School requires students to pay nearly 3 million VND for experience: What does Hai Phong Department of Education say?

An off-school experience program for grade 11 students of Le Hong Phong High School, Hai Phong City in Nghe An province - Photo: Le Hong Phong High School

In response to conflicting opinions on the organization of experiential activities at Le Hong Phong High School scheduled to take place in mid-March 2024, the Department of Education and Training of Hai Phong City recently commented on this content.

Stop off-campus experiences if parents do not consent

According to the Hai Phong education sector, the experiential activities of grade 12 students in the 2023-2024 school year are part of the general education program, with the content of extracurricular educational activities taught by homeroom teachers.

In addition, schools have collective activity periods to organize the whole grade to participate and schools apply those periods to organize collective activities and experiences.

When applying, if parents agree and cooperate, experiential activities will be organized outside of school, otherwise, those activities will be organized in school.

According to the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training, this unit only agrees to allow schools to organize experiential activities outside of school when ensuring the consensus and cooperation of parents, with appropriate funding contributions.

Although Le Hong Phong High School has implemented a policy of organizing an experiential program and has its own plan for students who can or cannot participate, there is public opinion about the issue of funding contributions.

The viewpoint of the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training is to continue to ask for opinions from parents. If they still do not receive consensus, they should report to stop the planned experiential activities and change the form of experiential activities in school.

Parents worry that their children will feel sad if they don't let them go on experiences.

Previously, on social networks, content appeared sharing "feelings" when the homeroom teacher of a class at Le Hong Phong High School announced that the amount to be paid for the experiential activity was 2.83 million VND.

The article said that in a difficult economic year, the school organized too many extracurricular activities, such as a 2-day, 1-night trip to Ha Long at the beginning of the year with a budget of more than 2 million VND.

After the article was shared, it received many mixed opinions, however, most opinions still said that if children are not allowed to participate, they will easily feel hurt with their friends.

Some parents also pointed out unreasonable points about the off-campus experience activities taking place in mid-March 2024, this is the time when 12th graders must focus on reviewing for graduation exams and putting all their efforts into completing the conditions for university admission.

The school's organization of long field trips causes children to miss school and many extra classes, affecting their knowledge acquisition.

Along with that, the cost for each child for the trip is 2.83 million VND, a high amount compared to the income of economically disadvantaged households.

"I had to think long and hard because if I didn't let my child go, I was afraid he would feel sad and have negative thoughts. But if I let him go, I wondered if the experiential learning would help him gain any knowledge, or if this was just a tour" - a parent shared.

Content expressing feelings on social networks along with images of teachers' announcement about paying 2.83 million VND for students to go on an experience trip - Photo: T. THANG captured

In response to comments about the school's experiential activities, Mr. Dinh Hong Tiep - principal of Le Hong Phong High School - affirmed that the content that the school organized extracurricular activities for students in Ha Long and each student paid more than 2 million VND is incorrect.

According to Mr. Tiep, the school has reported and received approval from the Hai Phong Department of Education and Training to organize experiential activities for the school's 12th grade students.

The "historical journey" for 12th grade students is expected to take place over 3 days and 2 nights (from March 13 to 15, 2024) in Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Quang Tri provinces, with each student paying 2.83 million VND for food and accommodation throughout the journey.

The unit coordinating the implementation of this program is the STEAM Education and Experience Center VECTOR (Nguyen Kim Education Company), located in Kien Thuy district. According to the school's survey of parents, 423/480 students registered to participate.

According to Mr. Tiep, for grade 11, the school has organized a trip for students to Hoa Binh province in mid-January 2024 for 2 days and 1 night, each participating student must pay 1.89 million VND. For grade 10, the school also has a plan for students to experience and orient their careers.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/truong-yeu-cau-hoc-sinh-dong-gan-3-trieu-dong-di-trai-nghiem-so-giao-duc-hai-phong-noi-gi-20240304170843532.htm