Schools weigh the costs

Resolution 04 is considered a "magic wand" to combat overcharging at the beginning of each school year. However, many educational institutions say it is difficult to impose a maximum ceiling on all fees, and even weigh and measure each item to make it reasonable.

Not easy to collect the ceiling

Resolution 04 stipulates 26 revenues divided into 4 groups including: revenues for educational activities outside of regular school hours as prescribed; revenues for educational activities implemented according to approved projects; revenues for services serving boarding activities; revenues to support individual students.

The fees are divided into 2 groups. Group 1 is students at schools in Thu Duc City and districts: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, Go Vap, Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Binh Tan. Group 2 is students at schools in districts: Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Nha Be and Can Gio.

The collection rates specified in this resolution are maximum collection rates. Depending on the actual situation of the educational institution and the needs of the students, the educational institution will agree with the parents on the specific collection rate, but it must not exceed the collection rates specified in this resolution and must not be higher than 15% compared to the 2022-2023 school year.

Trường học cân não với các khoản thu - Ảnh 1.

According to regulations, schools are only allowed to collect 35,000 VND for lunch, so many schools have to cut the afternoon meal. Photo: TAN THANH

Leaders of many educational institutions in Ho Chi Minh City said that compared to the previous school year's fees, the fees according to Resolution 04 are mostly higher than the fees that schools have applied, although it is not easy to apply a maximum ceiling on all fees.

Mr. Hoang Son Hai, Principal of Nguyen Chi Thanh High School (Tan Binh District), said that depending on the actual situation of each unit, the resolution's regulations will be used to calculate the collection level for each item. "It is impossible to collect 100% of the prescribed ceiling for every item," said Mr. Hai.

For example, according to Mr. Hai, although the collection level of Resolution 04 allows collecting fees for organizing 2 sessions/day at 300,000 VND/student/month at high school level, in reality, the school only collects 285,000/month. The above collection level is based on the estimated amount to pay teachers/lesson, club activities fee... add all together multiplied by the number of lessons, number of months, minus tax... then divided by the number of students. "The school has about 2,000 students, after deducting the remaining family exemption cases, the specific collection level is divided" - Mr. Hai said.

Mr. Hai also said that according to Resolution 04, there are 26 allowed fees, but not all schools can collect all 26 fees, because only schools that implement an item can collect that item. There is a disadvantage for schools in that, due to the regulation that they cannot collect more than 15% compared to the previous year, if in the previous school year schools had low fees, even if they increased by 15%, it would not be equal to the ceiling allowed by the People's Council. "For example, the fee for organizing English enrichment classes, the school previously collected only 90,000 VND/month, now it is allowed to increase by 15%, but this amount is still not equal to the 300,000 VND that Resolution 04 allows for high school students to collect," Mr. Hai said.

Get parents' opinions

Assessing Resolution 04 as the basis for schools to implement, limit illegal revenue and expenditure, especially the situation of overcharging at the beginning of the school year, the principal of a high school in District 1 said that before there were no specific regulations, the principal could not do it, but if he did, he was afraid of making mistakes because before there were no clear regulations on service fees in schools. And when it comes to services, it is difficult to have any accurate measurement!

According to Mr. Truong Quoc Hung, Principal of Duc Tri Secondary School (District 1), most of the school's fees are lower than the level specified in Resolution 04. There are some items that are higher but cannot exceed 15% compared to the previous year, so they cannot equal the ceiling level specified in the regulations.

Principals of many educational institutions also said that they had to rebalance some expenses at the school to comply with regulations. For example, previously, most schools collected 40,000 VND/student for boarding lunch, but it would include one lunch and one snack. However, according to regulations, only a maximum of 35,000 VND for lunch can be collected, so the school informed parents of the new regulations and no longer organized snacks, and parents agreed.

Mr. Ly Van Hue, Principal of Hoa Binh School, added that the school is currently collecting parents' opinions. The basic collection level is the same as the previous school year, most of the items are below or equal to the ceiling level of Resolution 04. There are some items that are not implemented as the previous school year such as English, IT fees, and second session fees for the grades implementing the 2018 general education program.

Doing it wrong will get you "blown the whistle"

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, Resolution 04 recently passed by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council stipulates 26 categories of service fees in schools, school principals must grasp and study carefully to implement them correctly. "The city regulates the maximum framework level, but not all schools must increase it to the maximum level. It is necessary to develop a professional plan, school education program, have a detailed usage plan, calculate reasonable costs for the purpose of students, meet the needs and abilities of students..." - Mr. Hieu emphasized.

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