Forced to volunteer

Linh – whose son is now a chef at a restaurant in Hanoi’s Old Quarter – explained to me that she would not found Where is the “base”? Four years ago, her child was also among 3-4 poor students in her class, so near the end of 9th grade, she and other parents were invited to many meetings. At first, she informed the children’s learning situation, the rate of competition for 10th grade in some public schools and suggested that poor students could think of vocational training options.

After that, she met privately, by phone or in person, didn’t go straight to the point but clearly enough for her to understand that she should make an application, voluntarily deciding not to let her child take the exam. 10th grade. In a family of one mother and one child, she was infected again with the prospect of her son failing the exam and then failing, Linh discussed with her son going to an apprenticeship. Her son agrees. Now he has a job, can support himself, partially support his mother. But she found that her son still had guilt with his friends who passed the same class, which made her very guilty. Linh said that she gave up an exam for her child that perhaps her son only reluctantly accepted.

“Voluntary”, the dictionary meaning is “willing to do on their own, without being forced or forced”. I learned about the concept of “volunteer” in a certain year in elementary school, through the story of parents talking to each other after the parent-teacher conference. Back then, the “construction fee”, which was usually the largest amount, was required to be paid at the beginning of the year. I don’t understand why there was a time when the school was not accepted anymore. However, during the parent meeting that day, several members of the class’s Parent Committee announced the voluntary revenues, for families to consider for themselves.

This becomes obvious years later, it doesn’t take as long to consider it as it did the first time. It is also difficult for my parents to do anything other than “voluntarily” pay according to the rest of the parents, because they do not want their children to be different or disadvantaged compared to their classmates.

During our schooling, we also had similar experiences. Every time “Department goes home”, “Department goes home”, the teacher will ask a few students to learn slowly or have a runny nose tomorrow and voluntarily ask their parents to let them stay at home.

In the middle and high school years, many “volunteer” still followed our studies. On that day, there were regulations prohibiting tutoring and tutoring. But we regularly sign the form to voluntarily take extra lessons, voluntarily ask the school to teach. Voluntary, how can it be banned.

Later, when I was born, I rarely encountered this word in the working environment and was fortunate to witness true and noble voluntary acts. Voluntarily for me are the poor people giving up their land to build schools, the soldiers going to the sea and islands to serve the country, the teachers going to the highlands to teach. Or Captain Nguyen Canh Cuong, even though he was on leave, volunteered to take on the task of rescue and rescue people in Rao Trang Hydroelectricity and then forever stay with his homeland when he was only 29 years old.

Similar incidents in Cau Giay District can only be questioned, although it is not difficult to understand that schools may encounter problems. certain pressures achievement, prompting them to do so, or at least, causing such misunderstanding among parents. However, since it was all done on the basis of voluntary forms, it was difficult, as Ms. Linh said, to find evidence.

If I am like Linh’s daughter, indeed, I can’t imagine how I would feel if one day I was asked by my teachers and parents to give up the right to dream, even though it was simply an exam. like any other friend. Such behavior by the adult may violate the fundamental principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. There, like other members, Vietnam has committed to giving children the right to access education and the right to express their views.

I understand that schools and teachers may be facing pressure or regulations that are no longer appropriate. But what is reasonable, understandable is not wrong, correct it; cannot abuse the “miracle effect” of the “volunteer” application to force parents and students to accept their disadvantage, in order to ensure absolute safety for the school and teachers.

Bui Phu Chau