Private school accused of illegal enrollment: Ward asks for direction from Hanoi Department of Education and Training

TPO - The People's Committee of Dinh Cong Ward (Hanoi), the agency managing school activities in the area, has set up an inspection team for Thang Long International Primary School and sent a document asking for instructions from the Hanoi Department of Education and Training regarding parents' accusations that the school was not assigned a quota but still blatantly enrolled first graders for the 2024-2025 school year.

Regarding the incident in which many parents of Thang Long International Primary School (Bilgates Scholl System) submitted a petition to the management agencies regarding the fact that their children studying in grade 1 at the school in the 2024-2025 school year have no information on the industry database, the school has sent an open letter of apology to the parents.

Sorry school

The open letter signed by Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, the school's principal, to parents on August 11 stated: "We sincerely apologize for not updating information in a timely manner, causing parents to worry about enrollment and management of first grade student records for the 2024-2025 school year."

Explaining why it was not assigned a quota but still enrolled, the school said that in the 2024-2025 school year, the school had submitted a plan for enrolling students in grade 1 to the management agencies and was still "enrolling normally". However, after that time, the school did not see the list of students assigned a quota in the management agency's enrollment plan.

“The enrollment process is still taking place normally, openly and transparently, based on practical needs and parents’ wishes. We still organize classes for the children, periodically report to management agencies and urgently coordinate with authorities to complete the application in accordance with regulations,” the school’s open letter to parents stated.

Thang Long International Primary School (Bilgates Scholl System) is located at Lot 1, Bac Linh Dam Urban Area ( Hanoi ).

Regarding the solution, the school said it would commit to completing existing legal procedures to ensure students' rights and working with parents to resolve all related issues.

Set up a team to inspect school activities

Mr. Nguyen Tien Manh, a parent whose child is studying in grade 1 at this school in the 2024-2025 school year, is upset with the school's recruitment methods and irresponsible activities that affect the students' rights, so at the beginning of the new school year, he asked to transfer to another private school for his child to continue in grade 2.

Mr. Manh said that the school's explanation was general and vague, and did not address the current concern of parents: whether the scores and learning results of first graders last year could be updated to the industry database of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

"We trusted our children to go to school, but now that the new school year is approaching, we are losing sleep looking for a new school and "knocking on the doors" of many management agencies to demand our rights, which is very unreasonable," he said.

It is known that yesterday (August 15), a group of 13 parents had a working session with representatives of the Department of Culture and Society of Dinh Cong Ward (Hanoi).

At the meeting, many parents raised the current reality that, although their children studied in grade 1 at Thang Long International Primary School last year, there is still no information or learning results on the industry's database system.

Parents have met with school representatives many times to discuss, but the school has not been able to give an exact answer about a solution.

What makes parents worry so much that they lose sleep is that when they request to transfer schools, neighboring schools also "refuse" because they are worried that their students' academic results in grade 1 will not be recognized. Only one school agreed to accept the student but will only be responsible from the 2025-2026 school year.

Therefore, parents requested Dinh Cong Ward, the agency managing school activities in the area, to have solutions to support the rights of students.

At the meeting, the Department of Culture and Society of Dinh Cong Ward affirmed that the unit had sent a document to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training to report the incident and ask for direction and stabilization of the educational situation in the area.

This department has also advised on plans to inspect non-public educational establishments in the ward. On August 14, the inspection team worked with Thang Long International Primary School.

The leader of Dinh Cong Ward said that the Ward is currently coordinating with competent authorities to resolutely handle violations and ensure the rights of students.

From the 2024-2025 school year, the assignment of enrollment routes and enrollment quotas to schools from kindergarten, primary school, and secondary school will be the responsibility of the Department of Education and Training. Specifically, the Department of Education and Training of Hoang Mai district. From July 1, 2025, when operating a two-level local government, the functions and tasks of the Department of Education and Training will end, and the People's Committees at the ward and commune levels will be responsible for managing the activities of schools in the area.

According to PV's investigation, in May 2024, the Department of Education and Training of Hoang Mai district has a plan for primary school enrollment, including assigning enrollment quotas to 20 public schools and 3 private schools in the area, however, the list does not include Thang Long International Primary School. Three private schools assigned enrollment quotas for grade 1 include: Ngoi Sao Primary, Secondary and High School, Bach Duong Primary School and May Primary & Secondary School. In fact, Thang Long International Primary School still enrolls and teaches "normally" as the open letter to parents affirmed.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/truong-tu-bi-to-tuyen-sinh-chui-phuong-xin-chi-dao-cua-so-gddt-ha-noi-post1769739.tpo