Many years of reality show that when the Representative Board becomes the focal point for collecting money, the boundary between "voluntary" and "compulsory" is not clear.
A class needs to buy a projector, install air conditioning, repair facilities or contribute to a fund, the representative board stands out to announce, divides the average per student and then reminds parents to contribute.
In name, it may be voluntary, but when the number has been divided, the donation list appears and the majority has paid, psychological pressure immediately forms.
Voluntary but difficult to refuse" is what parents are most worried about.
Circular 55/2011 of the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates the amounts that parents' representative boards are not allowed to mobilize or donate.
In particular, the representative board is not allowed to collect money to protect facilities, purchase machinery, equipment, teaching aids; reward officials, teachers, staff or support school management work.
Therefore, the school cannot push the collection of money to the representative board and then when there is a question, it does not know who is responsible.
Many parents who have participated in the representative board admit that when they stand up to take on the task, they are very likely to fall into a difficult situation.
Proposing a contribution is accused of mobilizing and reminding others to pay money, which is easily understood as coercion.
An organization established to connect families with schools should not become a "money collector".
The Parents' Representative Board plays a companion role in education, reflecting parents' thoughts, coordinating to organize appropriate activities for students, contributing to building a better learning environment.
Along with not letting the representative board collect fees on behalf of others, the most important requirement is to publicize the fees. Parents must know which fees are mandatory, which are voluntary, where the legal basis is and how the money is used.
Therefore, the ultimate responsibility still belongs to the school and the education management agency.
It is necessary to inspect right from the beginning of the school year, publicize the line to receive feedback and strictly handle cases of intentionally turning the representative board into a place to register names and collect fees that are not in accordance with regulations.
Money transparency does not lose the connection between parents and schools. Conversely, transparency is the foundation of trust.
The parents' representative board is not born to collect money, and the school cannot borrow from the representative board to collect fees that it is not allowed to collect.
There is one very happy thing, which is that many schools proactively notify parents, not collecting association funds, class funds, class parents' funds and similar contributions.
Publicizing and making money transparent is a way to build trust between schools and parents and the social community.
