What did the principal say about many social mobilization activities that caused a stir in public opinion?

In recent days, on social networks, a detailed budget table of fundraising activities at the beginning of the school year of Nguyen Du Secondary School (Thanh Sen Ward, Ha Tinh Province) with a total budget of more than 800 million VND has appeared, attracting special attention from public opinion.

Nguyen Du Secondary School has just invested in building a new classroom block. Photo: PV

According to the detailed budget estimate, the plan to mobilize businesses, organizations, individuals and parents to support the purchase of tables and chairs, televisions, smart slide boards, decorate classrooms, renovate schoolyards, plant trees...

Among the 6 categories, there is the category of planting 10 rosewood trees worth 130 million VND (13 million VND/tree) and repairing and renovating flower beds worth 50 million VND, causing some opinions to believe that this is an unnecessary expense, which can put pressure on parents in the context of the locality being affected by two major storms.

Regarding this issue, speaking with Tien Phong newspaper reporter, Mr. Le Ngoc Anh - Principal of Nguyen Du Secondary School said that the above budget is part of the school's plan to mobilize socialized educational resources for the 2025-2026 school year, built with the goal of mobilizing the cooperation of parents, businesses and the community to supplement facilities for teaching and learning.

Details of the estimated budget for fundraising at the beginning of the school year at Nguyen Du Secondary School.

According to the school leaders, this plan has been made public on the school website since September 2025 and sent to parents of each class. The school also affirmed that this mobilization is completely voluntary, not forcing students to pay.

The principal of Nguyen Du Secondary School also said that the whole school currently has 32 classes with 1,408 students. In recent years, the State has invested more than 54 billion VND to build two three-story buildings, a multi-purpose hall, a school yard, landscapes and some basic equipment. However, this school year the school added 3 new classes with 135 students, while many desks and chairs are damaged and some teaching equipment is still lacking, so the school needs to mobilize more resources to meet the demand.

Regarding the project of planting shade trees at school with an estimated budget of 130 million VND, the school leader said that the entire project has been sponsored by businesses.

“These rosewood trees have been supported by a number of local businesses. The school only listed them in the budget to fully show the socialized list, ensuring transparency. The choice to plant rosewood trees was because some schools have planted them very beautifully, with good coverage,” said Mr. Le Ngoc Anh.

According to the leader of Nguyen Du Secondary School, for the TV and smart board categories, the school has consulted and evaluated prices from a number of equipment suppliers. However, this is only the content included in the mobilization plan, not yet implemented in practice.

According to regulations, purchases worth over 100 million VND will be made through bidding, ensuring proper procedures and transparency.

“The new school is in the mobilization phase, units and individuals can support in cash or in kind, depending on conditions. As for students and parents, the school only disseminates information on a voluntary basis, not mandatory. All items in the mobilization plan have been approved by the People's Committee of Thanh Sen Ward before being made public," said the school leader.