Parents accuse a high school in Ho Chi Minh City of soliciting donations.

(NLĐO) - The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has requested the identification of responsibilities and measures to handle individuals and groups involved in fundraising activities at Nguyen Van Linh High School.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhat Hang, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, has signed a document requesting the identification of responsibilities and measures to be taken against the departments and individuals involved in the fundraising for the 2025-2026 school year at Nguyen Van Linh High School (Binh Dong Ward).

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training announced that it had received a complaint dated November 28th and a denouncement dated November 30th from parents of students at Nguyen Van Linh High School. They complained about the principal soliciting donations from parents in violation of regulations, without prior approval from the Department of Education and Training; and organizing MOS computer training for students without going through the Department's Foreign Language and Computer Center.

According to the complaint, the principal of Nguyen Van Linh High School also signed a contract with Dai Duong Informatics Center, even though this center had not been licensed by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training to teach at high schools. The fee, as stipulated in the "Enhancing Informatics Application Skills, Knowledge, and Competencies for High School Students in Ho Chi Minh City according to International Standards 2021-2030" (MOS informatics), was 120,000 VND/month/student for grades 10 and 11, but in reality, the principal collected the money and independently provided MOS informatics instruction.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has requested that the responsibilities and disciplinary measures be determined for the departments and individuals involved in the fundraising efforts of Nguyen Van Linh High School (Binh Dong Ward) for the 2025-2026 school year.

On December 1st, the Department of Education and Training received a report from the Principal of Nguyen Van Linh High School, explaining the parents' complaint. According to the report, on September 21st, the school held a parent meeting for all three grade levels at the beginning of the school year. For the 11 classes in grade 10, the homeroom teachers discussed with parents and solicited donations in kind. Each class was equipped with 11 55-inch televisions (on a voluntary and unanimous basis) for students to use during their three years of high school. After that, parents could take them home or donate them to students in subsequent years.

On January 5th, Nguyen Van Linh High School held its parent-teacher conference for the 2025-2026 school year. The conference included a plan to solicit donations for educational activities, based on voluntary contributions of 300,000 VND per student per year (less or no contribution may be required) to support academic activities, arts and sports events, and assistance for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Since January 6th, the school has not announced, summarized, or instructed homeroom teachers to remind parents to participate in the school's fundraising plan for educational activities in any form (as the plan is awaiting approval).

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has requested the Principal of Nguyen Van Linh High School to promptly provide explanations regarding the reported issues; and to investigate and review the responsibilities of each individual and group.

In fact, from September 23rd to October 31st, parents of the three grade levels contributed 133.38 million VND, which Nguyen Van Linh High School has not yet used, as the plan is awaiting approval. Seven out of eleven 10th-grade classes have been equipped with televisions by their parents. According to the principal, if the fundraising plan for educational activities in the 2025-2026 school year is approved, the school will implement it; if not, the school will immediately return the contributed funds to the parents.

According to the Department of Education and Training, in the report, the principal of Nguyen Van Linh High School did not explain the content of the contract signed with Dai Duong Informatics Center and the fees collected for MOS classes at a rate of 120,000 VND/month/student for grades 10 and 11.

The leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training emphasized that the above incident shows that Nguyen Van Linh High School has not properly implemented the department's directives on fundraising, causing frustration among parents and creating negative public opinion about the school and the education sector. The school's report has not clearly identified responsibilities and proposed measures to handle the individuals involved.

"The Department of Education and Training requests the Principal of Nguyen Van Linh High School to promptly explain the reported issues; to investigate and review the responsibilities of each individual and group, especially the responsibility of the principal and vice-principal, for the aforementioned incident; to conduct a review of responsibilities, propose disciplinary measures (if any), and submit a report to the Department before December 20th for the Board of Directors to consider and handle according to regulations," the document stated.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/phu-huynh-to-mot-truong-thpt-o-tphcm-ve-viec-van-dong-tai-tro-196251216095923115.htm