At the beginning of each school year, many parents receive consecutive payment notices through the class's parents' representative board. In many schools, the representative board is also the focal point for notifying or collecting some fees at the beginning of the year, making it difficult for many parents to distinguish between school fees and voluntary contributions.
Although Circular 55/2011 of the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates that parents' representative boards are not allowed to mobilize or donate many amounts such as purchasing equipment, protecting facilities or supporting school operations, in fact, in many schools, the representative boards are still the focal point for notifying or collecting fees at the beginning of the year, leading to many concerns among parents.
That is also the reason why the draft Circular promulgating the Charter of the Parents' Representative Board and educational coordination between families and educational institutions, which is being consulted by the Ministry of Education and Training, has received much attention.
According to the draft, the parents' representative board is a representative organization of parents, without legal status, without a seal, without a separate account and not allowed to use the name of educational institutions or other organizations and individuals to carry out transactions outside their duties and powers.
The draft continues to clearly stipulate the fees that the representative board is not allowed to collect, such as funds for protecting facilities, purchasing machinery, equipment, teaching aids, rewarding officials, teachers, staff or supporting school management. Fundraising must be completely voluntary, without setting an average or minimum collection level; all revenues and expenditures must be public and transparent to parents.
As a parent with two children in grades 2 and 5 in Thu Duc ward, Ms. Nguyen Hoai Thu said that for many years, the parents' representative board has been the focal point to announce some fees.
Sometimes it's class fund, sometimes mobilizing to install projectors, TVs, air conditioners... Most of the fees are divided on average according to the number of parents. Most people pay, but there have been many arguments because some people think this is a voluntary fee, and some people think it's mandatory," Ms. Thu shared.
According to Ms. Thu, if the school directly notifies and collects fees according to regulations, and the representative board only performs the role of connecting parents with the school, it will be more transparent and also reduce pressure on the parents' association itself.
Having participated in the parents' representative board when her child was in elementary school, Ms. Nguyen Kim Ngoc, a parent with a child in 7th grade in Xuan Hoa ward, said that the job puts many volunteer parents in a difficult position.
When you have accepted to be a representative board, you almost have to stand out to mobilize and remind parents to pay the agreed fees. There are things like installing air conditioners or buying more equipment for the class, although originating from common needs, when divided by person, many opposing opinions still arise. The person standing out to collect is very easy to be misunderstood as the person proposing or forcing contributions," Ms. Ngoc said.
Meanwhile, Ms. Bui Thi Thu Hang (Phu Dinh ward), whose child is in 9th grade, hopes that along with not letting the parents' representative board collect fees on her behalf, schools need to fully disclose the fees at the beginning of the year.
The most important thing is for parents to know clearly which is mandatory, which is voluntary, what is the legal basis and how the money is used. The money contributed by parents to serve their children's education must be public and transparent," Ms. Hang expressed.
Ms. Hang also said that although Circular 55 and the new draft both stipulate that the average or minimum collection level must not be set, in reality, there may still be a situation of "voluntary but difficult to refuse". At parent meetings, pressure from the majority or the psychology of fearing that their children will be treated differently may cause many people to participate in contributing.
According to her, to make the regulations substantive, along with prohibiting improper collections, there needs to be a mechanism to inspect, supervise and strictly handle cases of turning voluntariness into obligation.
