Parents are upset about the 1 million VND fund contribution to buy air conditioners and televisions. What does the school say?

Many parents of grade 6 students at Nguyen Hien Secondary School, Tan Thuan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City said they were "forced" to contribute to the class fund of 1 million VND/person to buy televisions and air conditioners, not voluntarily.

Nguyen Hien Secondary School - Photo: MY DUNG

Reflecting to Tuoi Tre newspaper, parents in some 6th grade classes such as 6A3, 6A5, 6A7, 6A11, Nguyen Hien Secondary School, Tan Thuan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, indignantly said: in the context of many expenses at the beginning of the school year, they still have to pay a high fee to the class fund to buy classroom equipment such as televisions, air conditioners, speakers, wall clocks...

It is worth mentioning that these fees were submitted by the parent representatives of the above classes at a level that was not "voluntary".

"Our child's class has 49 students. When the class's parent representative committee started to collect opinions on purchasing televisions, installing air conditioners, speakers, etc., some people did not agree, but afterward, the class's parent representative committee continued to collect class funds," a parent of class 6A11 told Tuoi Tre .

Accordingly, about 2/3 of the parents of the class contributed 1 million VND/person to the parent-teacher association to purchase the above equipment. Thus, the class fund had over 30 million VND to purchase.

Similarly, in classes 6A3, 6A5, 6A7, the parent-teacher association also collects class funds to purchase equipment such as air conditioners and televisions at a fee of 1 million VND/parent. According to the information provided to us, most parents in these classes pay the same fee.

According to many parents, they hope that this type of class fund raising will soon end because the class parent representative committee "creates" many contributions that many parents in the class cannot keep up with.

On October 6, responding to Tuoi Tre , Mr. Nguyen Duc Dung - Principal of Nguyen Hien Secondary School - confirmed: through checking the classes, there was a situation where the representative boards of the above classes mobilized parents to contribute to the class fund to buy air conditioners and televisions as reported by Tuoi Tre .

According to Mr. Dung, at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, when meeting parents with school leaders, parents of some of the above classes proposed to buy air conditioners and televisions in the classrooms to serve the students.

"The classes that parents reported above are all located on the 3rd floor of the school. These are also boarding classes, most of the children stay at school at noon. With the weather in the South, noon is often hot, so when the parents asked the school to install air conditioning so that the children can live more comfortably, the school agreed.

However, I also request that the parent representatives of each class not set a fee level but must rely on the voluntary contribution of parents. Those who want to contribute less can contribute, those who want to contribute more can contribute, and those who do not want to contribute cannot be forced to do so," Mr. Dung explained.

Because of this revenue and expenditure of the parent representative board of classes 6A3, 6A5, 6A7 and 6A11, yesterday, October 5, the board of directors of Nguyen Hien Secondary School convened a meeting with all parents of the above 4 classes to grasp the revenue and expenditure situation and mobilize class funds.

The class representatives have spent money to install air conditioners and some other items in the classrooms. However, the class fund collected by these classes still has some left over.

"We request that the remaining funds in the classes be returned to parents according to the contribution rate of each parent. And the class representatives are currently in the process of returning the remaining class funds to the parents who have contributed. Previously and currently, Nguyen Hien Secondary School has not collected school funds. Now I also request that the classes no longer solicit class funds," Mr. Dung informed.

MY DUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phu-huynh-buc-xuc-muc-dong-quy-1-trieu-dong-mua-may-lanh-ti-vi-nha-truong-noi-gi-20251006165041025.htm