Students have their boarding benefits cut off due to unclear criteria.

(Baonghean) - Many parents in Thanh Mai commune (Thanh Chuong) are upset because the commune People's Committee suddenly did not approve their children to continue receiving boarding support for a particularly difficult commune.

Cut the regime, rice is brought back... taken away

In mid-December, many households in the highland hamlets of Thanh Mai commune (Thanh Chuong) were “bustling” to borrow money to buy motorbikes for their children in middle school. They said that because the school was too far away, while their boarding school support was cut off, they had no choice but to send their children to school by motorbike, even though they knew it was against the law.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngan (35 years old, Nam Son hamlet) said: “I have 3 children, two in junior high school, and one in primary school. Because I no longer receive boarding support, I have to let my children ride motorbikes to school because I am afraid that if I ride bicycles, they will not be able to get to school on time, and they will not have enough energy to study two sessions a day.”

The way to school of students in Nam Son hamlet, Thanh Mai commune, Thanh Chuong district. Photo: Phuong Thao

Ms. Ngan is one of the parents in Nam Son, Da Bia, Trung Son hamlets who wrote a petition to Nghe An Newspaper complaining that their children did not receive boarding support from this school year because the Thanh Mai Commune People's Committee refused to sign the confirmation. These are the most remote hamlets of this particularly difficult commune.

The boarding policy that parents have reported is under Decree 116/2016/ND-CP on policies to support students and primary schools in extremely disadvantaged communes and villages. According to research, last school year, Thanh Mai Secondary School had more than 40 students supported under this policy.

However, this year, only one student is eligible. This student has a registered residence in Thanh Xuan commune but rented a room in Thanh Mai to study. Similarly, last year, Thanh Mai Primary School had 47 students receiving support, but this year, the number has dropped to 16.

Meanwhile, the rice support for boarding students of Thanh Mai Secondary School was transported back in the same quantity as last year (3.5 tons). After being stored in the warehouse for half a month, the school had to hire a truck to transport tons of rice to other communes in need, following instructions from superiors.

One policy, one location, two ways of approval

Explaining the decision to cut student support, Mr. Vo Dinh Nho - Principal of Thanh Mai Secondary School said that this decision was made by the Board of Review of Meals and Boarding Accommodation of Thanh Mai Commune People's Committee. This Board includes the leaders of the Commune People's Committee, the representative board of parents and the school leaders.

“In terms of the distance from home to school as well as other criteria set forth by the Decree, the students are eligible. However, this school year the council is following the newly issued guidance document of the Ministry of Education and Training, so the students are not eligible,” said Mr. Nho, adding that it is Document 5129/BGDĐT-CTHSSV dated October 14, 2016, and according to this document, students who are eligible for support must meet the criteria of “not being able to go to school and return home during the day.”

“We rode bicycles to the children’s homes and concluded that it only took them 30 minutes to get home from school. Therefore, it is definitely possible for them to go to school and return home in one day,” said principal Nho, adding that although the roads from Nam Son, Da Bia and Trung Son hamlets to the school are far away, they have been invested in so they are “very easy to travel.”

Sharing the same opinion with Mr. Nho, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung - Secretary of the Thanh Mai Commune Party Committee said that it is necessary to "be tough", although he knows that parents will react. "We only follow the Ministry's instructions. If we do not follow them, and then approve and later discover that the issuance is wrong, it will be very difficult to revoke it."

Parents in Thanh Mai commune are upset because their children's boarding allowance was cut. Photo: Tien Hung

Meanwhile, when visiting the home of female student Nguyen Thi Hang (class 9A), in Nam Son hamlet, Nghe An Newspaper reporters recorded a completely different situation. Hang is one of the students who has just had her boarding support cut off, even though for the past 3 years, she has had to stay at her homeroom teacher's house to study.

The winding road, following the mountainside, to get to this female student's house, you have to cross streams nearly half a meter deep. Every time it rains, many households here are isolated by water pouring down from the mountain. Therefore, most of the children here have to rent a house near the school to study. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tinh (35 years old, Hang's mother) said that Hang only comes home once a week to ask her mother for money to buy food and living expenses.

Meeting and talking with other parents, reporters all recorded their frustration. “We do not understand the basis on which the school and the commune concluded that our children can go home in the same day. If they can go home in the same day, why do our children have to rent a house? The teachers said they cycled all the way home, but the health of other teachers and other students is different. Not to mention that the teacher only goes for one day, while our children cycle several times a day, with rain and wind all year round, how can we bear it?”, said Ms. Nguyen Thi Lich (41 years old).

Also located in a particularly disadvantaged commune, schools in Thanh Ha commune have a different approval process. It is known that Thanh Ha Secondary School has up to 75 out of a total of nearly 300 students who benefit from this policy.

According to Mr. Phan Van Lan - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, at the beginning of the school year, the commune and the school will check which hamlets are 7 km or more away for secondary school students and 4 km or more for primary school students, and at the same time, these students must stay in boarding schools. "The students have to stay in boarding schools, which means they cannot go home during the day. So they are eligible for support," said Mr. Lan.

Even in Thanh Mai commune, primary schools here do not have the same approval criteria as secondary schools. “At primary level, we rely on two criteria, the first is the distance from the student’s house to the school, the second is the student’s accommodation.

Many students declared that they were staying in boarding houses but actually went back and forth, so they were not eligible for the policy. The review board went to the students' rented houses to check whether they were actually staying in boarding houses or just had acquaintances confirm it," said principal Le Xuan Minh. He added that at the beginning of the school year, there were more than 50 applications for support, but after checking, the board concluded that only 16 students were actually staying in boarding houses.

Thus, with the same policy and location, there are many ways of reviewing, causing parents to react. Schools in Thanh Ha commune and Thanh Mai Primary School only rely on two factors, distance and students actually staying in boarding schools, but at Thanh Mai Secondary School, in addition to those two factors, there must be an additional criterion of "not being able to go to school and return home during the day". However, the way of considering this criterion is vague, unclear, mainly based on emotions, which has significantly affected the rights of students.

The conditions for primary and secondary school students to enjoy the support policy under Decree 116/2016/ND-CP must be that the students themselves and their parents or guardians have permanent residence in extremely disadvantaged communes and villages, are studying at primary and secondary schools in communes in region III, extremely disadvantaged villages in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; their houses are 4 km or more from the school for primary school students and 7 km or more for secondary school students or the terrain is difficult, traffic is difficult, they have to cross rivers and streams without bridges, go through passes, high mountains, through landslides, rocks...

Students in this case are supported with food and housing expenses equal to 50% of the basic salary, plus 15 kg of rice per month. Equivalent to one school year, each student is supported with more than 5 million VND and nearly 150 kg of rice./.

Tien Hung - Phuong Thao