Nghe An: Parents react as their children's boarding school allowance is cut.
(Baonghean.vn) - A number of parents in Thanh Mai commune, a particularly disadvantaged area (Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province), are upset because the commune's People's Committee suddenly refused to approve their children's continued eligibility for boarding school support..
In mid-December, many households in the highland hamlets of Thanh Mai commune (Thanh Chuong district) were "gearing up" to borrow money to buy motorbikes for their children to go to school. They said that because the school was too far away, and their boarding school subsidies had been cut, they had no choice but to let their children go to school by motorbike, even though they knew it was against the law.
“I have three children, two in middle school and one in elementary school. Last year, they received over 16 million VND in support, along with more than 400 kg of rice. But this year, suddenly, they received nothing,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngan (35 years old, Nam Son hamlet). Because they no longer receive support, Ms. Ngan has to let her children travel back and forth on their own each day.
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| Thanh Mai Secondary School (Thanh Chuong district). Photo: HT |
Although the distance from her home to Thanh Mai Secondary School is over 8 km, passing through mountain slopes and streams, she worries that her children won't get to school on time by bicycle and won't have the strength to attend two sessions a day. She says she will borrow money soon to buy a motorbike for her children, even though her family is not well-off.
Ms. Ngan is one of the parents from Nam Son, Da Bia, and Trung Son hamlets who wrote a letter to Nghe An Newspaper complaining that their children are not receiving boarding school support this school year because the Thanh Mai Commune People's Committee refuses to sign the confirmation. These are the most remote hamlets in this particularly disadvantaged commune. "In previous school years, our children all received the support. But this year, even though we have submitted all the necessary documents, we don't understand why the commune refuses to sign the confirmation," the parents stated in their complaint.
The money and rice that parents complained about are related to Decree 116/2016/ND-CP on policies to support students and schools in particularly difficult communes and villages. According to our investigation, in the previous school year, Thanh Mai Secondary School had more than 40 students who received support under this policy.
However, this year only one student is eligible. This student has a household registration in Thanh Xuan commune but rents accommodation in Thanh Mai to attend school. Similarly, last year Thanh Mai Primary School also had 47 students receiving support. But this year, that number has decreased to 16.
The sudden and drastic reduction in boarding school support for a large number of students was so significant that, at the beginning of the last school year, the rice provided to Thanh Mai students was still delivered in the same quantity as the previous year (3.5 tons of rice to the secondary school and 4.7 tons to the primary school). After distributing an excessive amount, which remained in the warehouse for half a month, the school had to hire trucks to transport tons of rice to other communes in need, following instructions from higher authorities.
The conditions for primary and secondary school students to receive support under Decree 116/2016/ND-CP are that they must be students whose parents or guardians have permanent residence in particularly difficult communes and villages, and are studying at primary and secondary schools in communes classified as Area III, particularly difficult villages in ethnic minority and mountainous regions; their homes must be at least 4 km from the school for primary school students and at least 7 km for secondary school students, or the terrain must be difficult to navigate, with transportation challenging, requiring crossing rivers or streams without bridges, crossing high mountain passes, or passing through areas prone to landslides and rockfalls. Students in this category receive financial support for food and housing equivalent to 50% of the basic salary, plus 15 kg of rice per month. This means that for one school year, each student receives over 5 million VND and nearly 150 kg of rice. |
Tien Hung - Phuong Thao
