The Ministry of Education and Training requires increased monitoring and accountability of revenues in the education sector.

The Ministry of Education and Training requires increased monitoring and accountability of fees collected in the education and training sector. Educational institutions must be accountable to learners and society for their fees.

Bộ GD&ĐT yêu cầu tăng giám sát, giải trình về khoản thu tiền trường

The Ministry of Education and Training requires increased monitoring and accountability of school fees.

Regarding tuition fees, the Ministry of Education and Training said that in implementing the Government's Resolution, the Ministry has coordinated with relevant agencies to draft a Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 81 of the Government regulating the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees for educational institutions in the national education system and policies on tuition exemption and reduction, support for learning costs, and service prices in the field of education and training.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, the content of the draft Decree is in the direction of stabilizing tuition fees of public preschool, general education, and vocational education institutions from the 2023-2024 school year compared to the 2021-2022 school year.

For tuition fees of public higher education institutions, the tuition fee schedule will be delayed by one year compared to the tuition fee schedule stipulated in Decree 81; the regulations in Decree 81 on tuition fee exemption and reduction policies and support for learning costs will continue to be implemented. Currently, the draft Decree is being considered and decided by the Government.

Another important content is that the Ministry of Education and Training requires ministries, People's Committees of provinces and cities to direct educational and training institutions to strictly comply with regulations on school fees. At the same time, strengthen inspection, examination, supervision and be accountable to learners and society about the collection levels and amounts of educational institutions.

The document emphasizes that there should be absolutely no overcharging at the beginning of the school year; and directs educational institutions to mobilize, manage and use sponsorships and aid in accordance with regulations.

Educational institutions must be public about their commitment to education and training quality, quality assurance conditions, and financial revenues and expenditures according to regulations, and must be accountable to learners and society for their fees.

Regarding the prices of textbooks, educational materials and equipment, the Ministry of Education and Training recommends that localities direct relevant agencies, units, departments and branches to strengthen coordination in inspecting and supervising the implementation of regulations on posting and publicizing information on prices of educational materials, equipment and textbooks in the area.

In particular, localities need to strengthen inspection and handling of violations, ensuring publicity and transparency in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Prices and related documents.

Recently, a number of cases of overcharging at schools across the country have caused a stir in public opinion. Most recently, the school year has been less than a month, but the fund expenditures of class 1/2, Hong Ha Primary School (Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City) have exceeded 260 million VND. On the evening of September 28, this primary school held a meeting with parents of class 1/2 and refunded nearly 250 million VND due to overcharging. Each parent received more than 9 million VND.

After this incident, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training issued a document strictly prohibiting the use of the name of the Parents' Association to collect fees outside of regulations. The Department affirmed that it will strictly handle the principals of educational institutions that collect and spend money incorrectly.

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