From Tuoi Tre News
Many K-12 schools in Sai Gon are running in a so-called “technology race” at the parents’ expense while the law on education stipulates that students are required to pay tuition and enrollment fees only.
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Students are seen studying in a classroom equipped with an LCD display at an elementary school in Go Vap District, Sai Gon. Photo from Tuoi Tre News |
To keep up with their Joneses, these schools suggested parents should “voluntarily” chip in, with up to more than a month’s tuition, to buy such devices as LCD screens, projectors, smart boards, computers, and others to help provide a better education to their students.
Few parents would dare to refuse to make such “voluntary contributions,” as they do not want to jeopardize their children’s academic records at school, while Article 105 of the education law states clearly, “apart from tuition and enrollment fees, learners or their families do not have to pay any other fee.”
Tuoi Tre has found that many schools in Go Vap District have equipped all its classrooms with an LCD screen in addition to a traditional blackboard and chalk sticks.
Similarly a 52-inch LCD screen connected to a desktop or laptop is installed in each classroom at Luong The Vinh Elementary School, located in District 7.
The whole set is connected to the Internet so that teachers can search for additional information while presenting their electronic lessons.
And parents pay for all this even when the school is state-funded.
The father of a student at Tan Binh High School, situated in Tan Phu District, said that he was asked to pay VND300,000 (US$14), like other parents, to buy a projector to be installed in his child’s classroom.
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