LookAtVietnam – Every year, when Vietnamese Teachers’ Day nears, parents always ask what gifts that they should give to teachers to recognize their efforts.

Some parents and educators have criticized the “envelope culture,” arguing that giving money to teachers is a vulgar way to say “thank you.” Others believes that money, like many other kinds of gifts, should also be considered as a way to express gratefulness to teachers.

Saigon Tiep Thi newspaper quoted Nguyen Van Minh, a reader from Danang, who wrote that parents nowadays have become too pragmatic.

Minh stated that Vietnamese Teachers’ Day is not only an occasion when students express their deep gratitude to teachers, but it has also the occasion when parents give envelopes to teachers to ask for higher scores for their children.

Thu Lan, another reader, affirmed that all parents feel the need to give gifts on teachers’ day because this behavior has become so popular. Parents always think that they need to give gifts to teachers to receive better care for their children.

Lam Thi Hoai An from hoaian…@yahoo.com has called for parents and students to “just say no” to giving money on teachers day, stressing that this is a very important part of the ongoing campaign “say ‘no’ to wrongdoings in education” initiated by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Agreeing with Hoai An, Nguyen Tien Lan from HCM City said that it would be better to give significant gifts to teachers. Parents who do this will help educate their children and help them grow into people who treasure affection and gratitude and who will care for other people.

Lan said that she always gives flowers to her parents-in-law on every November 20, though she is not their student. Meanwhile, Lan said, other teachers only appreciate material gifts and consider the envelopes as part of their income.

A lot of readers have expressed their worries about how the children will be influenced by the “envelope culture,” which may make them think that everything, including their love for teachers, is calculated by money.

In many cases, students themselves remind their parents of the “duty” of giving money to their teachers at Tet, on Vietnamese Women’s Day, and Teachers’ Day.

Other parents argue that giving money is not a bad thing at all. Tho Ngoc from thongoc…@yahoo.com wrote that people need to give gifts to teachers, but find it hard to choose suitable gifts, and so they can give money instead. Ngoc does not see any problem in giving envelopes to teachers.

Bich Ngoc from bichngoc…@yahoo.com shares the same view. She argued that envelopes should be considered just a gift to teachers who give their time and effort to teach children. Ngoc also stated that she hates the ones who give money just because they want higher scores for their children.

“I know nursery school teachers who get only 50,000 dong for Tet. How can they live with such modest salary? Therefore, I think that it is not blameworthy for teachers to receive money from parents,” she wrote.

VietNamNet/SGTT