News and Events

Many parents in Hanoi have complained about excessive school fees, but have failed to petition school leaders as they are worried it would affect their children.

A DTiNews hotline received hundreds of calls from parents complaining about paying too many fees at the start of the new-school year.

A mother in Thuong Tin District said, “Through the media, I found out that the Hanoi Department of Education and Training does not stipulate any fees for hygiene and parking, but a local primary school still does this.” However, when the reporter asked her about the receipt for the fee, she just said that, “The school didn’t give us any receipts."

Mrs. L.T.P in Dong Da District said, “I’m afraid that if I directly talked to my children’s teacher about the fees, my children’s education would be affected. Therefore, I have to accept fees.”

A headmaster at a primary school in Ba Dinh District said “I don’t know why parents are worried about contacting us directly as otherwise we’d never know that we need to adjust the fees. Being a teacher, I don’t think anyone will bully a pupil.”

“I always make public my personal phone number for parents so that they can call me about any issues related to the school. It is not difficult for parents and the school leaders to meet directly, but many of them don’t want to do this,” she noted.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training’s Circular 55, parents are allowed to refuse to pay the donations suggested by the Parents' Association. However, many parents forget they can exercise this right. “I just contribute the donation levels recommended by the body. I feel a bit uncomfortable not to make the same donation when everyone does it,” a mother said.

Most of meetings of the Parents Association are attended by head teachers; therefore, parents are scared about displeasing them. “If I opposed the fees, the association would inform the teachers of my reaction, so it’s better to keep silent.”

However, a small number of parents have complained. Mrs. H, whose child learns at a pre-school in Cau Giay District, said, “No plan has been worked out, but the council has asked us to contribute funds and fees to install new floorboards totalling millions of VND. I did not make a contribution, yet the majority of the parents resigned themselves to paying although they didn’t want to.”