Do not put pressure on parents to contribute at the beginning of the school year.

The publicity and transparency of the beginning of the year fees will help parents trust and support the school more. In the photo: Students of Chon Thanh High School (Chon Thanh Ward) during class. Photo: Cong Nghia

Ms. Tran Thi Kim Anh, a parent whose child is studying in grade 11 at Ngo Si Lien High School (Trang Bom commune) shared: “This year, my child is exempted from tuition fees, saving a sum of money each month. The school still collects some other fees and they are all made public at the parent meeting at the beginning of the year. In addition, the parents in the class agreed to contribute more to cover some internal activities of the class but it is not required.”

Prevent overcharging

One of the issues that the public is very concerned about every time a new school year begins is the fees collected at the beginning of the school year. In order to avoid the situation where schools are implementing fees in a widespread manner, especially socialized fees such as: purchasing air conditioners, televisions, electric fans, computers, projectors, etc., causing frustration for parents, at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, the Department of Education and Training has issued instructions on the implementation of fees. This is an important basis for schools to implement correct and sufficient fees; at the same time, it is also the basis for parents and society to have a basis to monitor schools in strictly implementing the fees allowed to be collected in schools.

Mr. Pham Quoc Trong, a parent whose child is studying at Trang Dai Primary School (Trang Dai Ward), said: “This year, sending my child to school does not face any great pressure to contribute, because the Department of Education and Training has made public the fees that the school is allowed to collect with parents via social networks in writing. The school has implemented a number of fees, clearly explaining to parents which fees are mandatory, which fees are voluntary, and which fees parents can agree on to contribute to support their children in organizing class activities. With the amount of money, parents encourage each other to contribute, whoever has the money can participate, but the parent representative committee does not require a specific amount, even if they do not contribute, they are happy, there is nothing to worry about.”

Meanwhile, according to Vice Chairman of Long Khanh Ward People's Committee Tran Cong Nghi, this year is the first year the ward has been decentralized and delegated the authority to directly manage educational institutions from kindergarten to junior high school. Therefore, the control of activities in schools is strictly implemented right from the beginning of the school year, preventing the situation of schools overcharging, or collecting according to regulations but putting all of it at the beginning of the new school year, causing pressure on parents. In order for schools and parents to find a common voice in implementing contributions, the Ward People's Committee has required schools to publicly and transparently disclose the revenues and the use of revenues. If there is negative public opinion, it must be checked and corrected immediately. For example, schools that are implementing boarding schools, when the quality of boarding services is publicly disclosed, parents are very secure and support the school's collection level.

Find a consensus voice

Principals of many public schools shared that in reality, the current level of regular expenditures from the State for public schools is still quite low, therefore, if everyone relies on the State, it will not be able to cover the costs of the school's educational activities. That also means that there needs to be an appropriate level of cooperation and contribution from parents because the sole goal is to serve, care for and educate students.

The principal of a public school in Long Hung ward said: The school has a large number of classrooms, along with other auxiliary facilities such as: functional rooms, toilets, and a fairly large school yard. If only one worker is contracted to do cleaning, it will not be enough to handle all the actual workload in both morning and afternoon sessions. That is not to mention the expenses for purchasing and serving school cleaning such as: chemicals, cleaning equipment, and school waste collection costs each month, which account for a significant amount of expenses.

With the large number of public educational institutions in the province, relying solely on the budget is very difficult and stressful. Every year, the Department of Education and Training has advised the province to ensure minimum spending conditions for schools to operate well, but still needs the cooperation of parents. Schools need to be transparent to gain the consensus of parents. Schools are absolutely not allowed to overcharge and will be responsible for any violations when there are complaints from parents.
Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training DO DANG BAO LINH

From the 2021-2022 school year up to now, the school has applied Resolution 05/2021/NQ-HDND of the Dong Nai Provincial People's Council issued in July 2021, on regulations on service fees to serve and support the school's educational activities for public educational institutions in the province. In particular, the school is allowed to collect school cleaning fees at the rate of 11,000 VND/month/student. Thanks to this fee, the school has basically ensured enough expenses for cleaning the classrooms. However, not all parents understand the school's difficulties, so when implementing the collection of school cleaning fees, there are still parents who have questions and complaints. In order for parents to understand and share the school's difficulties, in the parent meeting at the beginning of the school year, the school must explain in detail with the regulations of the Provincial People's Council and instructions from the Department of Education and Training.

Or like a primary school in Tam Hiep ward, thanks to socialization work, up to now most of the school's classrooms have televisions for teaching and learning, air conditioners, and convenient electric fans. In addition, the school has implemented a boarding model, helping parents save time on pick-up and drop-off at noon. To do this, the school's board of directors has really promoted the spirit of daring to think and daring to do, but also not over-using the parents' contributions, but must do it step by step, while doing it, proving the effectiveness to get parents' support.

The school principal shared: “If we only rely on the budget, it will be difficult for the school to have adequate facilities to best serve teaching and learning as it is now. Therefore, each school year, the school boldly proposes a policy of mobilizing social resources, and any parent who has any can contribute, more or less depending on the parents’ conditions. Thanks to the equipment provided for each school year, the work is done transparently and publicly, gradually the facilities have become more complete. The most important thing is transparency, so parents trust and support more.”

According to the Department of Education and Training, the 2025-2026 school year is the first school year after the merger between Binh Phuoc and Dong Nai provinces. The implementation of school fees in the two provinces before the merger had some differences, so this school year the department has given specific instructions. The general view is still to ensure the harmonious interests between schools and parents, because the only goal is the best learning conditions for students. For localities with difficulties, especially remote and border communes, it is necessary to be more careful when imposing fees, and even provide more support for students, especially students in difficult circumstances.

Justice

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202510/khong-tao-ap-luc-dong-gop-len-phu-huynh-dau-nam-hoc-cb8155c/