpack: 280,000 VND; electronic contact book/year: 100,000 VND. And the textbook fee is 600,000 VND, is it that high? The school year hasn't even started yet and you want to... be shocked by the tuition for your child. What other fees will there be in the future?", reader (BD) Xuan Binh said indignantly.
Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Nguyen Chi Hai added: Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has not officially announced the revenues for the 2013-2024 school year and the Department of Education and Training has not issued regulations guiding revenues and expenditures at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, but schools have already collected them arbitrarily. Mr. Tran Van Tam said that high schools collecting money like that are "putting the cart before the horse".
Meanwhile, Mr. Hoang Long explained: "Psychologically, many parents whose children passed the 10th grade entrance exam are very happy, the school collects fees and pays immediately, considering it a guarantee to study at this school. They see that the fees are a bit high and just let it go. But many other parents see that they are collecting too much money before the school year starts, and see that there are strange fees, so they wonder. But they still have to pay, because there are no parents who do not pay!". Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang also said: "Those necessary fees will have to be paid sooner or later. But the school also needs to be flexible so that parents can voluntarily pay in advance or later, right?".
Revenues must be public and transparent.
That is the opinion of many Board of Directors. "There should be a public announcement of the fees collected at the school in an easy-to-see place so that parents know and follow them properly. If necessary, add a hotline number so that any parents with questions can contact them. Students have to pay to go to school, but it needs to be public and transparent so that parents can monitor," Board of Directors Uyen Thao suggested. Board of Directors Thanh Nguyen said that some high schools arbitrarily collecting fees in advance is "doing it their own way" and that this advance collection needs to be clarified.
Coincidentally, many Board members expressed their disagreement about some strange fees. Board member Nguyen Hieu Tron wondered: "There are many fees that are beyond the regulations, for example uniforms, seats, uniform backpacks... Do these have the consent of parents?".
Some other boards are upset about the collection of electronic contact books. Board Thu Hang Tran said: "What is called electronic messages? It is created to collect money from parents, is it beneficial to the students' learning? Homeroom teachers only need to contact via Zalo, they can send pictures and videos, but few people use electronic software. This software is mainly for promoting the school, so why do parents have to pay?". Board Ha Trang also said: "Electronic contact books are just a few messages in a year. Homeroom teachers can send them via Zalo for free."
It's only the beginning of the year, but financial pressure on parents has already become a matter of discussion. This year, grades 8 and 11 are learning new textbooks with higher prices.
Nguyen Hieu Tron
Thinking about paying tuition at the beginning of the year is scary.
NXH
Usually, the fee is paid at the parent-teacher meeting at the beginning of the year, why do some schools collect it so early?
Lee Vinh
Need to check if the fees are collected correctly as prescribed by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee?
Tran Van Tam
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