The parents' representative committee campaigned to buy air conditioners for the classroom, right or wrong?

After parents complained about having to pay 1 million VND to buy air conditioners and televisions, Tuoi Tre received more comments about the need to install air conditioners in public schools.

Many parents want to install air conditioners in public school classrooms so that their children can study in a cooler space - Photo: MY DUNG

Previously, many parents of grade 6 students at Nguyen Hien Secondary School, Tan Thuan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City reported that they were "forced" to pay a class fund of 1 million VND/person to buy televisions and air conditioners, not voluntarily.

According to these parents, they hope that this type of class fund raising will soon end because the class parent representative committee "creates" many contributions that many parents in the class cannot keep up with.

Sending comments to Tuoi Tre later, reader Pham Linh said that she is the parent of a 6A3 student at Nguyen Hien Secondary School, affirming that "the parents of class 6A3 want to install air conditioners for their children because the 3rd floor is very hot. And the parents can pay 1 million VND or 600,000 VND depending on their ability...".

Similarly, another parent said that her child studies at Nguyen Hien Secondary School: "My child is in 6th grade, the class is on the 3rd floor, the attic, it's hot, 50 students are tired just breathing, let alone studying in boarding school all day. Public schools don't have air conditioning, so parents have to pay for their children."

Many parents say they want to buy air conditioners and televisions for the classroom to "legitimately serve their children's learning." "Put yourself in the shoes of your child who is in class all day and see if he or she can stand the heat. There are now invoices and vouchers for purchases; parents participating in the purchases monitor each other and are transparent," one parent said.

Sharing with Tuoi Tre, the head of the representative board of parents of class 6A3 Nguyen Hien Secondary School confirmed that her child's class has 49 students, studying on the 3rd floor of the attic which is very hot and stuffy, so it is in dire need of air conditioning. Therefore, the installation of air conditioning for class 6A3 was done before the new school year started, according to the request and wishes of the majority of parents in the class.

The class representative board previously voted with the following 3 options: Agree to install 2 air conditioners, pay 1 million, any remaining cost will be put into the class fund; Agree to install 2 air conditioners, pay 600,000 VND, any remaining cost will be put into the class fund; Disagree to install air conditioners.

This poll had 45/49 parents participating (the remaining 4 people have not joined the class group). Of which, 38 parents agreed to "install 2 air conditioners, pay 1 million", 6 parents agreed to pay 600,000 and 1 parent did not agree to install the air conditioner.

With the consent of the majority of parents as above, the representative board collected money to install air conditioners for children to use in the hot weather conditions in the South.

"We really did it based on the spirit of supporting the children to have the best education and based on the consensus of the majority of parents. Being a representative committee really has its own pressures and we hope to receive the support of all the parents of the class," she shared.

Parents' representatives are not allowed to solicit purchases or sponsorship in schools.

On October 7, responding to Tuoi Tre newspaper about whether the parent representative committee of a class or school can mobilize to purchase air conditioners, televisions or other classroom equipment, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhat Hang - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City - affirmed: The parent representative committee cannot mobilize funding.

"Funding is done by the school on a voluntary basis by all organizations and individuals, including parents... The parent representative committee is not allowed to use this name to solicit purchases or sponsorship in schools. The Department of Education and Training has issued many documents reminding about this issue," said Ms. Hang.

According to Ms. Hang, the department has just issued a reminder document, which clearly states: "The operating budget of the parent-student representative board only directly serves the activities of this board. It is strictly forbidden to collect and spend for purposes such as: protecting facilities, cleaning schools, rewarding managers and teachers, purchasing equipment, repairing works, etc."

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MY DUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ban-dai-dien-cha-me-hoc-sinh-van-dong-mua-may-lanh-cho-lop-dung-hay-sai-20251008141210125.htm