If approved, this proposal will be a breakthrough in attracting human resources and improving the quality of the medical sector as is being done with the education sector. However, based on the actual implementation of the education sector policy and the characteristics of the medical sector, it is necessary to consider the feasibility of applying it and find appropriate solutions.
In addition to tuition exemption, from 2021, students of some pedagogical majors will receive living expenses support of VND 3.63 million/month. However, after 3 years of implementation, many shortcomings have been revealed. Students at most schools have reported not receiving living expenses for a long time. Training institutions are also facing difficulties as very few localities place training orders and transfer funds to schools.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, after 3 years of implementation, the rate of teacher training students who were ordered and assigned tasks by localities only accounted for 17.4% of the number of students enrolled, accounting for 24.3% of the number of students registered to enjoy the policy. The number of localities that assigned tasks, placed orders, and bid was 23/63 provinces and cities. From this reality, many opinions proposed the need to amend and supplement Decree 116 to make it more effective.
But the most positive sign is that this policy has helped increase the number of excellent students applying for pedagogy, leading to higher benchmark scores. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, in the 2024 admissions period, the number of candidates applying for pedagogy increased by 85% compared to 2023.
However, medicine and pharmacy have different characteristics from pedagogy. First of all, medicine and pharmacy are fields of study that require a large investment of funds, so tuition fees are very high. According to the Ministry of Health, tuition fees are about 27 - 200 million VND/year. Most people with good academic performance enter medicine and pharmacy. Unlike pedagogy, which is mainly concentrated in public schools, medicine and pharmacy are currently being trained in many private schools. Exemption from tuition fees and living expenses will come with a policy of assigning positions after graduation, and training according to local orders is also not an easy problem, as the pedagogy industry is facing. The direction of long-term service to the community after graduation of students in these two fields is also different.
Most public health schools are now autonomous, so tuition fees are increasing. This is an obstacle for talented but disadvantaged students who want to pursue a medical career. Although schools still have policies on scholarships and tuition exemptions, these are very few and difficult to access.
Although exempting tuition fees for medical and pharmaceutical students is very humane, it will lead to inequality between students from low-income families who have not received adequate support and students from well-off families. Therefore, instead of exempting tuition fees for everyone, we can find more feasible "solutions". For example, exempting or sponsoring talented students with difficult circumstances; significantly increasing the number of scholarships for medical and pharmaceutical students; calling for contributions from social resources (the press has recently reported cases of American billionaires sponsoring tuition fees for medical students).
When discussing the story of rising university tuition fees, Professor Bui Van Ga, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, once shared with Thanh Nien a solution that he thought could be applied in this case. That is, the state and schools should pay attention to giving opportunities to capable but disadvantaged students through scholarship and loan policies. Or the state and localities can advance tuition fees on the condition that the graduating students must serve the country or locality in need. When the service period ends, the student is considered to have repaid the fees.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bai-toan-mien-hoc-phi-nganh-y-185241225221710679.htm
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