This morning (October 1), Mr. Vo Cao Long, Head of the Department of Education and Training of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City officially informed about the incident of a teacher asking parents to buy a laptop at Chuong Duong Primary School.

According to Mr. Long, the leaders of District 1 People's Committee have agreed to direct the case that occurred at Chuong Duong Primary School to resolutely handle violations of the law (if any), not cover up violations, be public, transparent, and clarify information to public opinion.

To ensure the best learning conditions for students, the principal of Chuong Duong Primary School agreed to assign Ms. Dinh Thi Kim Thoa, Vice Principal, to replace Ms. Truong Phuong Hanh to be in charge of teaching students of class 4/3 this morning.

“Ms. Thoa has been an excellent teacher for many years and has received many certificates of merit at all levels. On the afternoon of September 30, Ms. Thoa proactively participated in interacting with the class's parent group. The school's board of directors issued a decision assigning Ms. Thoa to take charge of class 4/3 on the afternoon of September 30,” said Mr. Long.

Vo Cao Long
Mr. Vo Cao Long, Head of the Department of Education and Training of District 1. Photo: Le Huyen

The Board of Directors of Chuong Duong Primary School quickly established a working group consisting of representatives from the Department of Education and Training, the Party Committee, the school board, the school union, and the People's Inspection Committee to meet with Ms. Hanh on the evening of September 30. The Board of Directors of Chuong Duong Primary School requested Ms. Hanh to report and clarify the content related to her that is being posted on social networks before 9:00 a.m. on October 3.

"In life or work, there are decisions that are hasty at that time, that's why the working group came to contact Ms. Hanh to understand her feelings and thoughts" - Mr. Long clearly said.

The Head of the Department of Education and Training of District 1 also said that, after the above incident, the People's Committee of District 1 assigned the Department of Finance and the Department of Education to coordinate with relevant units to promptly advise on the inspection of revenue and expenditure at the beginning of the school year of schools in the area.

“After this incident, in the near future I will direct the assignment of personnel to monitor, share, and grasp the content of educational institutions in the area to promptly remove obstacles and difficulties as well as handle arising issues,” Mr. Long emphasized.

Ms. Truong Phuong Hanh, homeroom teacher of class 4/3, head of grade 4, Chuong Duong Primary School, was petitioned by more than 20 parents of class 4/3 to the principal to change her homeroom teacher. The reason was that she asked parents to support buying laptops, but when some disagreed, she did not prepare review outlines for students.

Truong Phuong Hanh
Ms. Truong Phuong Hanh. Photo: Le Huyen

Specifically, in the first parent meeting of class 4/3 (held on September 14), Ms. Hanh asked parents to support a laptop worth 4-5 million VND, a document printer and support the class's nanny with 300,000 VND/month. At that time, parents commented that the printer had been equipped since class 3, the teacher should contact the old homeroom teacher to ask for it back for the class.

Parents calculate that for a laptop costing 5-6 million VND, each person will have to contribute 200-300 thousand VND. However, because they also contribute to other things, parents have to contribute 500 thousand VND/person.

There were 29 parents who paid, a total of 14.5 million VND. Ms. Hanh gave the nanny 300 thousand VND, contributed 500 thousand VND to the scholarship fund, and kept 13.7 million VND. This female teacher said she would like 6 million VND from this money to buy a laptop worth 11 million VND (she paid for the remaining 5 million VND herself) and wanted this laptop to be her own.

There were 26 parents who agreed, 3 who disagreed, and 9 parents who did not express their opinion. Therefore, the female teacher "sulked" and said that she would not prepare review outlines for the students. The parents' complaint also stated that Ms. Hanh also sold food in the classroom to the students...

Yesterday, sharing with VietNamNet, the female teacher said that she asked parents for money to buy laptops because she thought "that is socializing education". And she was reported by parents to the principal because she did not receive money to buy laptops. If she had received money from parents, everything would not have happened.

Regarding selling sausages and instant noodles to students, according to Ms. Hanh’s explanation, her house is far away so there are times when she comes to school without breakfast. Therefore, she always has a few packages of noodles ready so that on days when she doesn’t have time to eat breakfast, she can cook at school. When students see this, they come up and say, “Teacher, I’m so hungry, please cook me some noodles,” so she cooks noodles for the students to eat. 1 box of noodles and 1 sausage is 20,000 VND. Students who have money can pay, but those who don’t have money can’t.

Teacher asked for money to buy a laptop, accused of cooking instant noodles and sausages to sell to students

Teacher asked for money to buy a laptop, accused of cooking instant noodles and sausages to sell to students

Teacher Truong Phuong Hanh, Chuong Duong Primary School, said that because her house is far from school, she always keeps a few packs of instant noodles on hand. On days when she doesn’t have time to eat breakfast, she cooks for the students at school. When the students see this, they say, “Teacher, I’m so hungry,” so she cooks instant noodles for them.
No class arrangement for teacher in HCMC who 'sulked' at parents

No class arrangement for teacher in HCMC who 'sulked' at parents

The Department of Education and Training of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, requested Chuong Duong Primary School to temporarily not arrange for teacher TPH - the teacher who "sulked" and did not prepare review outlines for students because her parents did not agree to buy her a laptop - to teach.