Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em - chair of the school board of AISVN International School - apologized to parents and presented a plan to solicit contributions at the meeting on the afternoon of March 30 - Photo: DAO THU
During a meeting with parents on the afternoon of March 30th, the American International School Vietnam (AISVN) appealed to parents to contribute 125 billion VND to ensure stable operation until the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
AISVN school appealed to parents for contributions in October 2023.
On the evening of March 30th, AISVN International School sent an email to all parents, surveying their opinions on whether or not they agreed to contribute money to support the school's operations.
The survey form consists of three sections: agreement to contribute funds to maintain the school's operation until the end of the 2023-2024 school year; disagreement with contributing funds and a desire to transfer to another educational institution; and other comments.
The school requires parents to complete the survey only once for all their children. They also stated that the school's accounting department will send each family an email with specific information regarding the required payment amount. The relevant authorities will provide the bank account details for parents to make contributions today, March 31st.
Some parents said they agreed with the solution, but demanded a clear understanding of the school's financial situation. "We heard the school owes more than 3 trillion VND, is that true? All financial matters must be transparent so that parents can contribute," one parent said.
Many parents recalled the incident in September 2023, when, after parents demanded payment from the school, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em (owner of AISVN) called on parents to contribute additional annual fees for the 2023-2024 school year.
A parent with two children attending the school expressed their frustration: "Most of us have invested billions of dong in the school's tuition until the end of 12th grade. In October 2023, Ms. Ut Em called on parents to contribute nearly 70 billion dong to maintain the school's operations."
Back then, parents, including those who had invested billions of dong in the school, continued to pay to keep their children's education going. Now, the school is calling for donations again to maintain its operations. What all parents are concerned about is how the school will operate after this fundraising round, and whether it will continue to call for donations again."
How does AISVN International School manage its finances, and what are the causes of its financial difficulties?
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em stated that on October 2, 2023, the school opened an account to allow parents to jointly monitor the school's revenue and expenditure activities, and this continues to this day.
According to the school's accounting department's revenue and expenditure report, as of October 31, 2023, the school's total revenue was over 32.8 billion VND, with a remaining balance of over 196 million VND after deducting expenses. By November 8, 2023, the school's total revenue was over 3.3 billion VND, but total expenses were over 13.7 billion VND. By March 22, 2024, the school's total revenue was over 16.2 billion VND, but total expenses had increased to over 60.9 billion VND.
From October 2, 2023 to March 23, 2024, the school's total revenue exceeded 52.4 billion VND, while total expenses reached over 107 billion VND. Therefore, the outstanding debt is over 54 billion VND.
Income and expenditure report of AISVN International School
According to AIS American International Education Joint Stock Company (the investor of AIS Vietnam School), the company has faced difficulties in management and operation recently due to a difficult financial situation, losses, and a shortage of funds.
The main reason is that the company has invested heavily in building infrastructure and purchasing equipment for the school, using funds from the investor and money raised from parents.
Every year, the school regularly spends money on upgrading facilities and paying for the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, while for many years the school has not collected these fees from parents.
Every year, the school allocates a significant amount of funding to operate a long-term, free bus service to transport students.
With an estimated capacity of around 4,000 students, the school has actually only managed to enroll nearly half of that number.
In 2022 and 2023, interest rates on loans and bond issuances rose sharply, leading to a significant increase in the company's financial costs. This, coupled with the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated the situation due to a sharp decline in revenue, while almost all expenses remained unchanged (as shown in the tax audit results).
Furthermore, the company has absolutely no other investment activities outside of education. Due to unforeseen difficulties, the company has temporarily experienced short-term liquidity problems, leading to delays in paying teachers' salaries and refunding parents under investment cooperation agreements.
"Currently, parental contributions are the most feasible option."
At yesterday's meeting, representatives from various departments stated that the school's negotiations with an investor had not yet yielded concrete results. Therefore, contributing funds is currently the most feasible option.
Ms. Em stated that past and present contributions from parents will be repaid in various forms, such as shares, loans, and interest from savings accounts at the State Bank.
Regarding short-term plans, the projected short-term funding from April to June 2024 is 125 billion VND. The inter-agency team and parents will jointly review these necessary fees to reduce costs.
Parents who have not paid the IB fee and/or facility fee must make the full payment to ensure fairness. The relevant agency will open a new bank account to collect these contributions, and this account will be overseen by the agency and parent representatives in terms of revenue and expenditure.
How will the school collect additional fees from parents over the next three months?
The amount the school needs to collect per grade level for 3 months is as follows: Discovery class (3, 4 years old) and pre-primary class (5 years old): 9.5 million VND/month, totaling 28.5 million VND.
Grades 1-5: 14.5 million VND/month, total 43.5 million VND. Grades 6-8: 20.5 million VND/month, total 61.5 million VND.
Grades 9-12: 25.5 million VND/month, total 76.5 million VND.
In the long term, parents who have participated in capital contribution contracts with the school will have the value of their contracts converted into school shares. Negotiations with investors will continue under the supervision of relevant departments to proceed with restructuring. An official communication channel will be established to provide accurate updates on the negotiation process.
Ms. Em is obligated to provide parents with specific written commitments regarding the long-term implementation plan. If parents do not agree to contribute financially, they can choose other options such as transferring to another international school or to a public school.
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