Electronic contact book:Expensive, but not worth the price.
Electronic communication notebooks have been used by many schools in Nghe An province for many years and are considered a "smart bridge" between schools and parents. However, despite high expectations, the electronic communication notebook has not yet fully realized its potential and effectiveness. Meanwhile, users have to pay a considerable fee to use it, causing many parents to question the practicality of this "4.0 notebook".
I paid hundreds of dollars but only received a few messages.
The electronic communication log provides parents and students with a convenient tool to track their learning progress, grades, conduct, and important school announcements. The Vnedu application for students in Nghe An province also integrates other applications such as feedback, health and wellness, chat, self-study, timetables, and service registration.
To use the electronic school report effectively, schools must regularly update information so that parents can easily monitor and understand their children's situation at school. However, this is not yet the case in practice.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, a resident of Truong Vinh ward, said: "I have two children in middle and high school, and both were instructed by the school to use the electronic school communication book. However, in reality, for the past few years, the book has only served the main purpose of checking grades. Occasionally, the school sends a few messages announcing school closures or other content related to general school activities. When I check other features, they all show 'no data'."
According to this parent, while the fee of 100,000 VND per student isn't much, the current results are far too little. One year, both of her children attended the same school and used the same electronic communication app with the same registered phone number. Yet, she still had to pay 200,000 VND for both children. When she questioned the homeroom teacher about this, she was told that because the two children had separate communication books, they were not eligible for a fee reduction.
The effectiveness of the electronic school communication log has been a long-standing concern for parents. Recently, when this topic was posted on social media, it quickly garnered nearly 2,000 comments and almost 200 shares. Most parents questioned the quality and cost of the service. The most common complaint was receiving only a few messages from the school and grades. Other class announcements were received via the class group's Zalo chat. Parent Tran Van Nam from Van An commune even frankly shared: "We only receive a few messages a year, costing a few hundred dong, but they charge 100,000 dong. That's outrageous!"
Sharing the same view, many parents believe that the electronic communication log still hasn't met expectations. Two-way interaction is almost non-existent; information is primarily transmitted one-way from teachers to parents, while urgent announcements or detailed exchanges still have to be done via social media.
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Features not yet fully utilized.
Speaking about the use of electronic communication logs in schools, the teacher Le Van Bang, Principal of Dien Chau 4 High School, shared about the benefits: “While social networks like Zalo and Facebook make communication convenient, when there is a power outage, a loss of 4G signal, or technical problems, the electronic communication log is still a very effective tool.” He cited an example: “After Typhoon No. 10, the entire district lost power, and teachers couldn't communicate via social media. Thanks to the electronic communication log, we only needed an SMS message to inform thousands of students about school closures within minutes.”
Furthermore, according to Mr. Bang, the highlight of the electronic communication log is its security and personalization of information. Parents can only view their child's academic results, eliminating the need to "view shared grades" as before. "Previously, we had to wait for the teacher to compile and send the results to the class group, but now parents can see their child's individual subject scores immediately after entering them," Mr. Bang said.
Although there are no official reports yet, it appears that nearly 90% of schools in the delta region have implemented electronic communication logs. However, the level of utilization varies across different educational levels. At the lower secondary level, the electronic log is primarily used for checking exam scores, while the function of direct communication between teachers and parents has not yet been effectively utilized.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Principal of Ho Xuan Huong Secondary School (Quynh Luu commune), frankly shared: "We have only explored the grade lookup feature; two-way communication with parents is still mainly through Zalo, because it's more convenient."
According to Mr. Thien, because parents have to pay a fee to use the electronic communication book, he was very concerned about its low effectiveness. Therefore, during the implementation process at Ho Xuan Huong Secondary School, he and an IT teacher at the school had to carefully study the features in order to apply them in practice.
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At the primary school level, many schools have not yet recognized the urgent need to use electronic communication logs. Mr. Vu Phi Son, Principal of Dien Ky Primary School in Duc Chau commune, said: “At this level, there are only two exams per semester. Teachers can send grade reports through class groups, and parents can quickly look them up. Because this is a paid service, we haven't implemented it yet, due to the difficult economic conditions of many families.”
Need to reduceservice price
The fee of 100,000 VND per student per school year for using the electronic school communication book is causing concern among many parents. They argue that if the electronic communication book only serves a few basic functions, the current fee is not commensurate with its value.
Parent Doan Thi Ngan, whose child attends a junior high school in the former Vinh City area, also expressed: "If it's just for checking grades and a few minor details, the fee should be reduced to a few tens of thousands of dong. With each class of 40-50 students, the total cost could reach 4-5 million dong. With thousands of students in each school, that figure amounts to hundreds of millions of dong, and multiplied by the entire province, it's billions of dong."
Furthermore, many opinions also emphasized that the electronic communication log will only be truly effective when all parties are proactive: the school regularly updates information, parents actively interact, and the provider continuously improves the technology. One homeroom teacher expressed: "The current software is still quite rigid, with many cumbersome operations. Sending personal information to parents takes several steps, while messaging on Zalo only takes 5 seconds. If the software were more user-friendly, and could integrate with Zalo or email, it would certainly be more effective."
Given the current quality and the fee of 100,000 VND per year, some principals have frankly stated that "there is no need to use electronic communication logs in schools." Furthermore, the provider needs to reconsider the pricing, as this software has been in use for many years and there haven't been many upgrades over the years.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, Principal of Hung Dung Secondary School (Truong Vinh Ward), said: "Nearly 100% of our students use the electronic communication log. Although parents rarely complain, we ourselves find the service price still high. In previous years, when the service provider came to work with the school, we also suggested that schools with more than 2,000 students like ours should have a price reduction policy."
Sharing the same view, Mr. Tran Viet Phuong, Principal of Nghi Duc Secondary School (Vinh Phu Ward), said: “Even though parents agree to use it, and the class has disadvantaged students, the collective supports them so they can use it like their peers. However, the price of 100,000 VND/year is still high compared to the actual usage. The school has requested the supplier to consider reducing the fee, but so far we have not received a response.”
The issue of the high cost but low effectiveness of electronic school communication notebooks has been discussed for many years. Meanwhile, users, including parents and students, have yet to receive satisfactory answers from the providers.
According to our investigation, in the former Vinh City alone, 42 primary and secondary schools used electronic communication logs; only two high schools, Phan Boi Chau Specialized High School and Vinh University Specialized High School, did not use this service. If we only consider the manual method, with each school having over 1,500 students, the revenue generated from electronic communication logs in the wards and communes of the former Vinh City would amount to tens of billions of VND.
According to our investigation, many school principals stated that for a price of 100,000 VND per student per year, the school would also receive several other benefits in line with the digital transformation policy of the education sector. Without an electronic student communication log, schools would have to purchase software such as electronic communication logs and electronic student records at a cost of tens of thousands of VND per student. This is a significant amount for the schools' budgets. Meanwhile, if students register to use the software, the school will receive it free of charge – a long-serving principal in the sector added.