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 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 believe 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 in education management would not easily agree to abolish an organization with a great and important mission 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, and 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 important tasks? (To be more specific: if they do, they are only statements made in meetings or at the summary meeting).

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 how do the Parent Representatives in schools actually operate and what have they done? 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 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 through the selection, arrangement, and discussion of the principal, and enjoys some privileges, such as children's studies being given more attention, some contributions being exempted, being invited to restaurants to socialize... In that relationship, the principal can say and do whatever he wants. That is why 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' Association is not allowed to collect donations from students or their families that do not directly serve the activities of the Parents' Association - such as: protecting school facilities, sanitation; rewarding managers and teachers; purchasing machinery, equipment, and teaching aids for schools and classrooms to support management, teaching organization, and educational activities; repairing, upgrading, and building new school facilities (excerpt).

Despite the regulations, 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 regulations..The point here is that even if they intentionally do wrong, no one can discipline them.

Tuesday, as Dr. Vu Thu Huong - lecturer at Hanoi Pedagogical University said: "The parents' representative board cannot do anything for students other than buying gifts for teachers on holidays". Let me add: The parents' 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 can only do trivial things, so it has no significant meaning. Therefore, in my opinion, dissolving the Parents' Representative Committee is in line with many proposed opinions.

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

According to Dan Tri