Parents are reluctant to pay many fees at the end of the school year.

Looking at the list of donations to show gratitude and celebrate the end of the school year, Ms. Ha frowned slightly when she saw that she had to pay "100,000 VND to buy a camera".

Last week, Ms. Ha, 46 years old, in Ha Nam , attended a parent-teacher meeting for her 12th grade daughter. After announcing the results, the homeroom teacher informed about the "tradition of giving gifts to show gratitude to the school" of final year students. According to Ms. Ha, the teacher shared this content with the class's parent committee, and it was approved, so it was brought to the meeting.

"The teacher said that we should give practical gifts, said that the school wanted to install cameras in some important locations and suggested that parents consider this gift. The contribution per person is 100,000 VND," Ms. Ha said.

In addition to this amount, the parents' committee called for an additional 140,000 VND to buy gifts to thank homeroom and subject teachers. The activity of giving gifts to thank the school and teachers was considered reasonable, but Ms. Ha said she was not comfortable with the leveling and dividing of contributions per person.

"The parent committee said these fees were voluntary and only suggested the payment levels, but used the words 'it's always been like this', 'if my class doesn't participate, it will be embarrassing for other classes', 'it will leave a bad impression on the school'. It's voluntary but feels like they're being forced," said Ms. Ha.

Last week, on forums, parents of some primary and secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City reported being mobilized to buy TVs, replace doors, buy paint to paint the walls with the money divided equally among each person. Not falling into this case, but Ms. Lien, Ho Chi Minh City, was also informed of voluntary contributions at the end of the school year for her 3rd grade son, including money for students to summarize, and gifts to say goodbye to teachers and the school.

Initially, Ms. Lien intended to pay 100,000 VND, but when the parents' association suggested "200,000-300,000 VND would be enough", the mother, with a monthly salary of 6.5 million VND, also reluctantly paid 200,000 VND. As for her son in 10th grade, Ms. Lien said she always feels pressured at the beginning and end of each school year, because of the many contributions.

"Many times I intended to pay less, but seeing everyone agree, I tried to follow, not wanting my child to be ashamed," said Ms. Lien.

Vietnamese Dong with denominations of 100,000 and 200,000. Photo: Thanh Hang — Vietnamese Dong with denominations of 100,000 and 200,000. Photo: *Thanh Hang*

Parents' discomfort with year-end contributions has been a common situation for many years, according to former Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training Nguyen Van Ngai.

Since the second half of May, on forums with tens of thousands of members in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the topic of class funds and year-end contributions has been hotly discussed. Commenting under each post, many people listed the categories and amounts to be paid, claiming that the collection rate was high, expressing their dissatisfaction.

Currently, schools' fundraising is carried out according to Circular 16/2018 of the Ministry of Education and Training. This document clearly states that "funding must ensure the principles of voluntariness, publicity, transparency, no coercion or regulations on average or minimum funding levels; and no use of funding to force contributions".

Mr. Ngai said that although not all, the main reason is that some schools are using inappropriate methods of calling for donations, most clearly at the time of launching the donation campaign. He said that at the beginning of each school year, or at the end of the first semester, schools need to complete a report on facilities to send to the management level. If there is a need to repair, buy new equipment, use the budget or socialize, the school also needs to plan from this point.

"Not announcing it for the entire school year, and then calling for donations at the end of the year is not good, it makes parents uncomfortable, and shows that the school does not have a plan," he said. Not to mention, at the end of the year, students move up to the next grade, and mobilizing parents to contribute to facilities but their children are not sure to benefit creates a reserved and uncomfortable mentality.

In addition to the timing factor, the second reason is the communication from school to class, from class to parents. Mr. Ngai analyzed that normally each class's parent representative committee will get information from teachers or the school's parent committee, then disseminate it to parents in the class. According to him, many people may not fully understand the regulations for receiving sponsorship, or are too enthusiastic about the campaign, leading to them calculating the amount of money and dividing it among themselves, making other parents feel pressured.

Sharing the feelings of parents, a teacher with 20 years of experience in Ho Chi Minh City, including 15 years as a homeroom teacher, said that the parents' association and homeroom teachers should also be shared.

This teacher said she did not handle the fund but often worked with the parent committee to calculate the purchase of food for the party and to survey prices. She said that this was not the teacher's responsibility, and the parent committee also had to arrange their personal work to participate in these activities. Balancing the amount of money to spend reasonably was tiring and time-consuming, so if the campaign did not go as expected, the parents in the class could discuss it privately with the teacher or the head of the parent committee, instead of feeling resentful and upset.

Having been a member of the parents' committee for many years, Ms. Nhung, Ha Dong district, Hanoi, said this is a job of "eating at home and carrying the burden of the whole village", but is often misunderstood.

"There were times when we miscalculated and missed out by a few hundred thousand, or when the whole class contributed but it wasn't enough to buy things, the parents' committee and I split the money between us," Nhung said. Because of her experience, she was always happy with the donations. She said that a donation of a few hundred thousand to about 1-2 million VND was within her ability, so she didn't hesitate.

"Ultimately, it's for my children. The parent committee also has a hard time, so if I see something unreasonable, I can discuss it privately with them," said Ms. Nhung.

Agreeing with this view, Ms. Thu, 43 years old, living in Long Bien district, Hanoi, thinks that we should not be too strict with year-end collection. A few days ago, she also paid 650,000 VND, including the money for the graduation ceremony and farewell gifts for teachers and school, for her son in grade 9. The mother does not think that the sharing and guidance of the parent committee or homeroom teacher is mandatory. On the contrary, she finds this quite useful and practical.

"For example, if the class buys a gift and gives it to the school, but the school already has it or rarely uses it, or even has no place to display it, is that a waste?", Ms. Thu asked, arguing that a gift of gratitude would be more meaningful if it was based on the recipient's real needs.

However, in terms of the amount of contribution, she agreed that it should not be divided equally per person or given a suggested amount, but rather let parents volunteer according to their financial ability. Based on the amount collected, the parent committee will choose a gift of appropriate value.

To make parents feel comfortable when contributing, the principal of a high school in Hanoi said the most important thing is transparency, from policy to dissemination and implementation.

Anticipating that the parent-teacher association and teachers might not communicate accurately or with an attitude that could be easily misunderstood, this principal often types out the content of the donation request. In this document, the sentence "not required, the amount of donation is up to you" is often printed in bold at the bottom of the page. For graduation and farewell activities, the principal believes that "whatever is available should be used", ensuring formality and politeness, not turning it into an opportunity to call for donations.

Therefore, schools need to grasp and closely monitor the activities of the parent committee, detect and prevent illegal over-collection and over-spending.

Mr. Ngai suggested that schools should calculate the costs for items that need to be repaired or purchased from the beginning of the year, and report to the Department of Education and Training. The management level can balance the budget and allow schools to mobilize social resources within a certain level.

For Ms. Ha in Ha Nam, after asking parents of each class and seeing that the cost of buying a camera was the same, 100,000 VND per person, she decided to pay without any objection. In addition to this amount, her daughter asked for an additional 100,000 VND for a class party.

"I think every parent wants their child to be equal to their friends, so even if there are some hesitations about contributing, they will still participate fully. What we need is clear information, knowing that the money is actually used for our children," said Ms. Ha.

Thanh Hang

*Parents' names have been changed

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