Some parents in Hanoi are upset that the Hanoi Phu Dong Sports Festival took place and ended 6 months ago, but until now, their children have not received certificates or bonuses.

Sharing with VietNamNet, Ms. N. (Thuong Tin district, Hanoi), a parent whose child participated in the 10th Hanoi Phu Dong Sports Festival in 2024, said that her two children were members of the table tennis team competing at the district level and then at the city level.

What upset her was that the city-level organizing committee was too slow in giving out awards to the children.

“After finishing the city-level table tennis competition in mid-March 2024, with the achievements, my child signed to receive the bonus from the Hanoi Department of Education and Training. However, for some unknown reason, it is now October, more than 6 months later, and my child still has not received the certificate and bonus.

That's too long. At least even if the certificate is not available immediately, it should be available to the children in a week or a month. But the reality is that my children took the exam in grade 2 and grade 8, and now they have all moved up to the next grade but still don't have the certificate of recognition."

Ms. N. shared that her two children competed and won Silver and Bronze medals in table tennis. The family was very happy and proud of this achievement. However, when they returned to their hometown, they felt "embarrassed" because no one accepted them.

“The local authorities organized a prize distribution ceremony for children with high achievements in the 2023-2024 school year, but I only reported it verbally, so no one accepted it. I brought the medal with the words “Phu Dong Sports Festival” on it as proof when my child was awarded it, but the staff said there was no guarantee, maybe it was bought at the market. I felt embarrassed, even though it was the result of my child’s real efforts. In the end, my child did not receive the award for this city-level achievement,” Ms. N. shared.

According to the parent, to participate in this competition, the family spent a lot of effort and money for their child to practice and compete.

“I don’t know how much the budget will pay for training and competition. However, even if we don’t provide much support, the children should receive rewards immediately after the competition to encourage them. We just hope that their efforts will be recognized at the right time.”

Another parent also complained: “I don’t understand why my child has not received any documents or bonuses after half a year of taking exams. This greatly affects the rights of the children.”

Another parent expressed his concern: “Until now, I still don’t understand, according to the regulations, is there a training support program for the children? I don’t understand why, even though it’s the same training fund for the city-level team competing in the national competition, some subjects don’t; some students do, some don’t. There are even subjects where high school students get support, but elementary and middle school students don’t.”

Speaking to VietNamNet, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Ha, Head of the Department of Politics, Ideology - Science and Technology (Hanoi Department of Education and Training) said that the reason for this delay is partly due to changes in the process. This year, according to the process, the certificates and bonuses are transferred by the Department of Education and Training to the Education and Training Departments, and then transferred to the students.

“At the Phu Dong Sports Festival 4 years ago, the organizing committee received a cash advance and gave bonuses to the students.

This year, the certificates and prizes of the city-level competition cannot be distributed directly to students. Because according to current regulations of the Treasury, the prizes of this competition cannot be paid in cash but must be transferred while the students do not have bank accounts. Therefore, we have to transfer the prize money to the Department of Education and Training - the focal unit organizing the Phu Dong Sports Festival from the districts. After that, the Department of Education and Training will transfer it to each school with participating students. There are more procedures and processes, so this is also slower. The certificates must be printed later because we have to review the list to see if there are any complaints.

The Department has sent certificates and bonuses to almost all the Departments of Education and Training in the districts, but 3 districts received them late, including Thuong Tin district. In September, we also handed them over to these localities."

The Head of the Department of Politics, Ideology - Science and Technology also said that the Hanoi Department of Education and Training is also actively urging the Departments of Education and Training to promptly issue certificates and bonuses to students.

Regarding support for students participating in the Phu Dong Sports Festival, Ms. Ha said that the level of support for students competing at the city level depends on the conditions and spending levels of each district. "The Hanoi Department of Education and Training is only responsible for travel, accommodation, and training expenses (if any) for students competing at the national level," Ms. Ha said.

Ms. Ha also confirmed that if students are selected to compete at the national level, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training will support students with money for concentrated training (through accommodation and lunch) according to the actual number of days. Accordingly, the nutritional support for each training day is 130,000 VND, and the nutritional support for each competition day is 200,000 VND. The Department of Education and Training will support the payment of travel and accommodation expenses.

“That means for any subject, students who participate in centralized training (according to the location specified by the Department and with teachers supervising, confirming and taking attendance) will receive a corresponding nutritional allowance according to the number of days. Thus, it depends on the training and competition time of each subject and of each individual. If any student participates in centralized training and competition for a long time, they will receive more support."

In response to parents' questions about high school students receiving financial support, while elementary and middle school students do not, Ms. Ha explained that this is because the Phu Dong Sports Festival at the national level is divided into two times.

“High school students participate in the National Phu Dong Sports Festival in Hai Phong in August. Therefore, they have time from May to August to train.

The majority of primary and secondary school students compete in the national Phu Dong Sports Festival in June in Thai Nguyen, while the final exam is only completed in May. Therefore, they have to practice on their own, without centralized training, and therefore have no money for training.

For chess and martial arts, the organizing committee divided primary and secondary school students into groups to compete in August. They have time for training, so they also receive financial support.

Thus, the city provides support for subjects that have training time. For subjects that take exams early and do not have training time, students will only receive accommodation and travel expenses. It is not true that high school students receive support while primary and secondary school students do not,” Ms. Ha said about the reason why some students have it, others do not, or receive different levels of support.

Ms. Ha said that the training support money (if any) was distributed to students by the Hanoi Department of Education and Training right after the National Phu Dong Sports Festival.

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