The proposal to dissolve the Parents Association is reasonable!

In recent days, facing the situation of "chaotic collection" in schools, the cause of which is the complicity of the Parents' Association, public opinion has raised the proposal of whether or not to dissolve the Parents' Representative Committee (commonly called the Parents' Association)?

Parents' associations in many places are considered "the extended arm of the principal"... Illustrative photo

Most parents' opinions are that this organization should be abolished because they think that the Parents' Association is just a "collection and drawing association"; an "extended arm", a "shield", a "screen", a "bulletproof shield", and even a "henchman" for school principals.

Only a few experts working in education management, they do not easily agree to abolish an organization with great and important tasks as stipulated in the charter of the Ministry of Education and Training:

“The Parents' Representative Board has the following duties: Coordinate with the Principal to organize the implementation of the school year's tasks.../ guide, propagate, disseminate laws, policies on education for parents.../ educate students in ethics; foster and encourage good students, help weak students, etc.” (excerpt).

But in reality, those important tasks only exist in words! With their abilities and conditions, how can the parent representative committee carry out such general and grand tasks? (To be clear: if they do, they are only statements made in meetings or at the summary).

Since the charter was issued, the Ministry has never inspected and evaluated the actual effectiveness of the Parents' Representative Committee, while schools have always evaluated their performance as good.

So, in reality, how do the Parent Representative Boards in schools operate and what do they do? Having worked closely with the Association for decades, we would like to summarize as follows:

The firstThe Association is the fulcrum for the principal to prove that the "three sides and one word" of the socialization plan (what to collect, what to collect for), the purchase and repair of facilities and other educational activities in the school are "very objective and democratic".

It is easy because the Parents' Representative Board at the beginning of the school year is perfected by the selection, arrangement, and discussion of the principal, and enjoys some benefits, such as children's studies are given more attention, some contributions are exempted, and they are invited to restaurants to socialize... In that relationship, the principal can say and do whatever he wants. Because of that, there has never been a Parents' Representative Board that has caused difficulties for the principal.

Monday, The parents' representative board helped the principal and the school deliberately violate the regulations..The charter clearly states: “The Parents' Representative Board is not allowed to collect donations from students or their families that do not directly serve the activities of the Parents' Representative Board - such as: Protecting school facilities, sanitation; rewarding management staff and teachers; purchasing machinery, equipment, and teaching aids for schools and classrooms to support management work, teaching organization and educational activities; repairing, upgrading, and building new school facilities (excerpt).

Despite the charter, the Association still mobilized voluntary contributions for the school. The reality of the "forest" of school revenues at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year proved that the Parents' Representative Committee had deliberately violated the charter..The point here is, even if they intentionally do wrong, no one can discipline them.

Tuesday, as Dr. Vu Thu Huong - lecturer at Hanoi Pedagogical University said: "The parent representative board cannot do anything for students other than buying gifts for teachers on holidays". Let me add: The parent representative board also visits and organizes November 20 for teachers; "bears the brunt" of the principal when the inspection team inspects voluntary collections.

From the above facts, it can be said that the existence of the Parents' Representative Committee is more harmful than beneficial. It only does trivial things and has no significant meaning. Therefore, in my opinion, dissolving the Parents' Representative Committee is in line with many proposed opinions.

Without a Parent Representative Committee, without an extended arm, without a shield for the principal, the current overcharging situation of schools will be greatly limited. However, to reduce the overcharging situation to the maximum level, it requires a number of other strict management solutions.

According to Dan Tri