Parents have complained about numerous fees being collected improperly.

According to feedback from several parents whose children are studying at Le Hong Phong Primary School (Le Hong Phong Ward, Phu Ly City, Ha Nam Province), the school has imposed some fees that are not in accordance with regulations.

Parents are questioning the numerous unusual fees.

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Parents' questions

Parents are questioning why there are only two water dispensers in the hallway, where the water comes from, and whether there are replacement dispensers available when they run out. The school charges 8,000 VND per student per month for water. Are the students actually using all the money they've paid for water?

"Each student pays 20,000 VND/month for sanitation fees. However, the children still have to pick up trash and clean the classroom after school. Each class still has to take turns sweeping the schoolyard. In addition, the school stipulates a fee of 115,000 VND/student/year for test papers and exam papers, but last year (2022) our child still had to pay from the class fund. Is it possible for one child to photocopy and use that many test papers and exam papers throughout the school year?", a parent commented.

Furthermore, parents believe that the school's construction costs will be funded by the state. However, parents claim that the principal said they haven't secured the funding yet and are asking parents to contribute. Parents question what will happen to the money they've already paid if the state provides funding later? Where will that money go?

The school's policy is to cover all expenses.

In response to parents' concerns, Mr. Ha Van Dong, Principal of Le Hong Phong Primary School, told a reporter from Thanh Nien Newspaper that the school had completed the parent-teacher meeting, and all classes had submitted the meeting minutes to the school. The minutes showed that all parents agreed to the proposed fees. The school is currently preparing the necessary documents and a report to submit to the Department of Education and Training.

Le Hong Phong Primary School, where some parents are raising concerns about certain fees.

According to Mr. Dong, some fees, such as drinking water, sanitation, and examination paper fees, are collected by the school in accordance with Resolution 09 of the Ha Nam Provincial People's Council. According to Resolution 09, the water fee should not exceed 10,000 VND. Based on the previous year's (2022) expenditures and anticipated expenses for this year, the school develops a collection plan with the principle of collecting enough to cover expenses. Calculations show that the drinking water fee per student is 8,000 VND. Water dispensers are provided to all classrooms, one per class. This has been the practice for many years, not the first. Therefore, the parents' complaints are inaccurate.

Regarding the school's practice of using class funds to photocopy test papers for students in 2022, Mr. Dong stated that he had only been working at the school for two months. He was unaware of the previous year's incident and did not give any instructions, but he is certain that such a thing will not happen this year.

Each classroom is provided with a water dispenser for students.

Regarding this year's fees, Mr. Dong said: "The school's fee for exam papers is not allowed to exceed 115,000 VND/year, based on the actual expenses of the previous year. This year, the accountant anticipates that grades 1 and 2 will only collect 70,000 VND/student, and grades 3 to 5 will collect 100,000 VND/student; no grade will collect 115,000 VND/student as reported."

According to Resolution 09, the school is not allowed to collect more than 20,500 VND per student per month for cleaning services. Based on last year's collection results, this year the school plans to collect 20,000 VND per student per month, hiring 3 janitors to sweep classrooms and 2 janitors to sweep the yard and clean up. Students only need to come to school to study; they don't have to do anything else.

The school announced a voluntary contribution, but the parent association arbitrarily set a uniform amount?

Regarding the funds the school is soliciting from parents, Mr. Dong said: "Recently, the school received funding from Phu Ly City to renovate 25 classrooms. The costs included re-plastering, re-tiling the floors, redoing the electrical system and fans, and ensuring timely handover to the school on September 5th. However, the interior furnishings, such as some desks and chairs that were damaged during transportation, need repair. The cost of replacing the televisions in the 25 classrooms, the signage system, the network system, etc., totals approximately 170 million VND. The school has submitted a request for funding to the Phu Ly City Department of Education and Training, but they lacked the funds, so they allowed the school to solicit donations from philanthropists and parents."

Mr. Dong emphasized that the entire sum of 170 million VND that the school is asking parents to contribute is not mandatory. Those who find it appropriate can contribute, and those who don't can do so without any obligation.

"However, after we informed the parent association about this fee, a few days later some parents in the classes questioned it, claiming that each student had to pay 150,000 VND. Upon receiving this inaccurate information, the school immediately notified the parents again, emphasizing that this was a non-mandatory donation," Mr. Dong said.

When asked why there was misinformation causing parental outrage, Mr. Dong stated: "During the school meeting, the heads of the parent associations were invited to participate in the announcement. After the meeting, the parent associations relayed the information to the parents in the class. The parent associations may have provided inaccurate information, leading to misunderstandings."

Furthermore, Mr. Dong also questioned why there are two primary school locations in Le Hong Phong Ward. According to Mr. Dong, parents may have mistakenly reported one school for the other, because among the fees parents complained about, only one fee involved a misunderstanding during communication between the parent association and the school, but the school promptly provided a very detailed explanation afterward.

The second school also faced a similar situation when soliciting donations from parents.

To clarify whether the parents' complaint about the wrong school was true, Thanh Nien Newspaper conducted an interview with Mr. Nguyen Van Trach, Principal of Thanh Son B Primary School (Le Hong Phong Ward, Phu Ly City, Ha Nam Province). Mr. Trach stated that Thanh Son B Primary School was built a long time ago and is in serious disrepair. Every year, the school has to hire technicians to repair the computer room, network cables, electrical wiring, etc., which is very costly.

"We estimate the repair costs for this year to be around 90 million VND. The school held a meeting to disseminate information about these fees. The meeting included school representatives and the heads of the parent-teacher associations from each class. We informed them about the voluntary contributions, and they will relay the information to the parents of each class. We did not divide the money equally among each student at 120,000 VND, but the parents did so on their own initiative without our knowledge," Mr. Trach said.

According to Mr. Trach, following parents' feedback to the press, the school will clarify that this is a voluntary contribution and cannot be applied uniformly. If the amount raised is less than 90 million VND, the school will consider repairing fewer items.

Regarding fees for sanitation, water, and examination paper, this school also complies with Decree 09. The parents' complaints about these fees are also unfounded.

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