American International School needs $3.87M more to keep classes open until end of school year

By Thanh Hang April 9, 2024 | 08:43 pm PT

The gates of the American International School Vietnam in HCMC's Nha Be District. Photo by VnExpress/Le Nguyen

A week after soliciting donations from students, the American International School Vietnam in HCMC still faces a shortfall of VND96.5 billion ($3.87 million) for continuing day-to-day operations.

The city Department of Education and Training said Tuesday the parents of 748 students have agreed to donate money to help support the school's operations. By 3 p.m. Monday, the joint bank account managed by the school, the education departments and parents had received around VND28.5 billion. After paying teachers and staff their salaries and insurance, along with other costs associated with teaching, the amount of money left is at around VND9.5 billion.

The department said the amount of money left would not be enough to maintain "direct teaching activities for all students at the school until the end of the school year", adding that it has met with the representative of the 748 parents who made contributions, offering to teach their children in classrooms while the rest would study online. Nevertheless, the department will prioritize a solution where all students get to study in classrooms.

"We hope that parents can cooperate and contribute the money to maintain the school's activities so that the students' education in the final months of the school year would not be interrupted," the department said.

AISVN resumed classes on April 3, about half a month after a teachers' strike over unpaid salaries that forced 1,300 students to stay home. Nguyen Thi Ut Em, the school's head, said it does not have the financial capacity to continue operation and on March 30 asked for VND125 billion from parents to keep running until the end of the school year in June.

AISVN, established in 2006, provides curriculums under the International Baccalaureate program.

The school's tuition is VND280-350 million a year for kindergarteners, VND450-500 million a year for primary school levels, and VND600-725 million for middle and high school levels.

It faced troubles paying salaries to teachers from late last year, but details of its financial situation has not been revealed.

Em has been forbidden from leaving the country over personal income tax issues.