However, for some reason, the teacher in the story does not want her name or the name of her school mentioned.
I call it a dream parent-teacher meeting because I've never attended a parent-teacher meeting that was so warm and friendly.
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| A parent-teacher meeting ( Dong Nai Newspaper) |
Earlier, I received an invitation to the parent-teacher meeting for my granddaughter at the beginning of the school year. Like many people, I thought to myself, "The first meeting" really means "Where's the money?" It's not that important.
Upon entering the classroom, I immediately encountered my child's homeroom teacher, who greeted the parent with a friendly smile.
At the meeting, instead of reading out the income and expenses of the previous year, they announced the amount of contributions for this school year and called on parents to contribute money voluntarily (or as a requirement) to the association's fund.
Then my grandchild's teacher discussed the children's academic progress during the first few days of the school year (of course, without mentioning any names or criticizing any particular student).
Instructions for guiding children in preparing their homework at home. She reminded mothers to let their children prepare their own books and notebooks, and not to do it for them.
Some parents eagerly expressed their desire to send their children to her for evening tutoring.
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She gently explained, "You all have a stressful and tiring day at school."
For elementary school-aged children, that's enough studying; they need rest. For those who are too weak, parents should dedicate an hour each evening to help them with their homework.
After the initial discussion, she moved on to the annual contribution.
She pointed out that the fees students were forced to pay mainly consisted of insurance money, amounting to over seven hundred thousand dong.
The membership fee is money that parents voluntarily contribute, the amount depending on their generosity and the circumstances of each family.
As soon as she finished speaking, a well-dressed man in the corner of the classroom stood up and said:
"Every year, our class has always contributed at least 200,000 VND to the club's fund. We should do the same this year."
"This is just the minimum amount; you can't pay less. Parents can pay as much as they want."
One would have expected the teacher to be very happy, but instead she said, "Thank you for the enthusiastic support from the parents."
However, setting a minimum contribution rate and applying a uniform rate is contrary to the spirit of Circular 55.”
Another parent chimed in: "The teacher should just let us parents discuss this ourselves. This is our business."
Quite surprisingly, her voice softened: "I am very grateful to the parents for their great interest in the class activities."
"But I know that in my class there are still students from poor or near-poor households, or families facing difficulties because they have many children attending school. If we treat everyone the same, it would be very unfair to them."
The whole class fell silent for a moment. The teacher began handing out 40 white envelopes to each parent:
"Anyone wishing to contribute to the fund can put their donation in an envelope, without writing their name."
I know she did that because she didn't want to put some struggling parents in an awkward position.
Usually, when collecting donations, a parent member of the Parent Representative Committee would take a piece of paper and go to each person to collect the money and record it on a list.
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Some poor parents also try to keep up for fear of being ridiculed or looked down upon.
And as such, they weren't really comfortable either.
After the meeting, the teacher and some parents from the Parent Representative Committee sat down and opened each envelope, recording the amount of money donated to be announced at the next meeting.
Some donation envelopes contained as much as 500,000 VND, others 200,000 VND, and quite a few only 100,000 VND.
Notably, some envelopes contained only a few tens of thousands of dong in loose change, while another had a small note that read: "I'm donating 100,000 dong, but I'll give it later."
She kept holding the envelope in her hand, her face somber and sad. She said:
"If I hadn't done this before, wouldn't I have put these parents in a difficult position?"
Watching her speak and act, I feel fortunate that my grandchild is studying with such an enthusiastic and compassionate teacher this year.
I always wish that the education sector had more teachers like that, then sad stories about how teachers treat parents, and how parents treat teachers, would never happen again.
She happened to find out that I wanted to publish this touching story in the newspaper.
The teacher proactively stated that she did not want to draw attention to herself, and even less did she want the school to be displeased with the way she collected membership fees.
Because it would set a bad precedent for parents, allowing them to pay as much as they want or pay whenever they feel like it, and not pay at all. Doing so would create difficulties for the school in the future.
Out of respect for her, I have to keep her name and the school's name confidential. But I don't want to hide the beautiful story about the parent-teacher meeting.
I want inspiring stories like these within the industry to be shared more widely.
Source: http://laocai.edu.vn/chuyen-de-gddt/buoi-hop-phu-huynh-trong-mo-461577
