The Ministry of Education and Training is widely seeking opinions on the draft Circular promulgating the Charter of the Parents' Representative Board and educational coordination between families and educational institutions to replace Circular 55/2011/TT-BGDĐT.
According to the draft, the parents' representative board does not have legal status, does not have a seal, does not have a separate account; is not allowed to use the name of educational institutions or other organizations and individuals to establish, perform transactions or perform activities exceeding the tasks and powers as prescribed.
The draft stipulates that expenses that the Parents' Representative Board is not allowed to collect include: protecting facilities, rewarding officials and teachers, purchasing machinery and teaching aids for schools/classes or supporting school management.
Fund collection must be based on the principle of being completely voluntary, without setting a minimum average level. All revenues and expenditures must be publicly planned and transparently reported periodically to all parents.
The current Circular stipulates the functions and tasks of the parents' representative board, regulations on the operating expenses of the representative board; it is not allowed to donate non-voluntary funds and donations that do not directly serve the activities of the parents' representative board...
However, in recent years, the situation of overcharging still occurs in many schools, through parents' representative boards, which occurs most often. Therefore, every beginning of the school year, the issue of maintaining or dissolving parents' representative boards is a topic of public concern.
Overcharging through the Parents' Representative Board is also an issue repeatedly raised by voters in meetings with the Minister of Education and Training and in petitions.
Voters in many localities reflected the situation of parents' representative boards standing out to collect or mobilize class funds and school funds not in accordance with regulations, causing public outrage and requesting the Ministry of Education and Training to consider and rectify the activities of this organization.
Ms. Le Thi Hang - a secondary school teacher in Thanh Hoa acknowledged that the most positive point of the draft is affirming that the Parents' Representative Board is an educational coordination organization, not an organization to mobilize contributions outside regulations.
When revenue and expenditure are clearly stipulated, expressed in documents and circulars, the Parents' Association will no longer have reason to turn voluntary contributions into mandatory ones. From there, limiting overcharging, reducing pressure on parents and schools" - Ms. Hang said.
In addition, the draft also emphasizes the responsibility of coordination between families and schools in educating morality, life skills, and managing students' learning and training.
Ms. Hang believes that this is a suitable trend because student education needs companionship and coordination from family and society.
