Parents gather at the Vietnam Australia International School to ask for a meeting with the school's leaders about online study fees

The parents have sought for help from Duc Kien Minh Law Company to sue the Vietnam Australia International Education Corporation which is running the Vietnam Australia International School (VAS) for collecting unreasonable online study fees during the school closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the parents, the school deducted 30 percent of the study fees during the online studying period without parents' consent. The parents rejected the school's increasing to 10 classes a day for students at secondary and high school levels. They want the school to return the fee.

Anh Dung who has two children studying at VAS said that during the school closure, VAS announced that they would take 30 percent of study fee in the third term for online classes. However, the school would extend the fourth term until July 15, which means the fees have risen by 140-160 percent.

"The school decided everything on their own without discussions with parents," Dung said. "Many parents wanted a meeting with the school's leaders to negotiate a reasonable online study fee but the school did not reply."

Many parents whose children study at pre-school level said that they had paid study fees for the whole school year but then were not returned the money during the school closure.

Lawyer Pham Thi Bach Tuyet said that the requirements of the parents were quite reasonable.

Earlier, the parents had gathered at the school several times to ask for a meeting with the school's leaders but were refused. They had sought for help from the local Department of Education and Training and were told that private schools would have to negotiate with parents on the fees.

Several other international schools in Vietnam have also been complained for charging high online study fees during the closure time for virus prevention including The American School, the Australian International School, and the Vietnam Finland International School. Dtinews

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