The scandal at American International High School: Urgently come up with a plan to ensure students' rights

On March 20, many parents whose children are studying at the American International School (AIS) continued to send petitions everywhere, requesting a plan to ensure the rights of nearly 1,400 students studying at the school after a series of financial scandals prevented students from going to school.

As of the afternoon of March 20, American International High School still could not resume teaching. Photo: THU TAM

Parents no longer believe promises

Mr. PTH (residing in Da Kao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) said that his family has 3 children who all study at AIS School. The oldest child graduated 3 years ago, the second child graduated 1 year ago and the youngest child is currently in 7th grade. “To send my 3 children to school, I signed a loan contract with the school for a total amount of about 7 billion VND. The contract clearly states that the school will not collect tuition fees while my children are studying at the school. After the children graduate, within 30 days, the school will repay the loan to the parents. However, it has been 3 years now, the school has promised again and again but has not yet repaid the loan to me,” Mr. H. informed.

This is also a common situation for many parents who sign contracts to “lend money” to schools in the form of capital mobilization, in return for students studying for free at the school. However, when the students graduate, all parents have not received the return of capital as promised.

Mr. PTH and many other parents have sent a petition to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, and the Ho Chi Minh City Police for intervention and resolution. According to the petition, the parents requested that the authorities take drastic action because the case shows signs of fraud. In addition, to avoid disruption to students' studies, the parents requested that the authorities closely monitor the school restructuring process, ensuring that the situation of students not being able to go to school is not repeated.

In a notice sent to parents, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em, Chairwoman of the AIS School Board, informed: “The school is closely coordinating with investment funds to restructure the school. However, in order for the implementation process to be professional and in accordance with market practices, we are required to commit to keeping information confidential. The school affirms that it will stabilize as soon as possible.”

Refuse to support transfer

On March 19 and 20, AIS reopened after a day of temporary closure. However, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em, Chairwoman of the School Board, said that the school was open but could not teach normally because about 50% of the teachers had not come to class. The reason was that the teachers owed 1.5-2 months of salary and insurance. At present, the school is facing serious difficulties in mobilizing finances, leading to the inability to pay salaries to teachers, staff and operating expenses.

On March 20, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has directed the heads of the Department of Education and Training of districts, towns and Thu Duc City, principals of high schools, general schools with many levels and schools with foreign investment to create favorable conditions for receiving students who want to transfer from the American International Primary, Secondary and High School to study, so that their studies are not interrupted.

“According to general regulations of the education sector, schools do not allow students to transfer schools in the middle of the school year. However, with the current situation, schools are ready to support the settlement to ensure the learning rights of students, but financial issues are beyond the management authority of the Department of Education and Training,” said the Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.

In fact, many parents said they did not want to transfer schools because they had already paid full tuition at AIS and did not want to pay additional tuition at the new school.

On March 20, the interdisciplinary team with the participation of relevant departments and agencies sent a report to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee for instructions on how to handle the situation. Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training Nguyen Van Hieu requested that non-public schools and schools with foreign investment separate business and professional activities. Schools only collect tuition for one school year, not for multiple years.

THU TAM - THANH HUNG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/vu-lum-xum-tai-truong-thpt-quoc-te-my-gap-rut-co-phuong-an-dam-bao-quyen-loi-hoc-sinh-post731696.html