Only giving certificates of merit to students who donate from 100,000 VND: Inappropriate approach

Please learn from experience

On the afternoon of September 24, the Departmentof Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City confirmed that it had received information that caused a stir in public opinion about Le Quy Don Primary School (Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City) awarding certificates of merit to students who donated VND100,000 or more in support activities for people affected by storms and floods. Students who donated less than the above amount only received letters of merit from their homeroom teachers.

The incident began with an activity responding to the local call, Le Quy Don Primary School launched a fundraising movement to support the Northern people affected by storm No. 3 to cadres, teachers, employees, parents and students.

During the fundraising period, the school received more than 268 million VND in donations from students of 45 classes.

Le Quy Don Primary School (Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City) in a student commendation activity (Photo: School website).

On the morning of September 23, the school held a flag ceremony and awarded certificates of merit to encourage students to actively participate in the above movement. Of the 2,100 students at the school, 1,500 received certificates of merit. Class representatives received the certificates of merit and then brought them back to their classrooms to present to their classmates.

The remaining students who donated less than 100,000 VND will receive a letter of commendation from their homeroom teacher. However, the letter of commendation has not been sent to the students after the flag salute.

This reward made many parents unhappy and thought it was unreasonable.

Speaking to the press, a school representative said that this form of reward came from the desire to encourage students in a timely manner, but the school had made a mistake in its approach. The school would like to learn from the experience and will make adjustments in future reward activities.

Department of Education and Training does not direct

Regarding the incident, Mr. Trinh Vinh Thanh, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, affirmed that the department did not direct the school in the above activities.

According to Mr. Thanh, the division of certificates and letters of merit was the school's idea and the Department of Education and Training did not agree with this method.

"The starting point of the act of praise is not negative, but the way of doing it is not appropriate. Giving certificates and letters of praise when differentiating between amounts of money is not good. The school should mobilize as much support as possible, but the important thing is the heart, not the level of contribution," Mr. Thanh shared with Dan Tri reporter on the evening of September 24.

The Head of the Department of Education and Training of Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, said that distinguishing between contribution levels to award certificates of merit and letters of merit in fundraising activities to help people affected by storms and floods is inappropriate (Illustration: Huyen Nguyen).

The head of the Go Vap District Department of Education and Training emphasized that the principal must take responsibility for the negative public opinion about the above form of reward. The department has requested the school to submit a report to the department no later than tomorrow morning (October 25).

"The Go Vap District Department of Education and Training has corrected and reminded schools in the area about this situation. Units must consider carefully when organizing rewards or implementing any policy to avoid causing harm to students, parents and creating public outrage," said Mr. Thanh.

Regarding the above incident, a management officer of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City said that rewarding students with good jobs, outstanding abilities... is always focused on by the education sector in the regular evaluation process. The school and teachers organizing to reward students who participated in supporting flood victims is a very correct and timely action.

However, the level of contribution to receive a letter of commendation or certificate of merit is not really appropriate and does not have a big effect. The District Department of Education and Training needs to organize a lesson for the school on how to organize and implement it to be more appropriate.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/chi-tang-giay-khen-hoc-sinh-ung-ho-tu-100000-dong-cach-lam-chua-phu-hop-20240924172111002.htm