Students request reduction of online tuition fees, what does the school say?

A group of students from Van Hien University (HCMC) reported that when they registered for a course, they registered to study directly at a campus of the school with a high tuition fee, but now they are being assigned to study online, so they asked the school to reduce the tuition fee.

Request to reduce tuition fees for online classes

A group of students from Van Hien University sent a complaint to Thanh Nien Newspaper: “Van Hien University is causing great outrage when it arbitrarily changed the learning format from face-to-face to online learning (online-NV) without consulting students. When switching to online learning, the tuition fee remains the same as for face-to-face classes. This is completely unreasonable.”

Students have just posted on the school's Confession page and sent feedback to Thanh Nien Newspaper about having to switch to online learning.

A student said that the tuition fee for each in-person credit is 1,030,000 VND. “I registered to study 3 credits at 615 Au Co. The number of in-person sessions for 3 credits is 9 sessions and the number of online sessions is 11 sessions. So, each in-person session has a higher tuition fee (about 343,000 VND) than each online session (about 280,000 VND),” this student shared.

From the above incident, the group of students requested: “Van Hien University needs to be transparent about the reasons and process of converting from offline to online classes. At the same time, students who study online do not enjoy facilities and equipment... so tuition fees for online credits must be reduced.”

No discount but support for canceling courses, no tuition fee for the session studied

Speaking to Thanh Nien Newspaper reporter, Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Thao, a member of the Van Hien University Council, said: “This year, the school has a plan to repair the 615 Au Co campus, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City. According to the schedule announced by the contractor, this repair will be completed by mid-December. Therefore, the school had previously allowed students to register for in-person courses at this campus. However, due to objective factors such as the contractor not completing the schedule, it will be completed before the Lunar New Year, so the school has to temporarily switch students to online learning.”

According to Ms. Thao, before switching to online learning, on the afternoon of December 27, the school notified and explained to students of 4 classes (about 400 students) who registered to study at the 615 Au Co campus via a message on the system.

"This transition is unavoidable and the school is also speeding up to complete it before Tet. Students will study online 3 weeks before Tet. In fact, the school's facility in the South urban area of ​​the city still has vacant rooms, but because many students have scheduled to study directly at another facility near 615 Au Co in the morning or afternoon, it is very difficult to arrange. Because the two places are far apart, if they study in one place in the morning and another in the afternoon, it will be inconvenient for them to move. After Tet, when the repairs and arrangements are completed, students will study directly at this facility as registered," Ms. Thao affirmed.

Regarding students' request for the school to reduce tuition fees for credits with online classes, Ms. Thao said the school needs to specifically check each student, because the school commits to not increasing tuition fees for students and each year each major has a different tuition fee, so the tuition fee for each student is different.

Ms. Thao added: "Lecturers still have to ensure the total teaching time for students is enough for 3 credits (so the number of online classes is 11, increased by 2 sessions). The cost does not decrease, so the tuition cannot be reduced. Therefore, some students who find it unsuitable can choose to change to another study location or request to cancel the course and will be refunded the tuition for the online classes they have taken."

"If any student wants to transfer to another class or wants to cancel this course, the school will fully support and commit to not collecting tuition for the online class that has taken place in the canceled course. This amount will be refunded to the student's account. Up to this point, the students have only been studying online for about a week. Students should contact the Student Care Center so that the school can best support them," said Ms. Thao.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/sinh-vien-yeu-cau-giam-phi-hoc-truc-tuyen-truong-noi-gi-185250102162217088.htm