On the morning of August 9, leaders of the Department of Education and Training of Thuan An City and the Board of Directors of Binh Hoa 1 Primary School (Thuan An City, Binh Duong) responded to parents' complaints about the fees collected at the school.

Responding to Thanh Nien , a representative of the Board of Directors of Binh Hoa 1 Primary School said that the school has not yet allowed or announced the collection of any money from parents.

The school's Board of Directors representative confirmed that after checking, currently only one first grade class is laying the floor (with plastic panels) sponsored by a parent of the class, who voluntarily contributed to do so with a cost of about more than 4 million VND.

Explaining this issue, the school's Board of Directors representative said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire facilities of Binh Hoa 1 Primary School were requisitioned as a Covid-19 quarantine and treatment facility, and were not repaired or renovated, leading to many classrooms (not just the one class that parents reported) being seriously degraded from the floor, classrooms, podiums, etc.

"Recently, after enrolling first graders, only one parent of one first grader requested to re-floor the classroom for students using voluntary funds contributed by parents, leading to complaints from parents," the school's board of directors explained.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Thuan An City said that the circular guiding the Ministry of Education and Training on the policy of socialization of school construction allows schools to receive socialized resources to carry out construction and repair when there is a major repair project, but they must make an estimate and report to the Department of Education and Training for consideration and appraisal.

"Re-flooring a classroom like at Binh Hoa 1 Primary School with a small budget, some parents voluntarily supported, contributed and brought workers and materials to do the work, is also an action in the policy of socializing school construction according to the guidance circular of the Ministry of Education and Training. However, due to the small budget, the school did not report to the Department of Education and Training", said the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Thuan An City.

According to the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Thuan An City, the current collection of money from parents is extremely sensitive. Currently, schools in Thuan An City that were previously used as quarantine facilities for Covid-19 treatment have been severely degraded, but in the past 3 years, only 3 schools in Thuan An City have been granted funding for repairs and renovations. Most of the remaining schools have to balance their own annual repair budget, but this budget is only enough to repair toilets for students.

Leaders of the Department of Education and Training of Thuan An City also hope that parents will share the difficulties of schools, especially in the current context where the pressure on schools in Thuan An City is so great that the number of students in each class exceeds the regulations, with about 40-45 students/class.