Overcharging with direction?
At the beginning of every school year, the issue of overcharging becomes a topic of discussion among parents at many schools. Previously, overcharging only occurred in some schools and some contributions from parents, but now overcharging has become a “matrix” with all kinds of tricks, from contributions to shopping and organizing teaching outside the curriculum.
For example, a high school in Hai Duong was accused of collecting many fees outside of regulations. Accordingly, this school collected 300,000 VND in socialized fees, 360,000 VND in parking fees/year; 1,464,000 VND in uniforms, 300,000 VND in personal insurance fees/year; 920,000 VND in summer extra classes; 2,176,000 VND in extra classes; 150,000 VND in electronic contact books/year... The total fees collected were more than 8.7 million VND/student.
The victims of overcharging are not only parents and students, but also the state budget. Because all kinds of things are drawn up to disburse money in the name of investing in education. Recently, many parents at a school in Ha Dong district, Hanoi had to go to the education department to report that the air conditioning system of the school contributed by parents was working well, but the school and district directed to remove it, to organize a new purchase entirely from the state budget. However, the school year has come but the new air conditioner has not been seen yet, the children go to school but there is no air conditioner to use, so the parents are rushing to discuss contributing money to buy air conditioners for their children.
Overcharging at the beginning of the year, parents' nightmare at the beginning of the school year.
Income and expenditure matrix Currently, each locality allows different collections. In Hanoi, schools are allowed to collect 9 types of fees at the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, including: Fees and expenses for boarding services; Fees and expenses for studying 2 sessions/day; Fees and expenses for school supplies; Fees and expenses for drinking water for students; Fees and expenses for student health insurance; Fees and expenses for extra teaching and learning in schools; Fees and expenses for aid, gifts, donations, and donations; Fees and expenses for sponsorship; Fees and expenses for uniforms, sportswear, and badges. Meanwhile, in Ho Chi Minh City, 26 fees are prescribed, belonging to 4 main groups, including: Fees and expenses for educational activities outside of regular school hours as prescribed; Fees and expenses for educational activities implemented according to approved projects; Fees and expenses for boarding services; Fees and expenses for support for individual students. With such collection regulations, each amount is only a few hundred thousand, but the amount parents contribute is up to millions of dong. |
“ At the end of the summer, the school forced the classes to remove the air conditioners that parents had contributed to buy in order to return the land for the school to set up according to the project. But until now, they still haven’t installed them. Parents have to pay for air conditioners because the classrooms are too crowded and hot for the children to bear, ” a parent shared.
The stories at the two schools above are just grains of sand in the current context of overcharging. Because the policy allows collection, schools increase collection to get operating budget. If overcharging spontaneously, parents can still refuse to pay, but if overcharging is directed, parents have no choice but to bend their backs and endure the consequences.
The problem of teaching links in schools
Overcharging at the beginning of the year is just a small manifestation of overcharging throughout the entire school year. Overcharging occurs in many forms, of which English-linked teaching is considered the most complicated overcharging at present. For example, Tan Dinh Primary School (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) offers 3 teaching programs in conjunction with private units (not including after-school clubs), including: BME-KIDs English (fee of 150,000 VND/month); English Math (fee of 100,000 VND/month); supplementary English through STEM Science (fee of 150,000 VND/month). Similarly, Mai Dong Primary School (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) offers 3 extra teaching activities: English - Math program; BME-KIDs Primary English program; supplementary English program through STEM Science. All clubs are linked by the school with outside private units and charge fees. At Nghia Do Primary School (Cau Giay District), this year, the school implemented a program to familiarize students with English, English through Math - Science language for students in grades 1 and 2. 4 periods a week, the price is more than 460,000 VND/student/month and 4,140,000 VND/student/school year (9 months).
The situation of public schools competing to cooperate with private units to require parents to register for additional classes in a "voluntary" spirit is not new. This has been happening for many years, in many schools in Hanoi and other provinces. However, the quality of teaching is a matter of concern for parents. Recently, a parent was surprised by the list of English teachers assigned by a Department of Education and Training to their locality. In the list, there was not a single foreign teacher who was a native speaker (British, Australian, American) but all teachers came from faraway African countries such as Uganda, Ghana, Cameroon.
“ Teaching English in conjunction with inviting native teachers (British, Australian, American) allows students to communicate and learn the culture of using the English language from people who speak English as their mother tongue. If we take foreigners from countries where English is not their mother tongue, it is not certain that their level is better than that of Vietnamese teachers. Currently, Vietnamese foreign language teachers when entering university have to take 3 competitive subjects (Math, Literature, English). Teachers are not only good at foreign languages but also have very good background knowledge. On the other hand, I wonder if teachers who do not use English as their mother tongue are qualified enough to teach English or not ” - this parent wondered.
Speaking to reporters from the Journalist & Public Opinion Newspaper, a Vietnamese professor in the UK shared that it is currently difficult to tell the English proficiency of non-native teachers. However, according to her, the English of people from countries like Uganda, Ghana, and Cameroon is very difficult to understand.
“ To know the level of these teachers, we need to test them according to IELTS level. For teachers from the UK, US, Australia, IELTS assessment is not difficult for them, but for the rest of the countries, few people have a level above 7.0, and if they require 8.0, they will almost certainly fail, ” the professor shared. Also related to the foreign language level of teachers who are not from the UK, US, Australia, an expert working in Australia also expressed the opinion that when hiring teachers, they must hire native teachers. Those who speak English as their mother tongue, while teachers from other countries, need to have their knowledge strictly tested before being allowed to teach.
Currently, the scale of foreign language teaching in general schools is up to tens of thousands of billions of VND. Therefore, companies providing foreign teachers to teach English in schools are springing up like mushrooms. With many different types and programs. However, due to high demand, there is not enough recruitment of teachers, leading to the recruitment of poor quality teachers. Because of the profit and commission percentage from this extra teaching issue, management is being loosened.
Need to strengthen inspection and control Deputy Minister Hoang Minh Son said that for the general education sector, the Ministry has issued complete circulars and documents guiding the implementation of the collection at the beginning of the school year, such as the Charter on the Parents' Representative Board, and funding activities for education and training. Localities need to strengthen inspection and examination to avoid overcharging in any form. |
Trinh Phuc
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