Conclusion of the case of a teacher accusing the school of "cutting" the boarding meals

(NLĐO) - The Department of Education and Training of Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa) has established an inspection team and reached a conclusion regarding the case of a teacher accusing the school of "shortchanging" boarding school meals.

On the afternoon of March 19, the Department of Education and Training of Nha Trang City announced that it had concluded its investigation into the allegations against the principal of VH 1 Primary School.

Accordingly, the Provincial Party Committee Office and the Provincial Citizen Reception Board of Khanh Hoa Province forwarded the complaint, and the Department of Education and Training sent a team to verify the complaint filed by teacher Nguyen Thu Lieu, a teacher at VH 1 Primary School, alleging that the principal embezzled student lunch funds, misappropriated state budget, and overcharged fees, as reported by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper.

False accusation

Regarding the accusation that "the principal built the school's canteen himself," the Department of Education and Training affirms that this is a false claim. The school's canteen was built by the Nha Trang City People's Committee with an investment of over 1.4 billion VND from the city's budget.

Regarding the content "arbitrarily setting the student meal allowance at 29,000 VND/day, the boarding service fee at 140,000 VND/student/month, and the boarding activity service fee at 40,000 VND/student/month," a review of the records shows that the principal had fully organized meetings of the School Council, the school's Party branch, and the school's joint committee.

Meetings were held with parent representatives from each class to gather opinions on the implementation of the school canteen and related fees (meeting minutes were recorded). The fee was 29,000 VND per student per day, with complete minutes and financial records up to the time of inspection.

Kết luận vụ cô giáo tố nhà trường — School lunch at V.H1 Primary School

The school collects 140,000 VND/student/month and 40,000 VND/student/month in accordance with the regulations in Resolution 12/2022/NQ-HĐND dated September 23, 2022, of the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Council. The financial settlement records for revenue and expenditure are checked against supporting documents. Details of boarding school revenue and expenditure are settled monthly.

The claim that "food suppliers are not publicly disclosed" is also false, according to the Department of Education and Training. The school held meetings with all parties to select a supplier; the food supplier has complete sales contracts, business licenses, and a commitment to ensuring safe food production and business practices.

Does the teacher still have important evidence?

Regarding the claim that "the quality of school lunches is extremely poor," according to the Department of Education and Training, on February 26, 2025, an unannounced inspection team conducted an on-site inspection at the school and compared the student meal payment documents, finding that the figures matched.

The school has developed a nutritionally balanced menu, with a food quantity chart for students, ensuring that meals are sufficient in quantity and nutrition, from raw to cooked food. Therefore, the allegations are unfounded.

Regarding the claim that "the quality of school lunches is being compromised," an examination of daily meal costing records revealed that the school calculates meal costs on a weekly basis. On days when meals include items like tofu, pork, and chicken, there is a surplus, while on days when meals include items like mackerel, shrimp, and beef, there is a deficit due to fluctuating food prices.

Checking the daily boarding school logbook, the boarding school supervisor noted that the students finished their meals and enjoyed them.

On February 26, 2025, representatives of the surprise inspection team met with the Parent-Teacher Association representatives to discuss their assessment of the quality of the daily school lunch program.

Representatives of the Parents' Association stated that the number of meals provided meets the required quantity; the quality of the meals is assessed through surveys of students' appetites, with frequent changes to the main and supplementary meal menus; and the menu is diverse.

Through inspections, the school's daily meal portioning practices have been found to be orderly and clean. The school has shown positive changes after each inspection of the boarding program by higher authorities.

For the above reasons, the Department of Education and Training concluded that the meals were of good quality, the revenue and expenditure were correct at 29,000 VND/day, balanced throughout the week, the students' menus were varied and rich, and nutritional balancing software was used to create meal menus for students, and students ate all their meals.

The claims in the petition, such as "2,700,000 VND, with 2,900,000 VND for personal expenses (approximately 500 million VND)…", are unfounded and do not reflect the reality.

Regarding teacher Nguyen Thu Lieu, she stated that she had received a written response to her complaint from the Nha Trang City Department of Education and Training. According to her, there is still much important evidence, and she will continue to file a complaint.

We request that the school make this information public.

In addition, other allegations regarding the principal's embezzlement of funds include: "The majority of the money for purchasing televisions and repairing desks and chairs was donated by benefactors. The principal used the payment receipts to withdraw state funds"; misuse of union funds; "Each student contributed 425,000 VND for a school year, and with 1,082 students in the entire school, the total amount reached 459,850,000 VND. Teachers collected the money and submitted it to the principal, but most activities were funded through donations from benefactors"...

According to the Department of Education and Training, the fees collected from students are in accordance with regulations; the school is not engaging in socialized funding and has no benefactors supporting the project.

Based on the verification results, the Nha Trang Department of Education and Training concluded that the allegations against the principal of V.H1 Primary School were false and unfounded.

The Department requests that the principal of V.H1 Primary School further improve the transparency and two-way communication between the school and teachers, staff, and students' families so that everyone is aware of the school's overall operations and, in particular, the organization of the boarding program, thus avoiding any conflicting opinions regarding the school's activities.

The conclusions regarding this complaint will be publicly posted at the unit as required by regulations.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ket-luan-vu-co-giao-to-nha-truong-an-bot-suat-an-ban-tru-196250319173516039.htm