In Almaty, there is a discussion about collecting money for the school prom, which, according to one parent, amounts to 200,000 tenge per student. The situation has drawn attention due to the potential financial burden on families.
WHAT THE COMPLAINT IS ABOUT
A video address from an Almaty resident was published by journalist Mikhail Kozachkov on his Telegram channel "Kozachkov offside".
According to the woman, around 200,000 tenge or more is being collected from each student, which, in her opinion, is an excessive amount for an ordinary school.
"For a general education school, this is a quite substantial sum, and not every family can comfortably afford to pay it. Moreover, the budget remains opaque. A significant portion of the expenses is unnecessary for the children," she says in the video.
Furthermore, she said that she is a financial expert herself, so she reviewed all the costs and proposed a more economical option for organising the prom. However, according to her, this option was not put forward for discussion with the other parents.
APPEAL TO THE PRESIDENTTHE ALMATY RESIDENT addressed Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with a request to pay attention to the situation.
"Our children should not learn that collecting money, in an opaque and irresponsible manner, is the norm. Even though the education department says the school has nothing to do with collecting money, the collection happens precisely within the school walls and in school chats. Therefore, logically and in essence, schools are directly involved in collecting money," she said.
THE MINISTRY'S POSITION
The Ministry of Education reminded that educational organisations are prohibited from initiating, organising, or carrying out the collection of money from parents for any purpose.
The department stated that it reviewed the appeal and found no evidence of illegal fundraising by the school.
"According to the Almaty Education Department, the gymnasium is not the organiser of the prom and is not collecting money from the parents of students. It has been established that the administration and teachers are not involved in the collection," the statement says.
The ministry also added that it is conducting explanatory work with parents and graduates about the impracticality of excessive spending and is developing recommendations for organising graduation events.