Is requesting contributions from parents for the purchase of teaching equipment by teachers against Vietnamese law?

Is requesting contributions from parents for the purchase of teaching equipment by teachers against Vietnamese law?

According to Clause 4, Article 10 of the Parent Committee Charter promulgated together with Circular 55/2011/TT-BGDDT, the parent committee is not allowed to collect the following funds from students or their families:

Funds for operation of parent committees

...

3. The collection and use of funds of parent committees must ensure the principle of openness and democracy; the financial settlement must be announced at the meetings of the parent committees of classes and the parent committee of the school. No amount of average funding from parents shall be specified.

4. The parent committees of classes must not receive the following kinds of contributions from students or their parents:

Involuntary contributions.

b) Other contributions which do not directly serve the operation of parent committees: fees for protection of the school’s facilities and security, guarding of students’ transport, school and classroom sanitation; funds for rewarding managers, teachers and the school’s employees; funds for purchasing equipment, teaching materials for the school, classes or for the school's managers, teachers and the school’s employees; funds for supporting the management, teaching and educational activities; fees for repair, upgrade and build new constructions of the school.

Thus, according to the above regulation, requesting contributions from parents for the purchase of teaching equipment by teachers is against Vietnamese law.

Is requesting contributions from parents for the purchase of teaching equipment by teachers against Vietnamese law? (Image from the Internet)

What are the responsibilities and rights of parent committees of classes in Vietnam?

According to Article 4 of the Parent Committee Charter issued together with Circular 55/2011/TT-BGDDT, the responsibilities and rights of parent committees of classes in Vietnam are as follows:

- The parent committee of a class has the responsibility to:

+ Cooperate with the homeroom teacher and subject-specific teachers in organizing educational activities for students;

+ Cooperate with the homeroom teacher in preparing for the parent-teacher conferences during the school year;

+ Take part in ethics education for students; foster excellent students, help underperforming students, encourage dropouts to come back to school; help poor students, disabled students and other disadvantaged students.

- The parent committee of a class has the right to:

+ Convene parent-teacher conferences in accordance with regulations prescribed in Article 9 of this Charter (except for the first meeting at the beginning of the school year, during which the parent committee is established) after reaching agreement with the homeroom teacher;

+ Enquire parents about the methods for management and education of students to propose specific measures to the homeroom teacher and subject-specific teachers in order to improve the quality of knowledge and ethics education;

+ Cooperate with the homeroom teacher in organizing extracurricular activities, education of tradition, culture, art and sport activities to provide comprehensive education for students.

What are the financial sources of educational investment in Vietnam?

According to Article 95 of the Education Law 2019 on financial sources of educational investment in Vietnam:

Financial sources of investment in education comprise:

- State budget;

- Legal investment capitals of domestic and foreign organisations and individuals;

- Incomes from educational, training, scientific and technological services; service and assistance to educational operation of educational institutions; incomes from business operation; interest from deposits in banks and other legal incomes as regulated by law;

- Funding for fulfilment of the State’s requests;

- Loans;

- Sponsorship, aid, grants of domestic and international organisations and individuals.