A private school in Dak Lak has struggled for 12 years but still has not been converted to private.

30 day rule but 12 years not done yet

On the morning of May 23, Mr. Nguyen Huu Luat, Head of the Departmentof Education and Training (GD&DT) of Buon Ma Thuot City (Dak Lak) said that he had guided Nguyen Binh Khiem Private Primary School (Nguyen Binh Khiem School) to complete the project to convert the school type from private to public.

At the same time, the Department of Education and Training has also developed and completed the draft decision to approve the project and the decision to convert Nguyen Binh Khiem School from public to private.

"There are no more problems now. The city is collecting opinions from members of the People's Committee, then submitting them to the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee. After completing the consultation, the People's Committee of Buon Ma Thuot City will make a decision," Mr. Luat informed.

Nguyen Binh Khiem Private Primary School

Regarding the conversion of Nguyen Binh Khiem School from a public to a private school, the Dak Lak Provincial People's Court has just issued an administrative complaint judgment.

Plaintiff - Nguyen Binh Khiem School, Buon Ma Thuot City People's Committee is the defendant.

According to the verdict, the panel of judges accepted the plaintiff's request, forcing the People's Committee of Buon Ma Thuot City to issue a decision to convert the school type from private to public for Nguyen Binh Khiem School according to the law.

The People's Court cited Circular No. 11/2009 of the Ministry of Education and Training (regulating the order and procedures for converting semi-public and private schools into private schools), within 30 days from the date of receiving the dossier, the Department of Education and Training shall preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies, appraise, and submit to the People's Committee of the same level for consideration and decision on converting the school type.

However, the journey of Nguyen Binh Khiem School has lasted for more than 12 years and is still not over.

According to records, Nguyen Binh Khiem School originated from Le Hong Phong Primary School, located in Buon Ma Thuot town (now city), established in 1992.

At that time, the City Youth Union (now the City Youth Union) of Buon Ma Thuot applied to open a private school, so this organization was the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

In 1997, the Department of Education and Training of Dak Lak province appointed Mr. Nguyen Dinh Long as Principal. Also in this year, the People's Committee of Dak Lak province issued a decision to lease 4,815m² of land to build the school.

According to the decision of the Provincial People's Committee, Nguyen Binh Khiem School has a total investment of more than 3.5 billion VND. Dak Lak province supports 140 million VND, the construction cost comes from the school's own capital, bank loans, and shares. The investor is the Chairman of the Board of Directors.

After the above decision, Buon Ma Thuot City Youth Union (Chairman of the Board of Directors) issued a document assigning Principal Nguyen Dinh Long to mobilize capital to build the school, organize teaching and manage the school's activities according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. Thus, Nguyen Binh Khiem School was built with capital from Mr. Nguyen Dinh Long.

In 2001, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Decision No. 39 regulating the organization and operation of non-public schools. According to this regulation, Nguyen Binh Khiem School is eligible to change its school type from non-public to private.

Nguyen Binh Khiem Private Primary School seen from above

Series of illegal requests

In 2013, Buon Ma Thuot City People's Committee requested Nguyen Binh Khiem School to prepare a dossier to convert the school type according to Circular No. 11/2009 of the Ministry of Education and Training.

However, after this school submitted its application and conversion plan, the People's Committee of Buon Ma Thuot City repeatedly requested additional documents and clarification of the matter of the Buon Ma Thuot City Youth Union assigning Principal Nguyen Dinh Long to mobilize capital to build the school; clarify the amount of 105 million VND from the state budget to build the school and audit the school's finances.

Nguyen Binh Khiem School “knocked on the door” of the State Audit but was rejected because it was not responsible for conducting financial audits of private schools. In 2020, the school invited a financial audit unit, but the People's Committee of Buon Ma Thuot City said that the school's intangible assets (the school's brand) had not been determined.

First instance trial to resolve the complaint between Nguyen Binh Khiem School and Buon Ma Thuot City People's Committee

The panel of judges found that the above requests of the People's Committee of Buon Ma Thuot City were illegal. Because Circular No. 11/2009 does not have any provisions or clauses that require the identification of the brand name when converting a non-public school to a private school.

Regarding the amount of 105 million VND, Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee determined that this is support for school construction, not state capital contribution.

Buon Ma Thuot City Youth Union has provided documents on assigning Mr. Nguyen Dinh Long to raise capital to build Nguyen Binh Khiem School.

The People's Court declared that the act of the People's Committee of Buon Ma Thuot City in not issuing a decision to convert the school type from public to private for Nguyen Binh Khiem School was illegal.

Regarding the conversion of the educational type of Nguyen Binh Khiem School, the Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee has requested the Buon Ma Thuot City People's Committee to approve the project and issue a decision to convert the type of public school to private, to be completed before May 20, 2025.

However, the city later sent a document requesting the province to consider and extend the implementation period until May 30, 2025.

Meanwhile, according to Circular No. 11/2009, schools must complete the conversion of school types before June 30, 2025.

Huynh Thuy

Source: https://tienphong.vn/mot-truong-dan-lap-o-dak-lak-tray-trat-12-nam-van-chua-duoc-chuyen-sang-tu-thuc-post1744697.tpo