Parents accuse school of making their children sign receipts but not giving out bonuses, what happened?

Phu Lam Secondary School, Tien Du District, Bac Ninh Province - Photo: TS

Recently, Tuoi Tre Online received feedback from some parents of Phu Lam Secondary School (Phu Lam Commune, Tien Du District, Bac Ninh Province) about students who achieved the title of excellent student being given a 100,000 VND bonus by the homeroom teacher, but in fact the students did not receive this amount.

Tuoi Tre Online had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong - principal of Phu Lam Secondary School - to clarify the above incident.

What did the school principal say about the 100,000 VND bonus for excellent students?

Specifically, parent N. - whose child is in 8th grade at Phu Lam Secondary School - said: "My child came home and told me that the homeroom teacher asked him to sign and receive 100,000 VND for being an excellent student, but the teacher did not give him the money.

When the children asked, she said that the money was just a formality. The money would be given to excellent students at the district and provincial levels. On May 27, the school held a ceremony to summarize and award the children. My child only received a certificate of merit for the title of excellent student and 15 notebooks.

A parent whose child was in grade 9 said that her child was an excellent student and also signed to receive 100,000 VND, but was not given a bonus. At the year-end meeting, this student received a certificate of excellence and 50,000 VND (instead of 15 notebooks), but the 100,000 VND was not awarded at the year-end meeting.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online on the afternoon of May 30, Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong - principal of Phu Lam Secondary School - said that based on the reflection of Tuoi Tre newspaper, the same morning, the school held an urgent meeting to clarify the incident with the participation of the board of directors, homeroom teachers...

Mr. Cuong confirmed that homeroom teachers let advanced students sign to receive 50,000 VND/student and excellent students sign to receive 100,000 VND/student.

However, this money is not given to students to use, but is used to buy notebooks to reward students. Specifically, in addition to certificates of merit, excellent students are given 15 notebooks (instead of receiving 100,000 VND), good students receive 6 notebooks (instead of 50,000 VND).

"The school has agreed not to reward the children with money because it is not meaningful. The children may use the bonus for the wrong purpose," said Mr. Cuong.

Mr. Cuong added that the awarding was assigned to the homeroom teachers, but some teachers did not clearly state that they would sign to receive 100,000 VND or 50,000 VND (converted into items) with a certificate of merit, and not give cash.

Therefore, some students reported inaccurate information to their parents, leading to incomplete information being spread online.

Will reward "compensation" for students before 5-6

According to the school, 59 grade 9 students are excellent students, 131 students have achieved the title of advanced students. In grades 6, 7, and 8, 6 students have achieved excellent results, 194 students have achieved good results, and more than 400 students have achieved fair results.

According to parents’ feedback, excellent students in grades 6, 7, and 8 who attended the closing ceremony on May 27 were awarded certificates of merit and 15 notebooks. Grade 9 students were allowed to attend the closing ceremony a day earlier, and excellent students received certificates of merit and VND50,000, not VND100,000 as previously signed.

Explaining why the excellent 9th grade students did not receive the notebooks, nor the 100,000 VND as signed for, while the school year had ended, Mr. Cuong said that the notebooks were still kept by the school and would be delivered to the 9th grade students who were reviewing for the exam before June 5 (the last review session). This was to encourage and motivate the students to do well on the exam.

Explaining the amount of money that grade 9 students receive, 50,000 VND/excellent student, 30,000 VND/advanced student, Mr. Cuong said that this was his own money, coming from the principal's heart because he thought that grade 9 students in the 2023-2024 school year would be the last class to study under the 2006 generaleducation program.

Rewarding money to encourage, motivate, and motivate the upcoming high school entrance exam.

Specifically, excellent 9th grade students receive a "bonus" of 50,000 VND, and advanced 9th grade students receive 30,000 VND at the year-end ceremony.

"On the final day, I hope you will receive a "hot bonus", thereby encouraging you to try harder in the upcoming exam," he said.

The school will learn from experience.

Mr. Cuong said this is not the first time the school has asked students to sign for money but has not given them money in kind. The school has given such rewards many times in previous years.

Many times Mr. Cuong explained the two different rewards. The principal's "instantaneous bonus" and the school's bonus in the form of notebooks (internal expenses) come from two different sources but have in common the incentive to encourage children to do well in exams.

Through the incident, Mr. Cuong said he would learn from his experience in rewarding and communicating information to parents and students. In fact, the teacher brought the paper to the classroom for the students to sign but did not explain clearly that the school gave notebooks to encourage good study, not cash.

"We will ask homeroom teachers to inform parents and students about the reward policy to clearly understand the situation and avoid misunderstandings and incorrect information," he said.

According to Mr. Cuong, the school, including the principal, is ready to answer questions from all students and parents about unclear points about the reward system.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phu-huynh-to-truong-cho-con-ky-nhan-nhung-khong-phat-tien-thuong-su-viec-ra-sao-20240530103033018.htm