Many kindergartens in Vinh City collect tuition fees 'against regulations'
(Baonghean.vn)- According to the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee, in the 2017-2018 school year, Nghe An students will start school from August 23. However, from the day after school starts until the end of August, in Vinh City, preschool students still have to pay tuition fees according to the summer school program with a fee 3 times higher than the regulation.
Unreasonable tuition fees
Pursuant to Decision No. 3317/QD.UBND dated July 25, 2017 on the 2017-2018 school year schedule of the Provincial People's Committee, from August 23, all public kindergartens in Vinh City have notified students to return to school.
Previously, after the summer school period (June and July), students had a 3-week break in early August so that schools could prepare for the new school year. Therefore, when schools announced that they would “return to school” on August 23, many parents understood it as official school.
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| Students of Hung Dung 1 Kindergarten. Photo: PV |
At Hung Dung 1 Kindergarten, since August 23, the rate of students returning to school has reached about 60% (more than 400 children). For more than a week (from August 23 to 31), the school has collected tuition fees of 35,000 VND/day.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh, Principal of the school, said: This is the tuition fee that the school collects according to Decision 06/2016/QD.UBND of the province on "Regulations on maximum agreed fee for the form of organization of child care and nurturing on holidays in public kindergartens in Nghe An province"... The fee of 35,000 VND/day is also the highest fee according to the framework established by the Provincial People's Committee.
| Vinh City currently has 28 public kindergartens with about 26,000 students. Almost all of them returned to school on August 23, 2017. |
Explaining further about this fee, the school leader said: When organizing the school opening ceremony for students, we were quite concerned because this was the plan of the Provincial People's Committee. However, the school did not know how to collect tuition fees reasonably because according to Resolution No. 53/2016/NQ-HDND and Decision No. 89/2016/QD-UBND on Regulations on tuition fees in the province, tuition fees can only be collected for "a maximum of 9 months/school year". Now, if we add August, it will be collected for a total of 10 months.
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| Recess time of students at Hung Loc Kindergarten. Photo: PV |
At Hung Loc 1 Kindergarten, at this time, there were also more than 700 students studying (accounting for about 85% of the school's students). Talking to the school's leaders, Ms. Ho Thi Ngoc Minh - Principal of the school said: Because at that time there were no specific instructions, most schools in the city agreed to collect 35,000 VND/day... With this tuition fee, during the 8 days students studied before the new school year started, the school earned nearly 200,000,000 VND (higher than the tuition fee the school collected in 1 month).
It is worth mentioning that Hung Loc Kindergarten is applying the tuition fee in the “commune” area of Vinh City. However, when collecting this amount, the school is charging the same tuition fee as schools in the “ward” area of the city. According to calculations, with this tuition fee, students have to pay 3 times higher than the average tuition fee during the school year (about 10 thousand VND/day).
Cut first, report later
Regarding the collection of tuition fees for preschool students in the city at the end of August, many parents expressed their indignation. Talking to us, a parent at Hung Dung 1 Kindergarten said: During the three summer months, I let my child stay home from school because I found the summer tuition fees quite high. However, from August 23, I let my child return to school because I knew this was the time for the school year to start as stipulated by the Provincial People's Committee. However, when it came time to pay the tuition fees, I was quite surprised because it was already the start of the new school year but the children still had to pay the "summer tuition" fees.
As for school leaders, when asked about tuition collection, they all affirmed that the tuition collection level set by the school is completely correct and in accordance with the instructions of the City People's Committee. Specifically, after the school year started, on September 19, 2017, Vinh City People's Committee issued Decision No. 5642/UBND - TCKH & GDĐT on: Implementation of revenues and expenditures for the 2017-2018 school year in educational institutions. In particular, for the study period after the school year in August, it will be calculated by "collecting tuition on holidays".
It must also be said that although the City People's Committee did not issue a document until September, schools had already collected tuition fees from parents by the end of August and had clear receipts. This "cutting first and reporting later" situation puts parents in a "force majeure" position.
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| Receipt of tuition fees from students at Hung Loc Kindergarten. Photo: PV |
Not to mention, this document of Vinh City People's Committee is contrary to the guidance documents of the province and the Department of Education and Training. Specifically, according to the spirit of Decision No. 3317 / QD.UBND on the schedule for the 2017-2018 school year, it is clear that from August 23, students across the province have started the new school year and it is applied simultaneously to all 4 levels: preschool, primary, secondary and high school.
In fact, other localities also organize for preschool students to return to school from August 23 and do not collect tuition fees like Vinh City. As for middle school and high school students, they have officially attended school according to the school year's curriculum.
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| Since August 23, students of Dien Bich Kindergarten (Dien Chau) have been going to school and the school does not collect tuition fees like summer school. Photo: PV |
A week earlier, in Decision No. 1412/SGDĐT – GDMN on guiding the preparation for the new school year, the Department of Education and Training also stipulated that “schools can organize to welcome children in August according to the regulations of the Provincial People's Committee on the time to return to school”. The tuition fee is implemented according to Resolution No. 53/2016/NQ – Provincial People's Council (tuition fee in public educational and training institutions). The Department also specified: In case the school receives children for less than a month, it will be collected according to the number of days of nurturing and caring for the children.
Ms. Vo Thi Thanh Binh - Head of Financial Planning Department - Department of Education and Training said: According to the regulations of the documents, the collection of tuition fees from students will be carried out within 9 months and calculated by actual school days and according to the prescribed number of weeks (starting from the first day of school). If schools collect tuition fees on holidays in August, it will only be applied on "holidays" (Saturday). In case any unit collects incorrectly, it must take responsibility.
PV
