Expanding tuition exemption for private and public school students

On the morning of April 17, continuing the 44th session, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on universalizing preschool education for preschool children from 3 to 5 years old.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son reports at the meeting

PHOTO: GIA HAN

More than 116,000 billion VND needed to universalize preschool education for children 3-5 years old

Reporting at the meeting, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that in the draft resolution, the Government proposed regulations on universalizing preschool education for preschool children from 3 to 5 years old. Along with that are the mechanisms and policies to implement this.

Specifically, the Government proposed two policies to support learning costs and lunch money for children when they go to school.

Regarding support for study costs, the Government proposed to add subjects for support for study costs to include preschool children studying at private kindergartens whose father or mother is a worker or laborer working in industrial parks.

The Government also proposed that the National Assembly increase the level of lunch allowance compared to current regulations for preschool children from 3 to 5 years old.

At the same time, the Government also proposed to stipulate specific policies to support, attract and give incentives to preschool teachers; invest in developing a network of preschool schools and classes to implement the policy of universalizing education for preschool children from 3 to 5 years old.

Regarding resources for policy implementation, it is expected that the total estimated budget for investment in facilities and equipment to implement universal preschool education for 3-5 year olds (2026-2030 period) is 116,314 billion VND.

Of which, the budget for implementing policies for preschool children (supporting tuition and lunch expenses) is 1,062 billion VND/year. The budget for supporting the recruitment of preschool teachers is 2,827.6 billion VND. The budget for supporting managers, teachers, and staff to implement universalization is 3,296.8 billion VND/year. The budget for ensuring facilities is 91,872.5 billion VND.

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai emphasized that universal education for preschool children is very necessary.

PHOTO: GIA HAN

Submit to the National Assembly a resolution on tuition exemption for students nationwide

During the review, Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh said that the review agency believes that the current policy of supporting study costs and supporting lunch money for preschool children is in accordance with the provisions of the Education Law and the Government's guiding decree. Therefore, the review agency recommends considering this provision.

Regarding funding sources, Mr. Vinh said that according to the Government's proposal, to implement universal preschool education for children aged 3-5, the State must ensure a large amount of financial and human resources.

Therefore, the review agency recommends that the drafting agency carefully assess whether the funding source for implementing the Resolution is within 20% of the total state budget expenditure for education and training. At the same time, how will allocating resources for preschool education affect the implementation of other tasks in the education and training sector?

Mr. Vinh also said that the Standing Committee agreed to propose that the funding source for implementing the resolution be supported by the central budget, increasing beyond the 20% of the total state budget expenditure for education and training.

Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee Hoang Thanh Tung wondered why tuition support was only added to preschool children in industrial parks and not expanded to all preschool children in public and private schools. Limiting the subjects such as those with work contracts as stated in the draft will cause difficulties in implementation.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee Phan Van Mai expressed his strong agreement with the proposed policy and said that resources should not be a concern. "If necessary, 100,000 billion, even 1 million billion, must be done," Mr. Mai emphasized.

Further explaining, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that after the Politburo decided to exempt tuition fees for public school students nationwide from the 2025-2026 school year, it also concluded that it would request the Government Party Committee and the Ministry of Education and Training to expand the tuition exemption for students from preschool to high school at private schools.

Accordingly, students of private schools will be compensated for tuition fees equal to those of public schools according to regulations. The Ministry of Education and Training is drafting a resolution of the National Assembly on tuition exemption, expected to be submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee this week.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mo-rong-mien-hoc-phi-voi-hoc-sinh-dan-lap-tu-thuc-185250417114059665.htm