Ho Tuan Anh, Vice Principal of Quynh Mai 2 Secondary School (Quynh Mai ward, Nghe An province), noted that, over time, the operating funds of parent-teacher associations across many educational institutions has become distorted or even abused, leading to improper fund creation and unauthorized usage.

"In some cases, institutions even exploit the association as an 'extended arm' of the principal to overcharge fees, sparking public outrage," Tuan Anh said, explaining why many people have advocated to abolish the fund.

Anh argued that risks of distortion remain present, even with regulations stating "support for association activities following voluntary principles, conducted through goods, services, direct payments, or other legal forms”.

"Circular 55 clearly stipulates that the operating fund of the parent-teacher association forms on a voluntary basis. But in practice, this fund in many cases is not truly voluntary - it becomes 'compulsorily voluntary," Anh stated.

He cited the example of a school organizing a field trip for which the parent committee could mobilize sponsors to provide transport and meals for students. In practice, however, such activities could still result in parents of participating students being quietly asked to pay.

If parent committee funds are to be maintained, Tuan Anh proposed that the replacement circular should stipulate eligible spending items and spending caps for each activity, rather than simply listing expenditures that are prohibited. Priority should be given to supporting students facing difficult circumstances.

However, he also said the issue needs careful consideration, because eliminating parent committee operating funds altogether could affect the organization’s role.

Separating money management from parent involvement 

National Assembly deputy Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, a member of the National Assembly Committee on Culture and Society, said voluntary contributions from parents have supported a number of practical activities, such as visits to students facing difficult circumstances, experiential activities, encouragement of students on appropriate occasions and support for common activities agreed upon by parents.

When carried out for the right purposes, genuinely voluntarily, transparently and in line with individual family circumstances, such contributions are a positive expression of parents’ willingness to work alongside schools and their sense of community responsibility.

However, Nga said in many places, parent funds have been distorted into contributions that are effectively compulsory. Some classes set an average contribution per student, while in some cases a supposedly “voluntary” contribution is decided by majority vote, putting pressure on parents who disagree or cannot afford to contribute.

In some places, parent committees have even been used to collect money for repairing facilities, purchasing equipment, cleaning classrooms and school premises, rewarding teachers or supporting school management activities. Current regulations prohibit these expenditures from being covered by parent committee operating funds.

“In my view, there is no need to maintain a parent fund in the sense of a sum of money collected regularly, uniformly and automatically from every family. Nor should such a fund become an implicit condition for organizing class activities or a measure of parents’ sense of responsibility,” Nga said.

Nga said the core issue is to change the mechanism. Parents should retain the right to propose, participate in and provide support, but all monetary or in-kind contributions must be received, managed and disclosed through an official process.

Each fundraising campaign should have a specific purpose, a clear budget estimate, a defined implementation period, a method for receiving contributions, and a plan for handling any remaining funds. 

A common fund should not be established first and only later be followed by efforts to find ways to spend it. Contributions should be made through bank accounts or traceable methods, with cash handovers minimized as much as possible.

In addition, the draft should establish a mandatory principle: whether parents will contribute and how much they would donate. It must not be used as a basis for discriminating against students. 

Schools must not publicly disclose lists of parents who have not contributed, assign homeroom teachers or students to collect money, or link voluntary contributions to students’ access to basic educational activities.

Nga said the goal of the revision is not to weaken parent committees but to restore them to their proper role of representing and overseeing parents’ interests and working alongside schools, rather than collecting money. 

In her view, strengthening parents’ representative and supervisory rights while ensuring that funding is received and managed through transparent, accountable procedures will help curb excessive collections while maintaining the necessary connection between families and schools.

Thanh Hung - Thuy Nga