Recently, Le Quy Don Primary School (Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City) launched a fundraising campaign to support the people in the North affected by storm No. 3 to its staff, teachers, employees, parents and students. Afterwards, the school awarded certificates of merit to encourage students to actively participate in this campaign.
It is worth noting that only students who donate 100,000 VND or more will receive a certificate of merit, while students who donate less will only receive a letter of merit from their homeroom teacher.
This has led to public outrage and indignation, especially from parents whose children study at Le Quy Don Primary School.
Donating to fellow countrymen in times of need is a noble act, demonstrating the spirit of mutual love. However, it is really inappropriate to discriminate between students who are able to donate more and those who are less able to donate by giving two different types of rewards.
The feelings and hearts of each student towards their fellow countrymen who are in difficulty due to storms and floods cannot be measured by such specific, cold numbers. This is a voluntary action, depending on the financial capacity and circumstances of each family.
Some students can easily donate more than 100,000 VND, while others can only contribute a small amount due to difficult family circumstances. To judge their sincerity based on the amount of money they donate is unfair and anti-educational.
In fact, to get 100,000 VND or less, many students have to convince their parents, skip breakfast or save their pocket money. Therefore, the way of rewarding like Le Quy Don School not only creates discrimination but can also cause psychological damage to students from poor families. They will feel ashamed because they do not have enough financial ability to be rewarded like their friends.
The school representative admitted that this approach was negligent and would learn from the experience. The leader of the Go Vap District Department of Education and Training also disagreed with this approach of Le Quy Don Primary School and emphasized that “the principal must take responsibility” for “causing bad public opinion”.
This is a lesson for Le Quy Don School and also a general lesson for the education sector. In fact, in this case, the school should not, does not need to issue any letters of commendation or certificates. If there is any to acknowledge and encourage the next time, there should only be one form for all students and should not differentiate between “letters” and “papers” based on the amount of money.
Rewards, especially for elementary school students, are always a double-edged sword. But if we know how to reward properly, reasonably and fairly, we will certainly encourage good and sustainable actions from students as well as build generations full of compassion!
