Some students have encountered situations where they have not been paid when working as online tutors – Illustration: NHU HUNG
Nguyen Thanh Hao is a 4th year student majoring in English at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade. To earn extra income, Hao works as a 1-on-1 English tutor.
Never ending promise
Hao shared that he had taught 12 lessons to a student named M., but he had not yet received the full 2 million VND in tuition. M. had only paid 1 million VND, then made excuses to make things difficult. M. promised to pay the remaining amount, with familiar phrases like “don’t worry, I promise, for sure, last time”…
Because he knew M.'s house, Hao even went to M.'s house many times to ask for the remaining tuition fee. However, more than 2 months have passed and M. still ignored him, only saying that the company had not paid his salary yet so he could not pay it off.
"There is no written commitment between the teacher and the student, so even though we have asked many times, the situation is still not going in a positive direction," Hao said.
Meanwhile, Thanh Hang, a third-year student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, also tutors online to cover her tuition costs. Hang received an invitation to teach math from a parent via social media. This person introduced herself as a single mother, looking for a tutor to help her son prepare for exams. After discussing, the two sides agreed on a tuition fee of 200,000 VND per session, payable at the end of the month.
In the beginning, everything went smoothly. The students were quite well-behaved and learned well. Parents also texted regularly to ask about their children, which made Hang feel secure. At the end of the month, Hang texted to remind them about their salary, but the parents gave the excuse that they were busy and promised to transfer the money later.
Hang patiently waited another week. However, her messages went unanswered and her calls went unanswered. Hang felt uneasy and tried to contact her in another way, but discovered that her account had been blocked on all platforms. “The feeling of being scammed made me angry. The amount of money was not too large, but it was the effort I had put in for a whole month,” Hang said.
To not lose money
An English teacher at Nguyen Huu Cau High School (HCMC) who works as an online tutor shared that before teaching, she always carefully researches personal information such as full name, home address, phone number and confirms with the student's ID card. According to her, knowing the student's identity and basic information will help create more trust than not knowing anything about the student.
“If possible, you should learn more about the classmates of the students you teach online to know what kind of person they are,” this teacher suggested.
Similarly, the head of admissions at an online tutoring center said that first, student tutors should clearly agree with parents or students about tuition fees, study time and payment methods. They should confirm the terms via text message or email to have evidence when necessary.
“To ensure your rights, you should ask for a partial payment in advance, such as 50% of the tuition fee, or agree to pay weekly instead of waiting until the end of the month. In case you encounter parents who are suspicious of your ambiguous attitude, make unclear promises, or refuse to pay in advance, you should consider refusing to accept the class. When you are careful and well-prepared, teachers will be more confident to teach online and protect their rights,” he said.
Block communication
The situation of not paying tuition fees not only happens to students who teach online or in person, but also to some teachers with many years of experience. Typically, Ms. VTU, 36 years old, is currently a teacher of cultural enrichment, life skills and students with special cases such as slow learners, divorced parents at the TT center (Da Nang).
Ms. U. thought that in such special cases, parents would be more grateful to her. But it turns out that she still sometimes encounters situations where tuition fees are “run away”. She said that although there are clear regulations on the time of tuition payment, some parents delay tuition fees because they have not received their salary, and there are even cases where they block Facebook and text messages.
May be subject to criminal prosecution
Lawyer Tran Anh Tuan (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) said that cases of tuition evasion of over 2 million may be prosecuted if there are elements of fraud or appropriation of other people's property, based on the provisions of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017).
Victims can report to the police, contact parents, relatives, teachers, schools for students or agencies, workplaces for employees to provide information to report the incident. At the same time, you can give warnings, reminders to friends and relatives around.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Van, lecturer at the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City), said that tutoring is a civil relationship, so it is possible to sue in court in case of a dispute. In addition, tutors who are not paid their tuition fees can file a complaint with the local police about the act of embezzlement for support.
According to her, before teaching, tutors should prepare a contract with full information and content on rights and obligations as well as sanctions in case of violations. This is the legal basis for requesting support from authorities when one party violates.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sinh-vien-day-online-bi-quyt-tien-20250118000026917.htm
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