A school is accused of collecting 20 fees under the guise of voluntary contributions.

Recently, a complaint letter allegedly from a group of parents whose children attend Hung Dao Primary School (Tu Ky District, Hai Duong Province) has been circulating on Facebook. In this letter, the parents list 20 fees charged by the school under the guise of voluntary contributions.

Students voluntarily contributed nearly 800,000 VND per student to purchase air conditioners and televisions.

According to a complaint sent to the Chairman of the People's Committee of Tu Ky District and posted on social media by parents of Hung Dao Primary School, among the 20 fees listed as voluntary contributions, some are considered excessively high compared to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training and the resolution of the Hai Duong Provincial People's Council.

The fees include: health insurance up to 850,000 VND; personal accident insurance 200,000 VND; summer school fee 720,000 VND; foreign English language course fee 1.4 million VND/year; life skills training fee 432,000 VND; and social contributions up to 450,000 VND/year.

In particular, among these donations were contributions for purchasing air conditioners (480,000 VND) and televisions (296,000 VND), totaling nearly 800,000 VND from these two "voluntary" contributions.

In addition, parents also have to pay 20,000 VND for chairs; 90,000 VND/year for eNetViet internet; 70,000 VND/year for daily homework; and up to 200,000 VND per course for boarding school supplies.

Hải Dương: Một trường bị ‘tố’ phải đóng 20 khoản thu dưới danh nghĩa tự nguyện - Ảnh 1. — A complaint from parents of students at Hung Dao Primary School (Tu Ky District, Hai Duong Province)

On October 7th, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Head of the Education and Training Department of Tu Ky District, stated that the department had worked with school leaders to verify each fee collected based on parents' complaints.

Accordingly, the school has implemented the collection and sponsorship of funds in accordance with current regulations on the content and amount of fees. However, some fees were collected and purchased on behalf of parents by homeroom teachers through agreements (collecting for the parent association fund, purchasing chairs, daily exercise books), which the principal did not manage promptly, and the level of parental agreement was not high, leading to complaints as mentioned in the letter.

Many fees were collected improperly and not in accordance with regulations, and were not reported to the Department of Education and Training.

According to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, some fees are not included in the regulations, such as the 20,000 VND fee for purchasing chairs. Hung Dao Primary School has a policy of enrolling first-grade students, and parents need to buy a plastic chair for their child to sit on during group activities. Parents agreed to ask the homeroom teacher to buy it for them. Similarly, the 70,000 VND fee for daily exercise books was also agreed upon by parents to ask the homeroom teacher to purchase them.

The collection of funds that did not follow proper procedures included the purchase of televisions and air conditioners for classrooms. In August 2023, the school launched a fundraising campaign for in-kind donations but did not report the plan to the Department of Education and Training of Tu Ky District.

The school has developed a plan for an extracurricular club and sought approval from the Department of Education and Training. If implemented, it would charge 8,000 VND per lesson, in accordance with Resolution 08 of 2022 of the Hai Duong Provincial People's Council, but the school has not yet implemented it.

Hải Dương: Một trường bị ‘tố’ phải đóng 20 khoản thu dưới danh nghĩa tự nguyện - Ảnh 2. — Students of Hung Dao Primary School at an outdoor activity session.

With a summer tuition fee of 720,000 VND, this item is included in the August 2023 fee for students participating in the 2023 summer activity program and is not part of the fees for the 2023-2024 school year.

Following feedback from parents, the Department of Education and Training requested Hung Dao Primary School to conduct fundraising and sponsorship activities in accordance with Circular No. 16 of 2018 issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, which regulates sponsorship for educational institutions within the national education system.

The Department of Education and Training of Tu Ky District requests that schools refrain from implementing fundraising (soliciting donations) until they have received approval from the competent authority and the consent of parents. The principal must report and seek the opinion of local leaders and the Department of Education and Training regarding the fundraising and service fee collection plan before implementation.

Moving forward, the Department of Education and Training will continue to inspect and rectify the collection of fees at the beginning of the school year at Hung Dao Primary School. At the same time, it requests the People's Committee of Hung Dao commune and the parent-teacher association to strengthen close supervision of school fees, and to cooperate with the school in enhancing communication regarding educational activities and fees collected during the school year.

In addition, the Department of Education and Training of Tu Ky District will continue to inspect and rectify the implementation of contributions and fundraising activities in schools in the area to ensure transparency, openness, and compliance with regulations; and will strictly handle any violations found.

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