Teacher asks parents for support to buy laptop: Correct but review teacher salary

Messages exchanged between Ms. H. and parents of students in class 4/3 - Photo: PHCC

As reported by Tuoi Tre Online , in early September 2024, Ms. H. - homeroom teacher of class 4/3 at Chuong Duong Primary School, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City - asked parents to contribute money to buy a personal laptop. Ms. H. asked parents to support 6 million VND when buying a laptop worth 11 million VND.

During this process, Ms. H. created a poll on the discussion group between parents and homeroom teachers, but some parents disagreed and some parents had no opinion. Therefore, Ms. H. said she would not accept the support money to buy laptops, and would not prepare review outlines for students.

Even though she said she "would not accept support" from parents to buy laptops anymore, Ms. H. still kept the fund of the class's parents' representative committee and did not return the money parents donated to buy laptops to the class's representative committee.

The incident caused outrage and was reported to the press by parents. On September 28, Ms. H. was temporarily suspended from teaching while the matter was being handled.

Sad for the teaching profession

Many readers feel sad that the educational environment has lost its inherent purity and beauty because of "bad apples" like Ms. H..

"It is people like this that make so many beautiful images that the education industry has built go down the drain," reader Trinh Tu wrote.

"It's sad that at the beginning of every year, such overcharging happens, without knowing whether the education leaders know or not, and it's also sad that there are teachers like that...", shared account mngh****@gmail.com.

Reader Hang expressed: "As a teacher representing the face of school and class education, I still ask for gifts. Where did this absurd story come from when I lost my personal laptop and asked my parents for donations!"

Similarly, Thanhlongltdn account commented: "Laptop is your personal working tool, if you lose it, you have to buy a new one yourself."

Meanwhile, reader Quang Thanh said: "This is a sad incident. But we also need to look at the deeper issue: most teachers today do not have enough salary to cover their living expenses.

When life is too difficult, unexpected things will arise. This needs to be improved quickly so that teachers can work with peace of mind and devote themselves to their profession."

However, there is a controversial opinion, reader Ngo Tan Thuan wrote: "If you choose this path, you must accept it first. A noble profession that makes such demands on parents and students, how can you teach students?

I know that the salary is not enough to cover living expenses, but please speak up to your agency, superiors and support from school organizations. Do not ask parents to meet your personal requests."

It should be strictly forbidden to borrow the name of the parents' association to collect money.

To eliminate such ugly images in the educational environment, many readers said that it is necessary to correct not only overcharging, but also the moral qualities of teachers.

According to reader Tran Van Tam: "In the name of socializing education, some schools rely on the parents' association to mobilize to buy televisions, air conditioners, lights, fans... Now teachers directly ask parents for money to buy laptops and printers just to prepare review outlines. I feel that this teacher is too disrespectful of herself in terms of professional ethics as a teacher."

"Ultimately, they are taking advantage of parents to extort money. I think it is time to define the responsibility of the head of the school, to take responsibility for all violations that occur at the school. In particular, it is strictly forbidden to borrow the name of the parents' association to collect money from parents in any form," commented reader Phan Ha Dung.

Not only rectifying the school's revenue and expenditure, Dan Toc account said that after this incident, "the education sector must be rectified from top to bottom, rectifying the mindset... I hope that leaders at all levels always supervise the education sector for the hundred-year career of cultivating people".

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-giao-xin-phu-huynh-ho-tro-mua-laptop-chan-chinh-nhung-xem-lai-dong-luong-giao-vien-20240929163318863.htm