Many schools do not comply with regulations on revenue and expenditure at the beginning of the school year.

At Nguyen Trung Truc Secondary School (Thoi An Ward), the homeroom teacher of class 8/14 collected money from parents, including class fund of 260,000 VND/1 semester and class cleaning fee of 40,000 VND/1 semester, totaling 300,000 VND/student/1 semester.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Cam Thuy, Principal of Nguyen Trung Truc Secondary School, said that because these were two illegal sums of money, on September 24, the school directed the homeroom teacher of the class to return all the money contributed by the parents.

At Le Ngoc Han Primary School (Ben Thanh Ward), many illegal collections have also been planned. According to the budget estimate for class 5/2, the cost of installing wifi for the digital classroom is 9.6 million VND (330,000 VND/child), organizing the graduation ceremony is 30,450,000 VND (1,050,000 VND/child), the scholarship fund is 7,250,000 VND (250,000 VND/child/year) and gratitude activities are 700,000 VND/child/term.

Although these fees are said to be voluntary, the way the Parents' Association collects the money still makes many people angry. Many parents even say that although the school already has wifi, they continue to lobby for money to install it separately for each classroom.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Yen, Principal of Le Ngoc Han Primary School, said that the list stated that the payment was voluntary, not equal, not mandatory, but dividing the fee for each student to pay was against the regulations. The 5/2 class representative board explained to the school that the reason for dividing the fee equally for each student was to make it easier for parents to pay. After working with the homeroom teacher and the 5/2 class parent representative board, the principal asked the class to stop all planned fees from parents.

The 19/5 Kindergarten (Hoa Hung Ward) also caused controversy when it planned to raise 19 million VND in funding for the maintenance of the school's fish pond, an amount that parents did not understand why they had to contribute. This plan includes 3 projects: Project 1 is equipment and supplies for teaching and learning, with an estimated fundraising cost of 166 million VND; Project 2 is to renovate, repair, and construct facilities for educational activities, with an estimated cost of 68 million VND; Project 3 is to support educational activities, with an estimated cost of 316 million VND; a total of 550 million VND.

Mr. TVD - a parent of a 6th grade student at Le Ngoc Han Primary School said: "I think there should be clearer regulations on the collection and disbursement of money at the beginning of the year so that parents do not feel forced to contribute unclear amounts of money. I don't understand why, at the beginning of every school year, we mobilize money to buy or rent air conditioners and all sorts of other things."

Ms. NTM - a parent whose child studies at Nguyen Trung Truc Secondary School said: "Although the school said this was a voluntary payment, when it was made public, many parents felt forced to pay, and the amount was not small...".

To thoroughly resolve the above situation, strong and synchronous solutions are needed. The Department of Education and Training needs to tighten the management and supervision of revenues and expenditures at schools. Inspection teams need to be deployed regularly, not only at the beginning of the school year but also throughout the school year to promptly detect and handle violations.

Schools need to strengthen propaganda and explain to parents about reasonable fees, only collect necessary fees, in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training . In addition, publicly announcing fees from the beginning of the school year, ensuring transparency and clarity will help parents have a more objective view of fees, avoiding unnecessary fees.

At the press conference on the afternoon of September 25, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said: The Department has issued documents directing and implementing specialized inspections from September 29, 2025, establishing inspection teams for revenue and expenditure at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, and strictly handling violations if they are detected.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/giao-duc/nhieu-truong-hoc-khong-chap-hanh-quy-dinh-ve-thu-chi-dau-nam-hoc-i783157/