One of the proposals is that the Ministry of Education and Training needs to clearly define who is responsible for collecting fees at the beginning of the school year. This is something I and many of my colleagues have been wondering about for many years.
Teachers are exhausted from coming to class to "collect debts."
For a long time, at the school where I work in Khanh Hoa province, the homeroom teacher was the one who had to collect the fees directly and write receipts for each item. These fees included: tuition, health insurance, personal accident insurance, parent-teacher association fees, communication slip fees, plastic chair fees, drinking water fees, and exam paper fees. Afterward, the teacher would submit the money to the accountant and treasurer.
Most homeroom teachers complain about being exhausted from having to come to class every day to "collect debts." Sometimes, teachers feel disheartened when students say that Ms. T. and Mr. L. "demand money whenever they see each other. " However, students don't realize that this is a task assigned to the teachers by the school. Teachers must complete it on time to avoid reprimands and criticism.
A parent-teacher meeting at the beginning of the school year.
ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH
The school explained that with only one accountant and one treasurer, it was impossible to collect all the fees from such a large number of students. Therefore, the school administration had to assign homeroom teachers to collect the money.
If this is the responsibility of the homeroom teacher as stipulated by the Ministry of Education and Training, then the teacher must fulfill it. Otherwise, teachers hope that education leaders will consider and clearly define who is responsible for collecting fees at the beginning of the school year, and not burden homeroom teachers with this task. At the beginning of the school year, teachers need to focus on establishing discipline and concentrating on their teaching duties rather than being preoccupied with collecting fees.
Teachers are apprehensive about announcing fee collection at the beginning of the school year.
I was assigned by the school to be the homeroom teacher for the 9th grade. At the beginning of the school year, in addition to assigned professional duties such as organizing the class, disseminating the timetable, implementing school regulations, and conducting labor activities, one indispensable task for a homeroom teacher is announcing the fees to be collected at the beginning of the year.
Collecting fees at the beginning of the school year from students in the rural area where I teach is very difficult. Most parents are farmers who only earn enough to get by day to day, and they wait until the rice harvest to hopefully have some money to cover various expenses. Therefore, homeroom teachers are hesitant to announce the fees at the beginning of the school year.
The school also has to remind parents because it's a target that must be met as assigned by higher authorities. This forces homeroom teachers to "shout" daily to collect all the required fees. With this "collect correctly, collect completely" mentality, teachers indirectly cause more anxiety for parents.
Once, I woke up and turned on my phone to find a message that read: "I am the parent of student T. Please, teacher, don't call out my child's name in front of the class this morning because they haven't paid their tuition yet. I'm very embarrassed that I haven't been able to pay, and my husband is sick. I hope you understand, thank you! "
After reading the message, I felt guilty even though I hadn't publicly named T. in front of the class, and I blamed myself for being insensitive and not trying to understand the students' circumstances so I could have helped them in some way. If I hadn't received this message, as usual, I would have read out the names of the students who hadn't paid their fees in front of the class.
Homeroom teachers take on many responsibilities outside of their subject area, especially at the beginning of the school year.
ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH
Since then, I have never read out the names of students who haven't paid their fees in front of the class, regardless of the principal's criticism that my class hasn't completed the fee collection.
One day, the principal called me to his office, and I discussed T.'s case with him. Specifically, T.'s family was struggling financially; her father was seriously ill, and her mother was unemployed, so they had no money to pay the fees. Since T. had been an excellent student for three consecutive years (grades 6, 7, and 8), I suggested that the school waive the fees for her. The principal then agreed to classify her as a student with outstanding fees.
This is what I can do to help T. And it's also a lesson for me and my colleagues: "Never work for the sake of quotas and competition. Reminding students about money matters should be done tactfully; you shouldn't announce the names of students who haven't paid their fees in front of the class or during flag-raising ceremonies."
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