To make advanced schools truly...advanced

Tuition fees increase due to many enhanced courses

This school year, Hung Dung 2 Kindergarten is the first school selected by the Vinh City Department of Education and Training to pilot the construction of an advanced school following the trend of international integration. In the first year of implementation, the school was assigned the enrollment target of 3 advanced classes with 75 students.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Bich Nga - Principal of the school said: When we first implemented, we were also concerned and worried that parents would not register. However, in reality, enrollment is quite easy. Currently, through comparison between classes for general students and advanced students, the amount of additional fees is not much different. Accordingly, each parent, in addition to paying additional fees according to regulations, only has to pay additional subjects to improve the quality of education. Specifically, in our school, each child studying the advanced program only pays an additional 540,000 VND per month to study additional subjects such as English, Steam and aerobics.

Vinh City is the first locality in the province to pilot the advanced school model following the international integration trend. Due to the characteristics of Vinh City, the advanced schools being piloted are all implemented in public schools and are being implemented step by step. Therefore, although they are called advanced schools, they are currently only implemented in some early grades. Of which, Le Mao Primary School is implementing with grades 1 and 2, Hung Dung 2 Kindergarten is implementing with 2-year-old classes, Dang Thai Mai Secondary School is implementing with grades 6 and 7, and Truong Thi Secondary School is implementing with grade 6.

Compared to regular classes, students in advanced classes have their own characteristics, especially in secondary schools. Accordingly, instead of studying one session, students in advanced classes will study all day at school. In addition to studying cultural subjects, students are taught many additional subjects such as English, Information Technology, Steam, life skills and arts such as basketball, music, and fine arts. Advanced schools all organize boarding for students at school and parents can register according to their needs.

One difference between advanced classes and regular classes is that tuition fees are higher. According to a summary from schools that are implementing this, this tuition fee, in addition to the boarding fee, is mainly used to pay tuition fees for enhanced subjects.

Specifically, at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School, the tuition fee for the advanced program (in addition to boarding fees and other fees according to regulations), students will have to pay an additional 1,356,000 VND - 1,608,000 VND (depending on the program). This amount will be used to pay for subjects such as enhanced English, IC3 Informatics, talent development (Math, Literature, English...), soft skills education, sports talent development or Music. The tuition fee is also equivalent to Truong Thi Secondary School.

At Le Mao Primary School, the tuition fee for the enhanced program is expected to not exceed 1,700,000 VND/month.

School leaders also said: In addition to the fees for the enhanced program, the school collects other fees according to regulations and equivalent to students in the general program. However, students studying in advanced classes have advantages such as class size of only 30 - 35 students/class, priority in terms of facilities, teaching staff, output commitment...

The current problem is that the curriculum has been greatly enhanced, and teaching and learning have not been properly selected and arranged, so the schedules in advanced classes are quite tight, and students have to study all day. Meanwhile, for students in the city, in addition to studying at school, most of them have to attend extra classes outside. Therefore, most students are overloaded.

Difficulties in implementing universalization

Previously, the model was deployed to implement Decision 147/QD - Provincial People's Committee approving the Pilot Project to build advanced kindergartens and general schools following the international integration trend in Nghe An province, period 2021 - 2030, creating a breakthrough in comprehensive fundamental innovation of education and training.

This is a new model to build advanced kindergartens and general schools following the trend of international integration to meet the needs of child care, nurturing and education, students' learning needs and social requirements; helping children and students access education in countries in the region and internationally, while ensuring national identity.

Currently, in addition to schools under the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City, the advanced school program is being implemented at Hoa Sen Kindergarten, Vinh University Pedagogical Practice School, Huynh Thuc Khang High School, Ha Huy Tap High School, and Le Viet Thuat High School.

The current problem in the implementation process is that the advanced school models in Vinh (mainly public schools under the Vinh City Department of Education and Training) are actually public schools. Therefore, it is difficult to both implement the advanced school model and ensure universal education for students in the area. In fact, in wards with advanced school models such as Le Mao ward, Hung Phuc ward and Truong Thi ward... before the model was implemented, there were many mixed opinions from parents.

Discussing this, Ms. Le Thi Bich Thao - Vice Chairman of Hung Phuc Ward People's Committee said: This year, in our area, there are more than 220 6th grade students who are eligible for universal education. However, the number of students who passed the exam and were admitted to Dang Thai Mai Secondary School is very small. Last year, this number was only more than half. The general mentality of the people is that they still want their children to study in the area because it is convenient for commuting and picking up. But partly because of high tuition fees, partly because of difficult entrance, and limited capacity, parents are forced to transfer to other schools. On the local government side, in response to this policy, they must also organize meetings with people and parents at schools, and strengthen propaganda and mobilization work.

At Le Mao Primary School, in the second year of implementing the advanced school model, teacher Nguyen Truong Giang - Principal of the school said that it has been more convenient because people have known about the model and the city has also created conditions for children in the ward to be able to go to any school in the area. However, this year, the locality still received opinions from people in Tan Thanh 2 block - a residential area adjacent to the school fence with the desire to organize 2 models in parallel: mass and advanced...

Reality also shows that, because the advanced school model has differences in tuition costs, despite the advantages, the number of students in the area where the school is located and studying at the school is not much, only about 50%.

Ms. Le Quynh, who has a child in Truong Thi Ward, shared: My family has many children, so adding an additional fee for the advanced program will be very difficult. Therefore, after considering, the family still decided to let the child study at the school to save on transportation. However, we will let the child go home and not stay at a boarding school to save some of the cost.

Not met the desire

With tuition fees quite high compared to the general level, many parents decide to send their children to advanced school models, also expecting to study in a truly advanced educational environment with spacious and modern facilities.

This is also the goal that schools are aiming for. However, in the current context, this is not easy. Dang Thai Mai Secondary School is both a high-quality key school and an advanced school, but in the first year of implementation, many parents whose children study at the school were worried because the facilities of the classrooms were no different from normal schools. In particular, parents still have to pay fees to purchase equipment to serve their children's learning such as air conditioners, televisions, water filters, etc.

The school is advanced but the children do not have a decent place to sleep, they have to take naps on the desks in the classroom, and their meals are delivered by an outside supplier. Due to lack of classrooms, last school year some classes implementing the enhanced English program could not be separated into classes, so the quality was not high.

Before entering the new school year, many parents of 6th graders at Truong Thi Secondary School were not really satisfied because the classrooms were too simple, the desks and chairs were old and many items needed to be added to make them neat.

The principals of these schools also admitted that, compared to advanced school models, the material conditions do not meet the expectations of parents. Meanwhile, the school's potential is not enough to invest in teaching equipment and school facilities.

Sharing this, teacher Tang Thi Hien - Principal of Truong Thi Secondary School said: This year we have 6 6th grade classes implementing according toadvanced modelwith 195 students. Although the conditions are still difficult, before implementing, we have given a lot of priority to this class such as repainting all the classrooms, installing TVs and buying new desks and chairs for 2/6 classes and are preparing to reinstall all the glass doors. Through social mobilization, the school has also invested in 4 English, IT, Steam classrooms, and a library with a total capital of nearly 1 billion VND to serve the enhanced lessons. However, to have enough air conditioners for students as parents wish is beyond the school's capacity.

Previously, before the city implemented the plan to build advanced schools, the pilot schools also expressed many wishes to the City People's Committee, including the purchase of additional facilities, teaching equipment, and the construction of boarding houses for students. However, most of these wishes have not been implemented so far, so it is inevitable that the schools will be confused and passive during the implementation process.

Need special policies

In addition to the common difficulties, schools implementing the advanced model are currently having difficulties in implementing revenue and expenditure and implementing activities. In addition, although they are advanced schools, the implementation of policies for teachers is still the same as for mainstream schools, while the tasks and pressures have increased. Many schools hope that the province will soon have guidelines on financial revenue and expenditure so that schools implementing the advanced model can operate smoothly, ensuring correct revenue and expenditure according to the guiding documents. In addition, there should be specific priorities for specific schools, especially in the arrangement of teachers and facilities.

Regarding this issue, Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong Thao - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City also said: Currently, we are directing schools to implement revenue and expenditure according to a common mechanism of Resolution No. 31/2020/NQ-HDND of the Provincial People's Council. However, because the tasks of the schools are heavier and many activities are being implemented, the revenue and expenditure will also be greater, leading to inadequacies and not meeting the needs.

Schools are also facing difficulties in terms of teaching staff, the current number of teachers is not enough according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. If conditions are created to ensure 1.9 teachers/class as prescribed, school activities will be more effective. For Dang Thai Mai Secondary School, to meet the material facilities, we are consulting the city to choose a new location to have synchronous investment, true to the advanced school. The remaining schools also need to be prioritized to improve the efficiency and quality of operations./.