Transferring Tet bonus, November 20 then asking for it back: Principal said 'for the school movement'

Kim Lien Primary School - where money was given to teachers as incentives and then taken back - Photo: NGUYEN BAO

In 2022 and 2023, teachers at Kim Lien Primary School, Kim Thanh District, Hai Duong Province received money from the school "5 times" to encourage them on the occasion of November 20, Lunar New Year, overtime work... but then received messages from the accountant asking them to return it to the school treasurer, and only received a small portion.

After receiving the denunciation of the school principal, the People's Committee of Kim Thanh district assigned the District Party Committee's Inspection Committee to inspect and clarify the matter.

Discipline the principal, rotate the accountant

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online on the afternoon of March 22, Mr. Trinh Viet Dung - Chairman of the Inspection Committee of Kim Thanh District Party Committee - said that on March 21, the Inspection Committee of the District Party Committee had a working session with the staff and teachers of Kim Lien Primary School and approved the conclusion of the case in which the school principal was accused of not being transparent in revenue and expenditure.

According to Mr. Dung, the District Party Committee's Inspection Committee has inspected and verified 7 accusations against the principal.

The inspection process showed that the school's spending did not receive the approval of some teachers. "The school's practice of transferring incentive money to teachers and then taking it back is not in accordance with the principles," Mr. Dung affirmed.

According to Mr. Dung, the amount of money that the school collected from teachers was spent by the school on general activities. The verification process determined that there were documents for the spending, and the principal did not use it for personal purposes.

Regarding the information about the late payment of rewards for students in 2023, Mr. Dung confirmed that this happened, but the school later returned it to the parents.

Regarding the reflection that the school did not pay social insurance for some teachers, Mr. Dung said: "It is not that the school did not pay social insurance for teachers, but that the school did not pay the additional social insurance. Currently, the school has paid for the teachers."

According to Mr. Dung, from the shortcomings and violations, the District Party Committee's Inspection Committee proposed that the Kim Thanh District People's Committee direct the organization of a review and take disciplinary action of job rotation for Ms. PTQ - accountant of Kim Lien Primary School.

For Mr. Nguyen Giang Nam - principal of Kim Lien Primary School - a party member, the District Party Committee's Inspection Committee will handle disciplinary action.

"Basically, the staff and teachers agree with the conclusion and request clarification on what the school has spent. The school will soon hold a conference for all teachers to publicize the spending," said Mr. Dung.

7 accusations against the school principal

1. Not yet paid student rewards according to Decision No. 1027-QD/UBND of Kim Thanh District People's Committee.

2. Transfer money on November 20, 2022 to staff and teachers 1 million/person into the account, then request to return 1 million in cash to the school treasurer.

3. Deposit the overtime for March and August into the teacher's account in March and August and then collect it.

4. Transfer money for Lunar New Year 2023 to teachers' accounts 800,000 VND/person and then collect it. Teachers who are on duty will not be paid.

5. Disbursement of Lunar New Year 2023 money to cadres and teachers through accounts of 1.3 million VND/person, but in reality cadres and teachers do not receive it but collect it all.

6. Disbursement on November 20, 2023 through staff and teacher accounts is 1.5 million VND/person. In reality, staff and teachers only received 200,000 VND, the remaining 1.3 million must be returned.

7. During the years 2020 to 2023, the principal and accountant did not pay social insurance for teachers.

Teachers upset when school transfers money then text message asking for it to be returned

Principal: "I am not interested in personal gain"

Speaking with Tuoi Tre Online the same afternoon, Mr. Nguyen Giang Nam - principal of Kim Lien Primary School - said that as a manager, he was very sad when this incident happened.

He admitted that the school's practice of paying incentives to teachers and then taking them back was incorrect in principle; lack of close monitoring and supervision led to students receiving bonuses late.

However, he affirmed: "There is nothing shady about spending money, it is done for the common movement of the school, not for personal gain."

Mr. Nam said that in 2021, he started working at Kim Lien Primary School, when the school was under construction, everything was in disarray, and there was a shortage of teachers. Since then, the incentive payments for teachers, staff, and security guards have also encountered many difficulties.

In 2022, at the extended leadership meeting, he proposed a spending plan. The members attending the meeting also agreed to the plan of transferring money to personal accounts and then submitting it to the school to spend on school activities, to encourage teachers on holiday and Tet contracts, and to take care of local children.

In 2024, Kim Lien Primary School has nearly 60 students under the policy regime. According to Mr. Nam, at the beginning of the year, these students are given a uniform, and on Tet holidays, they receive gifts, and sometimes even the cost of participating in the experience session.

"However, since 2023, the revenue and expenditure have caused reactions from some teachers. In November 2023, the school received a complaint.

During the discussion and consensus process, the staff and teachers initially agreed but later disagreed, leading to this incident. The incident happened for the common good, I am very sad, and the staff who are dedicated to the school are also very sad.

After the incident, we must learn deeply from the experience in management and direction, especially financial management. I accept the disciplinary action," said Mr. Nam.

Regarding the information reflecting that the school owes more than 30 teachers a total of over 300 million VND borrowed to build facilities since 2020, Mr. Nam said that this was a debt from before he came to the school, and he heard the teachers' reflection.

"Still don't understand how the recovered money was spent"

Speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , a teacher at Kim Lien Primary School said that after hearing the conclusion, he still did not understand what the money that the school transferred and then recovered was spent on other things, whether the principal and accountant were right in recovering the teachers' welfare money, whether they were misappropriating assets or not...

"I request the school to publicly disclose invoices, vouchers, and specific payment times for 68 expense items," said this teacher.

In addition, regarding the overtime work in March, this teacher said that in the draft conclusion of March 1, 2024 of the Inspection Committee, it was clearly stated that Comrade Hoang Thi Hai Yen - Secretary of the school's Youth Union, had made a request to the school's leadership to arrange for union members and labor unions to clean the campus on weekends. However, Comrade Yen affirmed in the meeting that she had never written a request and did not sign the request.

"In fact, there was no weekend working session, why not verify and include in the conclusion the person who signed and forged the signature of comrade Yen?", the teacher asked.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chuyen-tien-thuong-tet-20-11-roi-doi-lai-hieu-truong-noi-vi-phong-trao-cua-truong-20240323030124715.htm