Besides the many school fees paid at the beginning of the academic year, parents must also contribute “voluntary money” to help upgrade schools’ material facilities. Although it’s called a “voluntary contribution”, all parents must pay and the sums are high.

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Nguyen Van Hai’s family has moved from Nam Dinh City to Hanoi, where they earn their money with a pho (noodle soup) shop. Hai felt lucky to obtain a seat at a well-known school for his son and paid several hundred dollars for the seat.

Hai was asked to attend a parents’ meeting last week. He was surprised when he was asked to pay many kinds of fees for fuel, school upgrades and even for cutting grass on the playing field.

“What does it mean by ‘fuel money’?” – he asked a parent sitting next to him. “It is money to buy gas to prepare meals for your child.” But Hai could not understand. “I paid money for meals already. This money must cover the expenses on gas,” he reasoned. The parent sitting next to him could not give a clearer explanation.

Hai was advised to raise questions in the meetings, so that the teachers could respond. However, Hai did not dare, because the other parents kept silent.

At the end of the meeting, parents talked about “voluntary money”. The head of the parents’ association decided: “Last year every student paid 800,000 dong. I think the sum will be one million this year.”

However, Hai had only 300,000 dong in his pocket. The teacher pressured him, saying: “If you do not pay one million dong, your child’s learning will be affected. He will not be able to sit in the classrooms with ceiling fans.”

Minh Ha, who works in the education sector, has a daughter studying at a well known kindergarten in Hanoi. Every parent agreed to pay 1.5 million dong as “voluntary money”, while Ha paid 500,000. The teacher who collected the money from Ha pulled a wry face when she saw the “modest” sum.

In general, all schools in big cities require higher sums of money than previous years, explaining that the dollar price has increased, while the consumer price index is very high. Therefore, schools need more money to pay teachers and for upgrading schools’ material facilities.

Most parents, when asked about “voluntary money”, say they find the fees unreasonable. However, they have no choice but to fork it over.

Thanh Van has a child in first grade this year and admitted that she dare not say “no”, because she fears that her child will be bullied by the teachers. “As a citizen, I need to protest against unreasonable collection of money. However, as a parent, I must pay money for the future of my child,” she lamented.

While students in urban areas are charged “voluntary money”, those in rural areas are unfamiliar with concept.

When Tien phong reporters arrived in Thanh Hoa province, they met with teachers who had just returned from the market, which took half a day to reach. The teachers bought some packs of candy, dried fish and 10 pairs of plastics slippers.

Instructor Hung explained that most students of the school are very poor and tend to give up school to work in the rice fields. The students do not have to pay any money and the teachers must buy notebooks and necessities to persuade students to come to school.

Yen, another teacher, commented: “I know that in big cities, students pay a lot of money to go to school. Here, we must pay money to attract students.”

“We are poor, but we are happy because our students respect us. This cannot be bought with money,” she added.

Source: Tien phong