With the new Resolution of the People's Council, Ho Chi Minh City has become the 9th locality in the country to implement a tuition-free policy for all preschool and primary school students. Although it only accounts for 14% of provinces and cities, this is very significant.
Nearly 10 years ago, Ho Chi Minh City proposed exempting tuition fees for public secondary school students. However, at that time, the Ministry of Finance did not agree on the grounds that Ho Chi Minh City is a locality with a high per capita income, with a tuition fee of VND85,000 - 100,000 per month not being too high. The 2005 Education Law only stipulates exemption of tuition fees for primary school, so exemption of tuition fees for other levels is under the authority of the National Assembly. Furthermore, exempting tuition fees for public secondary school students in Ho Chi Minh City would create inconsistency between families with children studying at secondary schools in the city and other localities.
The reason why the Ministry of Finance at that time did not agree with the proposal of Ho Chi Minh City was based on the fact that it was following the Education Law. However, it also showed that there was still a mindset of "equal justice".
In the context of current development of science, technology, economy and society, on the one hand, we need a policy, a common orientation to ensure fairness, but at the same time, we also need the dynamism and creativity of each locality, each family and even each person.
For the development of education and training, there needs to be general development orientations, guidelines, and policies to create fairness throughout the country, but it is also necessary to create conditions for some localities and units with conditions to go first to gain experience to disseminate and spread to other localities.
The 2019 Education Law, effective from July 1, 2020, stipulates tuition exemption for junior high school students and 5-year-old preschool children, but the Government is responsible for setting the roadmap. Decree 81/2021 dated August 27, 2021 of the Government stipulates the mechanism for revenue and expenditure, tuition fee management for educational institutions and tuition exemption and reduction policies, and support for learning costs, stipulating: All 5-year-old preschool students are exempted from tuition fees from the 2024-2025 school year and junior high school students are exempted from tuition fees from the 2025-2026 school year. In that context, many localities have pioneered in completely exempting tuition fees for preschool and general education. With this decision, some localities have not only finished ahead of the Government's roadmap, but also surpassed the Education Law, when exempting tuition fees for preschool students under 5 years old and high school students, and continuing education students at high school level. From here, it is also necessary to raise the issue of amending the Education Law in the direction that localities are entitled to completely exempt tuition fees for preschool education, general education and continuing education.
Ho Chi Minh City has become the ninth locality in the country, along with Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Vinh Phuc and Yen Bai, to implement a tuition-free policy for all preschool and primary school students. Don't think that a few tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dong in tuition fees per month is too small because for the children of the working poor, this is still a large expense.
Particularly for Ho Chi Minh City, with a large population, large area, and large number of immigrants, the learning opportunities for children of the poor are still difficult. Therefore, each year, the city budget spends more than 1,000 billion VND to exempt tuition fees, which is a great effort. Exempting tuition fees for students will move towards implementing 9 years of compulsory education, gradually moving towards 12 years of compulsory education as many countries in the world have done. This is a major policy to invest in people, develop Vietnamese people to enter the era of national development.
However, to make tuition exemption truly meaningful, it is necessary to encourage and create conditions for localities across the country to implement it together, creating general fairness for all people, so that everyone can study as Uncle Ho wished since 1946.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mien-hoc-phi-va-cong-bang-giao-duc-185250221230043995.htm
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