Parents are afraid of small contributions
Ms. Trinh Nguyen Hoai Thu (Long Truong ward) whose child is in kindergarten and 3rd grade, supports not collecting class funds and parent funds. However, she believes that paying in small amounts is also quite inconvenient even though each amount is only 5,000-10,000 VND. According to her, for activities that really require funding, parents can agree on an appropriate contribution level, but must publicize the content and clear revenue and expenditure.
Meanwhile, Ms. Tran Lan Ngoc, a parent whose child is in 8th grade in Xuan Hoa ward, said that although there is no collection of funds, in recent years there have been campaigns to purchase equipment for study.
Parents are not afraid of the amounts that are really necessary for students, but it is necessary to clearly state what this is, how much to use and whether it is mandatory or not" - Ms. Ngoc said.
Exploiting voluntary support from parents
At Phu Dinh Secondary School, Mr. Dinh Phu Cuong - Principal of the school - said that in the 2026-2027 school year, the school will not establish and will not organize the collection of funds from the Parent Representative Board at both school and class levels.
For parents who want to support, the school receives them on a voluntary basis, especially in kind. Mr. Cuong does not agree with parents standing out to mobilize money from other parents to form a fund. Funds directly serving students are still implemented according to each need. For example, if the class needs to photocopy outlines, they collect the correct photocopy costs, not collecting a large amount and then keeping it.
According to Mr. Cuong, this approach was also implemented by him in about 8 years of working at Nguyen Van Luong Secondary School. At that time, instead of establishing a fund, the school exploited voluntary support based on the strengths of parents. Parents who are police officers and judges can participate in legal advice; doctors support medical activities; parents operating in the field of event organization can support cultural programs for students.
At Vo Thi Sau High School, Mr. Trinh Hoang Quan - Principal of the school - said that the school has not established a school fund for many years.
Mr. Quan said that the school and class activities are still going on normally. When specific needs arise, parents are notified; if they agree, they make contributions according to that content. "What belongs to that, there is no such thing as collecting and then keeping money" - Mr. Quan said.
Parents' representative boards are not assigned to collect fees on behalf of parents.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training requests educational institutions to strictly implement regulations on collection and spending at the beginning of the school year, including paying attention to sponsorships and operating expenses of the Parents' Representative Board.
The operating expenses of the Parents' Representative Board must be implemented according to the Charter of the Parents' Representative Board. This funding is not used for contents under the school's responsibility such as management, security, sanitation, facilities, and commendation of officials and teachers.
Educational institutions are not allowed to assign the Parents' Representative Board to organize the collection of fees under the school's responsibility; are not allowed to establish "class funds", "school funds", "parent funds".
