"Autumn" chaos, many parents are frustrated but do not dare to speak up

"See you again"

The 2024-2025 school year has only started for nearly a month, but in many localities, public opinion is already "heated" by the situation of overcharging.

Recently, the story of a teacher at Chuong Duong Primary School (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) asking parents for money to buy a personal computer (laptop) has caused a stir in public opinion. According to the teacher's explanation, because her computer was lost, the teacher thought of asking parents for money and called this the socialization of education.

Ms. Truong Phuong Hanh asked her parents for money to buy a laptop because she thought about socializing education (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

The authorities are clarifying the right and wrong of this female teacher's actions. However, it can be seen that this action has affected the image of teachers and the reputation of the education sector.

In recent days, parents of Hai Thuong Primary School, Nghi Son Town, Thanh Hoa Province have also complained about the list of 17 school fees. In addition to the mandatory fees for students, there are many fees that parents believe are not in accordance with regulations.

These are just two of many cases that have caused public outrage related to the issue of overcharging in recent times. It is worth mentioning that after the overcharging scandals, the authorities have also stepped in to inspect and rectify the situation.

Even before the school year, many localities have issued directives and strictly prohibited this situation. However, it seems that everything is still happening again, becoming an obsession for parents.

For many parents, contributing to the school’s start-of-year fees is not a difficult task. However, for many parents, especially those from working-class families or those in rural areas, this is a heavy burden.

"My wife and I are factory workers, our salaries are still low, while there are many daily expenses. The family has 2 children of school age, so at the beginning of the year we have to buy clothes, books, shoes, and school supplies, which costs a lot of money. My children's school has not held a parent-teacher conference yet, but now if we add in the year-end contributions, my wife and I are also very worried," said Mr. N.D.N., Trieu Son district, Thanh Hoa.

Slit

Transparency in the collection and expenditure of funds at the beginning of the year at schools is also an issue of concern to parents.

List of expected fees at the beginning of the school year at Hai Thuong Primary School (Photo: Provided by parents).

Mr. NQD (Thanh Hoa city), a parent with 2 children studying in Thanh Hoa city, shared: "In my opinion, it is normal for the school to call for social mobilization to renovate facilities, schools, classrooms, teaching equipment, etc. This has also been clearly regulated by the education sector and local authorities.

However, the fact that schools apply it in practice differently in each place, "hiding behind" socialization, and transforming it into many different forms is what should be condemned.

According to Mr. D., the "voluntary" principle, not mandatory, through the parents' association, is the loophole for overcharging to continue to break out. Mr. D. believes that although it is said to be voluntary, if parents do not pay, they will worry because their children do not complete their duties, are at risk of not being cared for and educated adequately, and even being oppressed.

"If in just one class, the majority of parents agree with the fees proposed by the school, it will be very difficult for the remaining parents to refuse. There is also a problem of respect and fear of conflict when parents raise issues about the school's revenue and expenditure.

In my opinion, the issue is not how much money to pay but whether it is truly voluntary. This is not only required from the education management agency and the school but also from the parents themselves. In each class, the economic conditions of the parents are different, so it is impossible to level them according to the quota. That would be very difficult for poor families," said Mr. D.

Regarding illegal fees, according to Mr. D., they need to be strictly handled, avoiding cases of taking advantage of difficulties to set unreasonable fees, causing pressure and difficulties for parents. Is it possible that the school considers the funds collected from socialization as an achievement to compare and compete with other schools?…

"In the first parent meeting of the year, I saw little discussion about teaching and learning, but a lot about the beginning of the year contributions. The school kept saying that parents were highly unified, but it was difficult to not be unified because our children were still studying at school, so we had to swallow our pride.

Not to mention, many of the school's fees are unclear and overlap, we also don't understand why the school collects so much," Mr. N.D.N added.

"A hundred daughters-in-law fall on the parents"

According to Ms. NTH (Dong Ve ward, Thanh Hoa city), although the Ministry of Education and Training has regulations on school fees, overcharging is a chronic disease.

This parent is upset because many contributions are poured into the parents' pockets, "hiding" under the name of sponsorships from organizations and individuals who voluntarily contribute, with the school being the recipient of the sponsorship.

Ms. H. said that she has two children studying, the older one is in primary school, the younger one is in kindergarten in Thanh Hoa city. Both schools where Ms. H.'s children study call for socialization through the parents' association and are based on the principle of voluntariness.

"They say it's voluntary, but the parents' association sets a certain amount and all parents understand that no one can pay less than the set amount. For example, my daughter's school this year called for socialization of nearly 650 million VND, divided among nearly 1,500 students, each parent must pay the lowest amount of 450,000 VND," said Ms. H.

According to the school's announcement, nearly 650 million VND was used to build a system of 28 sliding boards; umbrellas to protect the school yard from rain and sun; purchase equipment to decorate 4 functional rooms: music, art, English, science; buy tables and chairs; repair old tables and chairs...

In addition to socialized funds, according to Ms. H., the parents' association also has to build a class fund. Her son's kindergarten class temporarily collects 500,000 VND in funds per student. The class has 34 students, the class fund is 17 million VND.

"The teacher said that about 100,000 VND of this money was taken from the school to organize the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year. The remaining money was used to buy classroom decorations, visit sick children in the class, and organize birthday parties for students. At the end of the year, the school will summarize the fund and if there is a shortage, more money will be paid," said Ms. H.

According to Ms. H., just counting the class fund and socialized expenses, her family has to pay nearly 2 million VND for her two children. "That amount of money creates more pressure and burden for the students' families, especially families with difficult economic conditions," Ms. H. said.

Ms. H. said that transparency and ending overcharging are the wishes of parents, but not everyone dares to speak up. Fighting overcharging is difficult but must be done.

"The education sector needs to have a mechanism to monitor revenues and expenditures at schools. Education management agencies should set up hotlines and mailboxes for parents to report on revenues and expenditures.

Other social organizations, such as the Fatherland Front and unions, also need to get involved, gather opinions, and organize working sessions to clarify the relevant content of parents' feedback, and then have appropriate handling methods according to regulations," said Ms. H.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/loan-mua-thu-nhieu-phu-huynh-uc-che-nhung-khong-dam-noi-20241002090851225.htm