The Politburo’s decision to exempt tuition fees for all students in public schools from kindergarten to high school from the 2025-2026 school year has brought great joy to millions of parents with school-age children. This helps reduce the financial burden on millions of families, creating general fairness for all people, so that everyone can study as Uncle Ho wished since 1946.
Humane policy, in accordance with the people's wishes
Sharing with reporters of Dai Doan Ket Newspaper, Dr. Bui Thi An - former member of the 13th National Assembly, said that she and voters across the country have longed for this, but to make it a reality requires great determination and consensus from the entire political system.
“I was surprised that this important decision was made in the context that we are vigorously implementing Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW, dated October 25, 2017 of the 6th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee "Some issues on continuing to innovate and reorganize the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined and operate effectively and efficiently". It is not just exempting tuition fees for teachers' children as previously feared. Students of private schools are also subsidized tuition fees equal to those of public schools. All students are given the opportunity to access education in a more equitable and comprehensive manner" - Dr. Bui Thi An acknowledged.
As a parent, Mr. Le Van Ha (Phu Xuyen district, Hanoi) said that when he heard this information on the media, his whole family was very excited. He and his wife are freelance workers, having to leave their children in the countryside for their grandparents to take care of so they can go to the city to work. The cost of raising two children in primary and secondary school, although not as high as in the city, has left the couple with almost no savings. If tuition fees are exempted, they will also save money each year for when they are sick, especially when both parents are old and weak.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Van Hong - Principal of Chuong Duong Secondary School (Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi), this decision not only brings joy to parents and students but also to the entire education sector. Even with a school in the center of the capital, which is not facing any significant difficulties, each time the school collects tuition fees, it still has to wait for 3-5 parents who have not prepared their tuition fees and request to pay late. "Exempting public school tuition fees is a policy that makes people excited, contributes to raising the level of knowledge of the people, and increases the index of national happiness" - Ms. Hong shared.
Expressing her joy at this decision, teacher Nguyen Thi Hien - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Doan Thi Diem Primary School (Hanoi) said that this policy helps all preschool children and primary school students at all levels nationwide have the opportunity to participate in learning and not have to pay tuition fees. The enrollment of non-public and private schools will not be affected, but will even create positive impacts, affirming positive changes for the first changes in the country's development policy, implementing the spirit of the 2013 Constitution, the 2019 Education Law, Resolution 29-NQ/TW, the amended Capital Law, etc., that is: Education and training is the top national policy; investment in education and training is investment in development.
Ensuring social security and fairness for all students
To date, 10 provinces and cities have issued Resolutions of the Provincial People's Council on exempting preschool and general education fees for the 2024-2025 school year, namely Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Yen Bai, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong and Long An. However, many students and families in other localities are still paying tuition fees.
According to current regulations, from September 1, 2025, the State will exempt tuition fees for all public school students from 5-year-old kindergarten to high school. In addition, the Government has also stipulated a policy of reducing 50-70% of tuition fees, supporting study costs for many poor students, students in difficult circumstances, students belonging to social policy beneficiaries, ethnic minority students (studying at public schools and private schools). In addition to the subjects exempted from tuition fees according to current regulations mentioned above, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed and was approved by the Politburo to additionally exempt tuition fees for preschool students from 3 months to 4 years old and high school students. Accordingly, all preschool students, primary school students, secondary school students and public high school students will be exempted from tuition fees. Students of private schools will be compensated for tuition fees at the same level as public schools according to the provisions of law; The difference in tuition fees between public and private schools will be paid by the student's family.
Currently, tuition fees are applied by localities according to Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP of the Government, localities divide the collection level according to the level of education with 3 areas including urban, rural, mountainous areas. Specifically, the tuition fee for preschool is about 50,000 - 540,000 VND/month, for secondary school is 50,000 - 650,000 VND/month and for high school is 100,000 - 650,000 VND/month.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, the country currently has 23.2 million students (not including students at vocational and continuing education centers), including 3.1 million preschool children under 5 years old; 1.7 million preschool children 5 years old; 8.9 million primary school students; 6.5 million secondary school students and 3 million high school students. Of which, the number of non-public students is mainly concentrated in large cities and statistical data in recent years shows that this number accounts for about a few to less than 10% of the total number of students. With tuition exemption, it is expected that the budget must allocate 30,000 billion VND per year. If deducting the local budgets of provinces and cities that have implemented tuition exemption, the central budget will have to implement less than this amount. In fact, the budget level that needs to be guaranteed will depend on the specific tuition fee level of each province or centrally-run city under the authority of the Provincial People's Council, decided on the basis of the Government's regulations on the floor and ceiling tuition fees.
For the policy to be effective, according to Dr. Bui Thi An, there needs to be careful preparation of financial resources, ensuring that the quality of education is not affected when tuition fees are no longer available. At the same time, budget allocation needs to be reasonable so that public schools can continue to improve their facilities, teaching quality, and teacher benefits.
Regarding concerns about increased competitive pressure on public schools, Dr. Bui Thi An acknowledged that this has been a long-standing problem for localities, not just when the tuition-free policy was passed. It is necessary to consider and expand the public school system and improve the quality of private schools so that people have more choices that suit their financial capacity, conditions, and family desires.
Prof. Dr. Pham Tat Dong also acknowledged that along with Circular 29 on extra teaching and learning that is being strongly implemented, the decision to exempt tuition fees for public school students has sent a strong message about teaching and learning activities in schools moving towards not collecting money. In the future, people hope that localities and the education sector will continue to research and propose reducing fees other than tuition fees in the coming school years to ensure fairness in access to education, "leaving no one behind". Students go to school to study, no longer worrying about tuition fees, social contributions, and overcharging that are scheduled to appear at the beginning of each school year.
Prof. Dr. Pham Tat Dong - former Vice President of Vietnam Association for Promoting Education: Consensus will overcome all difficulties
Tuition fees, if viewed from the perspective of a student or a family, may be a small number for many people, but in reality, for many families in rural, mountainous, and even urban areas, it is a big problem. Tuition support will help students feel more secure in their studies and have more confidence in life and a bright future. In fact, many students, especially in remote areas, cannot continue to go to school due to lack of financial resources.
It is necessary to see the enormous impacts of the tuition-free policy on the whole society, as an act of affirming positive changes for important changes in the country's development policy. A wave of excitement among the majority of people creates encouragement for the people, from which the people trust and agree with important decisions that put the people at the center. When the people agree, no difficulty is insurmountable.
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/mien-hoc-phi-cho-hoc-sinh-truong-cong-dot-pha-buoc-vao-ky-nguyen-moi-10300829.html
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