Every year we pay for air conditioning and projectors, so where do the old ones go?

The new school year has not yet ended, parents are still having headaches over money for books, uniforms, extra classes... for their children, but they also have to find money to install air conditioners, projectors, and even take on the cost of painting and repairing classrooms. For parents who do not have the means, the contributions at the beginning of the year become a burden.

Why not reuse old stuff?

This new school year, the son of Ms. Nguyen Phuong Mai (32 years old, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi) entered first grade. Since the beginning of August, although the children have not yet returned to school, the parents have received a request to pay more than 1 million VND to install new air conditioners, projectors and repaint the classroom. This amount was announced by the head of the parents' representative committee in the internal group.

At the beginning of every school year, parents have to worry about paying tuition for their children. (Illustration photo)

Ms. Mai wondered, the money should belong to the school's facilities and education budget, and should not be "put on the heads and necks" of the students' parents.

Although it is said to be a survey of parents' opinions on this voluntary contribution, the parents' representatives always set the deadline for payment before the school year starts. Parents are in a difficult situation, they cannot afford not to pay. Moreover, the unreasonable thing that makes this parent worry is that there are classes that have already installed air conditioners, so why do students at the beginning of each grade have to pay again to buy new equipment?

This parent questioned why the school did not take advantage of the old projectors and air conditioners when the 5th graders graduated to avoid waste and still required them to pay for them. " Will the equipment be so damaged after 5 years that it cannot be used again? After the children finish school, what will these items be used for?" she said.

If viewed from the perspective of contributing to creating a favorable learning environment for children, no parent will object, but everything should be reasonable to avoid waste.

Two weeks ago, a parent from Huu Hoa Primary School (Thanh Tri, Hanoi) also complained that the parents' representative board requested that students sign a commitment to "donate" the equipment back to the school when they want to install air conditioners and projectors for their students. They wondered why families had to commit to donating them back, when these assets could be left for the next class to use economically.

Although the school later denied the information, public opinion is still concerned about the fees collected in schools, especially at the beginning of the school year, because in fact this is not the only incident.

Distorted face because of voluntary money

In a similar situation, Ms. Ho Hang Nga (35 years old, Hanoi) whose child is entering first grade this year in Van Phu area, Ha Dong was also "mobilized" by a group of parents to contribute 2.2 million VND to a fund to buy equipment for her children (air conditioner, water purifier, sunshade, exhaust fan...).

With the current hot weather, children will have a hard time studying in a space with only a few fans, not enough to keep the sweat away. Installing air conditioning is reasonable, but it should be calculated to avoid overcharging.

Many parents are burdened with contributions at the beginning of the school year. (Illustration photo)

Ms. Nga gave an example of a family air conditioner, one can be used for up to ten years, but each generation of students entering school does not use the equipment that was installed the previous year but must replace it. "Moreover, when installing new equipment, the school also benefits from being proud of its complete facilities, why let only parents bear the cost?"

Every time the school year begins, the issue of "overcharging" is mentioned everywhere. The song "it's so hard, I know, I've been saying it over and over again" has been going on for many years, but there is still no way out. Obviously, these fees are always under the guise of socializing education, ranging from a few hundred to a million dong.

" Every year, we mobilize people to pay for facilities and equipment in all kinds of ways, but nothing has changed," said Ms. Nga, adding that before collecting this fee, there was always a song that "parents pay voluntarily so that their children can enjoy it." That means that in theory, they have the right to pay or not to pay, but in reality, it is based on a mandatory basis. It can be seen that the mandatory amount is small, but "voluntary" makes parents feel miserable because of the burden.

A parent in Ho Chi Minh City once shared indignantly that the school had advertised that buying backpacks was not mandatory, but when the family came to buy them, they found out that the backpacks were... uniforms. If the backpacks did not have the school logo, the security guards would not let them in. Not only that, the uniforms had to be purchased in sets, and shirts, pants, and skirts could not be purchased separately, even though parents and students said they did not have enough money to buy all of these uniforms.

This parent raised many questions, such as in these difficult economic times, people who are unemployed, have low incomes and cannot afford to buy backpacks and uniforms, so their children cannot go to school because the security guards do not let them in. Why does the school not let students reuse items that are still usable but force them to buy new ones, is there a "hidden" reason behind it?

Where does the old air conditioner go?

Ms. Pham Thanh Thuy, Vice Principal of a high school in Hanoi, shared that for parents who are struggling to make ends meet, the "voluntary" fees at the beginning of the year such as installing air conditioners and projectors are a real burden. Even some families with good economic conditions are not satisfied when reading the fee list, not because they feel sorry for their children or do not love them, but the unreasonable fees make parents even more worried.

"Socialization is good, but the early-year income also causes many families difficulties because not all parents have a good income," said Ms. Thuy, adding that at her work unit, when students complete the school year and graduate, parents often voluntarily propose to donate air conditioners for the next course to use.

The vice principal said that students in the next class will not have to pay for new installations but will enjoy the results of the previous class. The school also uses the facility fund for maintenance and does not collect from parents.

Similarly, a primary school principal in Thanh Tri district, Hanoi also admitted that some cases of unreasonable fees reported in the press recently were just "a rotten apple spoiling the barrel".

At the unit she manages, for the past 5 years, parents of first graders have not had to pay to install new equipment. "Students entering the school will be able to use the equipment that has been available since the previous term. Students from grades 2 to 5 will also be assigned a fixed classroom throughout the process ," she said.

The principal also added that parents have the right to proactively propose solutions for handling equipment such as air conditioners and projectors when students graduate. Accordingly, parents can donate or even liquidate according to internal agreements, the school does not interfere in this matter.

NHI NHI

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