Parents borrow money, and the whole school suffers the consequences.

Even without borrowing money, they still get "harassed."

On May 20th, in an interview with a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, Ms. Hoang Phuong Thao, Head of the Education and Training Department of Vinh City, stated that recently, she and hundreds of teachers and members of the school's management board have been frequently harassed, insulted, and slandered by debt collectors despite not having borrowed any money. "We are very upset. Almost every school has been affected; they are being attacked in the same way as reported by Nghe An Newspaper," Ms. Thao said.

While we were talking to Ms. Thao, within just 15 minutes, her phone received two harassing calls from debt collectors. “I’ve received at least 10 calls like this since this morning. It’s so annoying. It’s affecting many people’s work. Some of us have to put our phones on silent mode to get a good night’s sleep, others have to turn them off,” Ms. Thao said, adding that she was fortunate not to have been attacked on social media because she had carefully set her privacy settings. Meanwhile, her deputy and several other principals have been targeted by unknown Facebook accounts that have Photoshopped their images and repeatedly slandered and threatened them.

A school principal and his child were slandered on Facebook despite having no outstanding debts. Photo: TH

According to Ms. Thao's statistics, in Vinh City alone, approximately 30 schools have experienced this situation, ranging from high schools to middle schools, elementary schools, and kindergens. In many schools, all teachers have been harassed. “When we investigated, most teachers said they hadn't borrowed money or had repaid it. Many teachers reported losing their ID cards, claiming they hadn't borrowed any money. We tried calling the numbers but couldn't get through. Meanwhile, when they called us, they just kept cursing and wouldn't let us say a word,” Ms. Thao said, adding that the unit has repeatedly worked with the police, but the situation continues, affecting the work, morale, and reputation of many individuals and groups.

Also in Vinh City, Mr. Cao Thanh Bao, the principal of Ha Huy Tap High School, said that he and all the teachers and staff at the school have been exhausted by debt collectors harassing them, even though none of the teachers had borrowed any money. “In the first incident, they called to say that a parent of a 12th-grade student had borrowed money and demanded that the school take responsibility. They threatened the teachers and even the school's management team. Then they used photos of the homeroom teacher to defame her on social media. Meanwhile, the student's parents are divorced, and we don't even know if that parent had borrowed money, as we are not responsible for managing that matter,” Mr. Bao said.

Images of a kindergarten teacher and her mother in Nam Dan were printed, pasted on utility poles, and then photographed to shame them on social media. (Photo: TH)

Later, the debt collectors continued their harassment of the school, claiming that a family member of a teacher had borrowed money. “My school has 101 teachers and staff, and all of them have been harassed by phone calls. Every time we answer, they hurl insults at us, not letting us say a word. They even took pictures of me and many other teachers online, falsely accusing me of borrowing money, then insulting and threatening us,” Mr. Bao said, shaking his head in frustration. The principal and many teachers then contacted their mobile network provider to block the harassing numbers; however, the debt collectors used many more numbers. The school subsequently filed a report with the police, along with supporting evidence.

It needs to be resolved completely.

In Cua Lo town, Mr. Phung Duc Nhan, Head of the Education and Training Department, said that he and many officials and teachers are very upset about this situation. Most recently, debt collectors have been constantly calling and threatening Mr. Nhan and many other officials, claiming that a kindergarten teacher in the area owes them money. “They spoke very rudely, cursing and insulting me and many others. However, when we went to verify, the teacher assured us that she hadn't borrowed money from anyone. The teacher said that her phone was stolen and that someone might have obtained her information,” Mr. Nhan said, adding that because of this incident, more than 40 people, including all the teachers at the school, leaders of the Education and Training Department, and leaders of the Provincial Department of Education, have been harassed by phone calls. The incident has since been reported to the local police.

Similarly, this is reflected in the feedback from leaders of the Education and Training Departments in localities such as Yen Thanh, Nam Dan, Tuong Duong, etc. Among them, many schools also admitted that teachers in their schools had borrowed money, but many schools affirmed that the teachers had assured them that they had not borrowed money, yet all teachers and school leaders were still being "terrorized".

A police report from a school in Nam Dan. Photo: TH

“We are very frustrated. We can’t block them all because they use so many numbers. We hope the police will get involved to definitively resolve this problem so that teachers can teach with peace of mind,” said Mr. Tran Xuan Tinh, Head of the Education and Training Department of Yen Thanh District.

Not only schools and local education and training departments are being harassed, but leaders and staff at the Nghe An Provincial Department of Education and Training are also facing similar situations. Mr. Nguyen Trong Be, Head of the Political and Ideological Department (Nghe An Provincial Department of Education and Training), stated that most staff members at his unit have been harassed. The debt collectors not only make constant phone calls and send text messages, but also send numerous emails to individual staff members.

“This situation is prevalent in almost every locality in Nghe An province. Everyone is very upset. Verification has revealed many cases where individuals did not borrow money, yet these lenders still harass the entire school. Furthermore, some teachers did indeed borrow money, but even so, it's unacceptable for one debtor to harass hundreds of others with phone calls like that. Over the past period, we have issued numerous warnings to teachers against borrowing money from unreliable organizations or loan sharks, and we have also held many meetings with representatives of the Nghe An Provincial Police. However, this situation continues to recur, affecting teaching and learning,” Mr. Bé said, while urging authorities to promptly intervene and resolve this problem.

Mr. Bé's email is full of debt collection emails. Photo: Tiến Hùng

According to an investigation by a reporter from Nghe An Newspaper, it's not just the Education sector; many officials, employees, and citizens throughout the province are being harassed by debt collectors even though they haven't borrowed any money. Among them are several leaders of departments, agencies, and local authorities who have also been continuously harassed despite having no connection to the debt.

Previously, on May 18th and 19th, Nghe An Newspaper published a series of articles reflecting on the gangster-style debt collection practices of FE Credit (Vietnam Prosperity Bank Finance Company Limited, a subsidiary of Vietnam Prosperity Bank - VPBank). In these articles, many school principals, even those who hadn't borrowed money, were subjected to harassing phone calls, false accusations, and insults on social media. Some teachers, unable to withstand the pressure, even resigned. Following the publication, Nghe An Newspaper received numerous complaints from people who had been or were currently victims of this situation.