Inadequacies in revenue and expenditure of preschool boarding fees
(Baonghean) - Although it has been the second year of collecting boarding fees for preschool students, the implementation in localities is still facing some shortcomings. In addition, there are still many problems in spending, causing the revenue efficiency to not be as per the guidelines.
Each school has its own style.
At the end of October, after returning from a parent-teacher meeting, Ms. Nguyen Thi H, whose child is studying at Hoa Son Kindergarten (Do Luong), expressed her indignation when this year the school suddenly increased the boarding service fee from 53,000 VND/month to 90,000 VND/month.
Although the amount is not large, compared to the living standards of people in a commune with many difficulties like Hoa Son, it has a significant impact. After the school announced, Ms. H researched other schools in the area and found that the tuition fee of Hoa Son Kindergarten was higher than the average.
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| Lunch break of students at Hoa Son Kindergarten (Do Luong). Photo: My Ha |
Working with Hoa Son Kindergarten, teacher Bui Thi Nga - the school's principal admitted this. According to the school's calculations, this year to ensure payment for 8 nurses and pay for teachers' lunch, the school needs about 240 million VND. In addition, the school also needs about 120 million VND to purchase supplies for boarding (such as money to buy firewood and money to replace water filters for water filters).
The total amount of 360 million VND divided equally among 400 students means each student will pay about 90 thousand VND/month.
The school explained that the increase in fees was because "this year the school is building a standard school, so it has to purchase additional equipment to serve boarding students". The fee collection has been approved by the Party Committee, the commune government as well as the school's Board of Directors... According to the school's explanation, the fee collection is based on the permission documents, and the school's fee collection is higher than other schools because of the greater demand. This amount can also change each year depending on actual requirements.
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| Parents take care of the clean vegetable garden for Nam Hung Kindergarten (Nam Dan). Photo: My Ha |
At Thinh Son Primary School, this year, the school collected 55,000 VND/student/month to organize boarding at the school. However, according to the school's explanation, this amount is only enough to pay the salaries of the teachers. In addition, because this is the first year the school has organized boarding for 100% of the students, the payment for teachers' lunch has not been made. The school collected 130,000 VND/student/year to buy boarding supplies, although this is contrary to the regulations in the guiding documents.
Responding to this issue, Ms. Duong Thi Nam - Principal of the school also admitted: Collecting money to buy boarding supplies is not wrong, but the school should have added it to the monthly boarding fee. Instead, the school divided it and forced parents to pay it in a separate amount, which is not correct. Thinh Son Kindergarten is also the only school in the district that has not paid teachers for lunch duty.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hai - Deputy Head of the Department of Education and Training of Do Luong district said: Currently, in the district, there are 33 public kindergartens that have organized boarding fees with an average collection of about 50,000 - 60,000 VND/student/month. However, due to the different characteristics of each school, the amount of money teachers are paid for their noon shift is still different, even in some places, they are only paid 10,000 VND/teacher/shift. This also causes confusion in the thinking and psychology of teachers. In fact, if there is a common regulation, it will be easier for schools in the implementation process and ensure fairness between schools.
In Nam Dan district, Mr. Dang Hoai Nam - Deputy Head of the District Education and Training Department said: Currently, 100% of schools in the district collect boarding fees, but the amount is not uniform, ranging from 30,000 - 50,000 VND/student/month. The collection is voluntary, so it is only implemented in places where parents agree, to avoid causing bad public opinion. Right at the town Kindergarten, this school year, after the department attended the parents' meeting and explained to the people about supporting additional noon duty money for teachers, helping teachers reduce pressure, the people agreed and supported the contribution.Since the 2017-2018 school year, the Department of Education and Training has issued a document guiding schools on how to collect fees for boarding services for public kindergartens. This amount is collected according to an agreement between parents and the school, in addition to the monthly tuition fee. Also according to the Department of Education and Training's instructions, the collected amount is used to pay for the nanny, teachers' lunchtime fees, and to purchase equipment for boarding services. However, because the fees are collected according to an agreement, each school has a different way of collecting fees, and it is inevitable that some schools collect more, some schools collect less, causing parents to ask many questions.
Unclear
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| Preparing food for students at Dien Phuc Kindergarten. Photo: My Ha |
In addition to collecting, spending money for boarding services is also facing many problems. At Ben Thuy Kindergarten (Vinh City), this school year the school has about 640 students. With a collection rate of 70,000 VND/student/month, the school is expected to collect about 390 million VND per year. However, although collecting at the maximum rate according to city regulations, according to school leaders, this amount is only used to pay for the nanny (about 350 million VND/year) and to buy supplies for boarding services.
As for the lunch allowance for teachers, the school does not pay, because according to teacher Nguyen Thi Lien - the school's principal, "The school has arranged enough teachers so there is no need to pay any more for lunch." Although up to this point, the teachers have not commented, it is clear that this will cause a lot of concern among the teachers, because last year, with the same amount of money collected, teachers were still paid for lunch.
Not to mention, before collecting boarding fees, the entire amount paid for the foster carer was still deducted from the school's tuition fees and still ensured enough revenue to cover expenses. Now, with the additional boarding fees, the school has about 80 million VND more each month to deduct from tuition fees for regular expenses, but the teachers' rights are still not guaranteed.
Up to this point, Vinh city is also the only locality that has set a boarding fee for kindergartens in the area and most schools charge the highest fee of 70,000 VND/month. However, the payment for the nanny and the noon shift for teachers is not consistent. Specifically, the highest school pays 4,709 million VND/month for the nanny (Quang Trung 2 Kindergarten), but there are also schools that only pay 3,646 million VND/month (Ha Huy Tap Kindergarten).Regarding noon duty, in addition to Ben Thuy Kindergarten, Binh Minh Kindergarten, Hoa Hong Kindergarten, Hung Dung 1 Kindergarten, Hung Dung 2 Kindergarten, Cua Nam Kindergarten, Dong Vinh Kindergarten, Quang Trung 2 Kindergarten... also do not set up a budget to pay noon duty for teachers. Or if there is payment, the amount for teachers on noon duty ranges from 15,000 - 35,000 VND/person/session (depending on the school), causing many teachers to wonder.
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| Teachers at Ben Thuy Kindergarten (Vinh City) are not paid for their midday shift allowance even though they still collect boarding fees from students. Photo: My Ha |
Discussing this issue, Mr. Tran The Son - Head of the Preschool Education Department, Department of Education and Training also said: "Collecting fees for boarding services is to support schools in organizing boarding, caring for and educating children; at the same time, teachers can enjoy additional benefits for part-time work as prescribed. The industry also hopes that the province will soon issue a document, setting out a general collection level for each region, each area or having a support policy for difficult areas so that the implementation is smooth, effective, ensuring fairness and objectivity".
