Blurred beginning of school year fees

Seeing that the class parents' association only reminded them to pay the fund, without explaining in detail the expenditure of 66 million VND last year, Ms. Nhung was furious and stood up to confront them.

"This is the second consecutive year of revenue and expenditure like this," Ms. Nhung, 31 years old, residing in Ha Dong district, Hanoi , said indignantly.

Last year, her son entered first grade, attending a public school in the right area. The mother said she had no complaints about the school's fees, but the parent association fund was "unacceptable." During her son's first grade year, she paid this fund four times, totaling 1.3 million VND.

"A class of 51 students pays 66 million VND a year in funds, of which about 24 million VND is spent on holidays and birthdays, 2 million VND is spent on photocopying documents, and the rest is not mentioned. When I asked for disbursement, the parents said no, because many expenses are sensitive," said Ms. Nhung.

This woman said the amount of 1.3 million VND is not too large, but she is upset because of the unclear way the parent committee works.

At the meeting on September 23, Ms. Nhung expected that the new school year would see the parent committee work more transparently and clearly, but was not given an explanation of last year's expenses, only informed of the payment for this year.

"I do not agree with the parents' committee's "cut first , report later" style of working, only asking for payment without any revenue or expenditure estimates. This way of working makes me question the transparency in collecting and spending the money," said Ms. Nhung.

Vietnamese Dong in various denominations. Illustration: Thanh Hang — Vietnamese Dong in various denominations. Illustration: *Thanh Hang*

In addition to the parent fund, many parents are also uncomfortable because they believe that some schools have unclear provisions between voluntary and compulsory fees. Ms. Hang, 40 years old, living in Ha Nam , is in this case.

At the parent-teacher conference for her 11th grade son in mid-September, the mother was told to pay 1.4 million VND, including 270,000 VND for 20 notebooks with the school's photo printed on the cover. A week later, her daughter's 5th grade teacher also sent a list of payments, including 150,000 VND for 15 squared notebooks with the school's logo printed on them.

"The thing to note is that the teacher did not clearly inform that this was a voluntary fee. It was placed together with a series of mandatory fees such as health insurance and tuition," said Ms. Hang. According to her, the notebooks bought at school have poor quality paper, thin covers, and are easily worn out, so she did not want her children to use them. When she refused to pay this fee, many other parents learned that this was not a mandatory fee.

At the beginning of each school year, a series of issues related to revenues are reported.

Last week, Tu Hiep Secondary School in Hanoi had to return more than 160 million VND from the school's parent-teacher fund to parents because it was "inappropriate". The representative board of class 1/2 at Hong Ha Primary School in Ho Chi Minh City had to return 247.5 million VND out of the more than 260 million VND it had spent. In Hai Duong, Thanh Mien 3 High School was found to have collected many incorrect amounts, exceeding the prescribed amount.

According to a survey conducted by VnExpress in October 2022, of the 550 respondents, 79% opposed collecting the parent association fund. The majority said that this is a difficult to manage and easily distorted expense.

The contributions of Ms. Hang's son at the beginning of the school year, recorded by his mother. Photo: Provided by the character — The contributions of Ms. Hang's son at the beginning of the school year, recorded by his mother. Photo: *Provided by the character*

The Ministry of Education and Training has issued a request to publicize regular revenues and expenditures, with more emphasis at the beginning of each school year - the time when parents have to pay many fees for their children. The Ministry has also issued Circular 55 of 2011 on the operating regulations of the parent committee, and Circular 16 of 2018 on funding for schools. In addition to the Ministry's request, localities and the Department of Education and Training also have their own directives on financial activities at the beginning of the new school year.

"There is no shortage of legal corridors for transparent revenue and expenditure, but this and that related to financial issues at the beginning of the school year still happens," said Mr. Nguyen Tung Lam, Chairman of the Education Council and co-founder of Dinh Tien Hoang High School, a private school in Hanoi.

Mr. Lam believes that the main reason comes from the fact that the school head has not fulfilled his responsibilities well. According to him, the principal does not directly hold the parent fund of the class or the school, but still has to have measures to manage and supervise so that these funds are collected properly and used for the right purposes.

However, the holders of the parent fund also have their own concerns. Ms. Lan Anh, 43 years old, residing in Long Bien district, Hanoi, who used to be a member of the Parent Council of her daughter's middle school class, said that she "didn't get any benefits" but only suffered pressure. The members of the Parent Council are also often questioned and doubted.

She said that in addition to buying stationery and equipment for the classroom - expenses that she called "easy to count", there are also sensitive matters such as buying flowers and gifts for teachers on Vietnamese Teachers' Day, Lunar New Year, and for female teachers, there is also International Women's Day on March 8 and Vietnamese Women's Day on October 20.

The prices of flowers and gifts on these occasions are often 2-3 times higher than usual. Even though she has surveyed the market and ordered in large quantities, the expense is unavoidable, she said.

"Not to mention, not all stores have red invoices, many times they are just handwritten receipts or nothing at all. So requiring all expenses to have invoices is impossible for the Parents' Committee," said Ms. Lan Anh. After two years in the Committee, she decided to quit because "it was tiring, time-consuming and not recognized by other parents."

Regarding the confusion between mandatory and voluntary fees, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Chuong, former principal of Loc Phat High School, Lam Dong province, suggested that it is not difficult to separate them for parents. Schools should have a printed list, clearly stating which fees are mandatory, which are voluntary or require contributions so that parents can easily follow. If necessary, he said that the principal can explain more about the necessity and the reasons for the non-mandatory fees.

"The general mentality is that no parent wants to pay a lot, so we need to show them that the amount is practical and necessary for their children's education. I believe that then, parents will be open and feel convinced," said Mr. Chuong.

If the lack of transparency in calling for donations in schools continues, educators believe that many people will lose faith in the education sector. When urgent matters arise that really require the cooperation of parents, schools will have difficulty calling for donations.

Ms. Nhung has just paid 600,000 VND for the new school year to the class parent fund, after promising to be informed of every income and expenditure. She considers this promise as a spiritual victory to believe that she will no longer feel dissatisfied at the beginning of the school year.

Thanh Hang

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