Parents' Fund Full of Envelopes: Tired of "Happy and Funeral" at School

(Dan Tri) - "This October 20th, my class has 8 teachers. The homeroom teacher will give a gift of 1 million VND, the subject teachers and nannies will give 500,000 VND. Let's split the cost equally among all the parents!"

That was the content of the message that Ms. Tran Thi Nga, whose child is studying at an elementary school in Ho Chi Minh City, received in the parents' group from the representative of the parents of the class many days ago. Next was information and plans about giving flowers and gifts to teachers.

Ms. Nga said that when coming up with this plan, the parent-teacher association did not ask for parents' approval or not. They only proposed a plan to give gifts, collect and spend from parents and divide the money equally among the students.

Parents in Ho Chi Minh City participate in the dialogue program at the beginning of the school year with the school (Illustration: Hoai Nam).

The mother said that in her plan at the beginning of the year, she had contributed to thank teachers on major holidays such as November 20, Lunar New Year and year-end summary day.

October 20th is not on the "gratitude day" schedule, but she did not expect that the parent-teacher association would still launch a... sudden donation.

Ms. Nga was about to protest when a few other parents chimed in: "Each person only paid more than 100,000 VND," making Ms. Nga feel choked up.

The mother said that her child has been going to school for many years, and almost every year the parents' association has made suggestions for renovating the classroom, changing curtains, buying this and that... Recently, "congratulatory" expenses have also become popular in schools. In addition to showing gratitude to teachers on holidays, there are all kinds of money, flowers, and gifts to congratulate the school on this or that occasion, which are very formal and wasteful.

Chi Nga believes that giving gifts to teachers and schools, which should be a way to show gratitude, becomes a pressure and fatigue for many families, especially those with 2-3 children going to school.

Ms. NT, whose child studies at a high school in Ho Chi Minh City, said that one year she was selected to be a member of the parents' representative committee. Perhaps her profile listed her as "President" of a social organization, so the teacher "chose her" to be called to the committee.

According to Ms. T., the money from the parent fund is not only for gratitude and gifts to teachers on holidays but also for other "flowers" during the year such as flowers and gifts to congratulate the school on a series of holidays during the year such as the opening ceremony, November 20, school establishment, semester summary, year summary...

Every holiday has millions of dollars worth of flowers, which is extremely wasteful, and according to Mrs. T., people think "no one cries over public property."

Ms. T. once spoke up to point out many unnecessary and wasteful expenses and admitted that her family would also have a hard time paying for these expenses. At this time, many people realized that her position as "President" was not very wealthy. After that, Ms. T. asked to withdraw from the parents' representative board and was immediately accepted.

Ms. T. said that many gratitude and gifts for teachers and nannies in schools were given with the argument of support because "teachers and nannies' income is still low".

This becomes a reasonable excuse to show gratitude and give gifts to teachers. As for parents, in a group, it is not easy to refuse or not volunteer.

The issue of gifts at school has become a pressure for many families with children going to school (Illustration: Hoai Nam).

This person also wondered why the parents' representative committee now interferes deeply in school matters.

However, Ms. T. realized that it was not a close and detailed exchange to understand the children's learning situation and educational issues, but mainly an intervention to pay money and fund this or that.

In fact, through the parent association, a lot of school fees are "born" on the children's school journey.

Going to school now not only means paying for tuition, food, books, and direct services for the children, but also all the accompanying expenses.

Like the list of "6 teachers' holidays a year" (October 20, November 20, New Year's Day, Lunar New Year, March 8 and the end of the school year) that happened in a class at Vo Thi Sau Primary School, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City recently caused shock. These items were explained as being self-determined and implemented by the class's parent representative committee.

Just like at this school, many of the school’s revenue and expenditure issues, when reported by the public, were explained as being implemented and implemented by the parent-teacher association itself. This enthusiasm of the parent-teacher association has caused many schools to be unfairly accused.

Recently, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City issued a document to rectify the organization, implementation of collection, expenditure, fundraising and use of operating funds of the parent-teacher association.

According to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, the department issued a document guiding the use of revenue and expenditure; strengthening the management of educational sponsorship funds and operating expenses of parent-teacher associations. However, there are still some cases that have not been implemented properly.

Specifically, at these units, leaders and teachers still do not clearly understand and do not properly organize and mobilize revenues and expenditures from funding sources... leading to incorrect implementation of regulations in Circular No. 16/2018 and Circular No. 55/2011 on the Charter of the Parents' Representative Board.

This causes bad public opinion, affects the reputation of the industry and units, and causes misunderstandings for parents.

In order to thoroughly handle the situation of illegal revenue and expenditure, the Department of Education and Training requires the leaders of the Department of Education and Training and principals of schools (reflected by public opinion and the press) to organize a review of personal responsibility.

The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has just requested to rectify the use of the fund for the parent-teacher association (Illustration photo: Hoai Nam).

The head of the unit explains, analyzes, determines specific responsibilities for violations in the implementation process and proposes strict handling measures.

These units have appropriate and timely disciplinary measures (if any) for cases of identified violations; especially the responsibility of the unit's head for allowing violations to occur due to ignorance or failure to handle them promptly.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/quy-phu-huynh-toan-tien-phong-bi-met-moi-voi-hieu-hi-o-truong-hoc-20241028122144927.htm