At the beginning of each school year, the role of the Parents' Association always becomes a hot topic, attracting the attention of many parents and teachers. Does the Parents' Association truly represent the voice of parents and fulfill its role and duties?


The Forum on the Role of Parents' Representatives in Schools, organized by the Education section of VietNamNeti, hopes to listen to opinions, shares and contributions from parents, teachers and those interested in the country's education to build practical solutions for this issue.

“When I, the teacher and the janitor were rearranging the tables and chairs, sweeping and cleaning the classroom, some parents came. Seeing me hiring a cleaner, the mother of a classmate immediately objected, saying, ‘You keep spending money like that, no wonder the class fund has to pay so much, there are already so many people, why do we need to hire anyone else?’. I was both embarrassed with the teacher and the janitor, and also felt indignant,” Ms. Nhung recounted the incident that happened right before the first day of school.

That day, she had to pay the janitor out of her own pocket, not wanting to use the class fund for fear of causing more gossip.

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Parents' meeting at the beginning of the school year at a high school in Hanoi. Photo: MT

Ms. Nhung is currently the head of the parents’ committee for her son’s 7th grade class at a school in Thanh Xuan, Hanoi. With more than 4 years of experience as a head of the committee, she shared that joining the parents’ committee started with the desire to closely follow her child’s activities when her family first moved to a new environment.

“My child was a bit shy, and at that time his family had just moved from another place. I accepted a position in the parents’ committee so that I could closely follow his class activities and understand more about the environment and teachers. Later, there were times when I wanted to ‘resign’ because I was tired and frustrated, but because I was re-elected and the teacher trusted me, I tried again,” Nhung shared.

According to her, as head of the parents' committee, she has to be more careful with her spending than when she was a housewife, but many times parents of students in her class still expressed their doubts, sometimes indirectly, sometimes directly at class meetings.

Not only that, she also had to attend the school's parent-teacher meetings, try to remember information to disseminate to the class, and sometimes even have to fight with her wits, standing up to protect the rights of both parents and students.

On every holiday, New Year, birthday or teacher appreciation occasion, she has to arrange time to organize it so that the children have fun without going over budget and at the same time not violating school regulations.

“Like last year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, my fellow parents and I bought fruits, candies, and decorations for our children to display. After the budget was made public, many people thought we were spending too lavishly, there was no need to buy delicious, expensive things. Even when I explained in detail that these things were displayed for the children to enjoy, and that all the trimming and decorations were done by the mothers themselves for free or brought things from home… many people were still upset and said that they would not contribute to the fund for the second period,” said Ms. Nhung.

Ms. Bich Dao (Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi) decided to withdraw from the parent committee after a year of volunteering. Ms. Dao said that when she first joined, she simply thought it was to "set an example" for her daughter who was passive and rarely participated in group activities, and that as a member of the parent committee, she only needed to support what people asked for. But in reality, conflicts also arose within the parent committee, especially in financial decisions.

“Things were more complicated than I thought. One time, on November 20, the president wanted to give each teacher teaching a major subject an envelope of one million VND, and each teacher teaching a minor subject an envelope of 500,000 VND. The vice president thought that was too low and proposed doubling it. Unable to reach an agreement, they formed their own group to discuss and attack each other. I thought the president was more reasonable, but I didn’t want to join any faction,” said Ms. Dao.

She also shared that, before joining the parent committee, she wondered why expenses were rarely discussed publicly, and whether there were any hidden agendas, but when she joined, she understood some of the “unwritten rules”. “Discussing between a group of dozens of people, each with their own circumstances and opinions, and who hardly understand each other, it is often difficult to agree on a solution. Moreover, if anything is brought up in the chat group, it is likely to be screenshotted and posted online for discussion and criticism, so the committee often decides first and approves later,” Ms. Dao said.

I myself am in the parents' committee, sometimes assigned to buy extra things for the children, sometimes I pay out of my own pocket because I'm afraid the class fund will be too much, at the end of the year if I ask for more money, people will question me.

Ms. Dung, another parent in Ha Dong, Hanoi, also had 5 years of experience as the head of the parent committee for both children. She said that she accepted this role because she saw many unreasonable expenses of the previous parent committee. However, during the 5 years, she often cried because she was criticized for unnecessary misunderstandings.

“For example, when I installed air conditioners for my children, I had to pay in advance because I could not collect enough money from their parents for many months. When my children graduated, even though I agreed to sell the air conditioners to have a fund for their party, there were still people who criticized me for ‘taking advantage of others’ and taking the class’s common property to please the principal,” Ms. Dung recounted.

Despite many difficulties and misunderstandings, Ms. Dung still believes that when taking on the role of head of the parent committee, the person in charge needs to spend time and effort and not calculate for personal gain. At the same time, it is necessary to clearly distinguish the responsibilities of the parent committee and the school in class activities.

Every time at the beginning of a new school year, especially after parent meetings, there are many negative opinions about the role of the parent committee. Some people even think that this committee is just an "extended arm of the school", causing over-collection and over-spending.

However, according to the Ministry of Education and Training, the parent representative committee operates under Circular No. 55, with the role of coordinating with the school in caring for and educating students. This document also clearly stipulates the operating costs of the committee, emphasizing that it is not allowed to collect involuntary fees or fees that do not directly serve the activities of the parent representative committee.

Readers who have comments or stories to share about the role of parent committees in schools can send them to email: [email protected]. Articles published on VietNamNet will receive royalties according to the editorial board's regulations. Sincerely thank you!
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