Will increasing teachers' salaries put an end to illegal collection at the beginning of the year?

There are many reasons for overcharging, including the fact that salaries of teachers and school administrators are still low.

As scheduled, as reported by the press over the past few days, although the new school year has only been less than a month, parents have already felt the "heat" and "heaviness" of the year-end contributions.

Dr. Nguyen Khanh Trung, Institute for Educational Development Research (IRED), gave his own opinion on the current overcharging of fees at the beginning of the year in schools.

Dr. Nguyen Khanh Trung, Institute for Educational Development Research IRED. (Photo: Vietnamnet)

PV: In recent years, overcharging at the beginning of the year in schools has become a regular occurrence. In your opinion, what is the cause of this problem?

Dr. Nguyen Khanh Trung:There are many reasons, first of all is the salary of teachers and school administrators, this is also a story that has been talked about forever like the story of overcharging. In my opinion, to fight against overcharging, corruption, negative envelopes and gifts in education as they have been for a long time, we must first create a suitable environment.

Specifically, it is necessary to increase the salaries of teachers and school staff appropriately so that they can make a living and focus on their careers and missions.

I think with 20% of the national budget for education and people spending a lot of their own money (Vietnam is among the top Asian countries) to contribute to education as it is now. If we add it all up, we can afford to pay teachers a decent salary, but where does all the money go?

The second reason comes from the law. After raising the salaries of teachers and school administrators sufficiently so that they can make a living, it is necessary to severely punish crimes in schools. For example, if a school is found to be deliberately overcharging, those involved should be immediately removed from the education sector and severely punished according to the law.

A parent-teacher association is necessary and in some cases should be an “extended arm” of the principal and teachers. Photo: Internet.

The third reason is “tradition”, the story of overcharging, as well as many other negative things in schools have existed for a long time, become a sustainable “tradition” and sometimes become a “norm” in society. That means it has become popular, normal in the mindset of many people, they will take it lightly or ignore it.

Solving this problem is much more difficult than the two things mentioned above because it is not just a story of the school but of the whole society. How to make people willing to fight against negative and unjust phenomena to bring about a clean social environment where they are still safe, supported and protected by everyone. When everyone is aware and determined to eliminate such negativity, then surely the problem of overcharging as well as other negative things will be controlled.

PV: Currently, there are many opinions that the Parents' Representative Committee has become an "extended arm of the principal" in the matter of overcharging, therefore, this Committee should be eliminated. What is your opinion on this issue, sir?

Dr. Nguyen Khanh Trung:The parent-teacher association is necessary, and in some cases should be the “extended arm” of the principal and teachers, but not to extort money but to educate their children and support the school in major events for the benefit of the students.

However, the board of representatives is elected by the parents, so it is also the parent representative to monitor the school's activities. In the story of overcharging, when discovered, the board of representatives should speak up and fight against negativity. In short, there should be a parent board of representatives, but any board that supports negativity should be eliminated.

PV: It is known that you have spent many years researching education in countries such as France and the Netherlands. In these countries, do parent-teacher associations exist like in Vietnam and how do they operate, sir?

Dr. Nguyen Khanh Trung:In Finland and in France, there are parent-teacher associations, but I have never seen them overcharge. On the contrary, they actively support the school in its activities. In France, for example, where my child is studying, the parent-teacher association organizes big festivals every year, especially Christmas and the end-of-year festival. The festival includes performances for all students to teach them different skills, but also to raise funds through activities. We have never had to contribute money directly to the school or the parent association, but only support it by consuming the “goods” of the parent association, such as paying for dinners organized by the association.

The money collected is used by the parents' representatives to support the children, such as contributing to a field trip or buying some toys for the students in the schoolyard./.

PV: Thank you!/.

According to VOV