Many parents in Hanoi are willing to spend several million to several tens of millions of dong to buy peace of mind for their parents and reduce pressure on their children.
Her eldest son is in 9th grade. Right from the beginning of the school year, Ms. Tran Thi Ngát (37 years old, Cau Giay, Hanoi) researched and closely followed the enrollment information of Newton Secondary - High School and Nguyen Sieu Secondary - High School so as not to miss the opportunity to buy application forms and register for her son. These are two private schools that Ms. Ngát's family considers to be reputable, quite suitable for her son, close to home, and convenient for going to school.
This year, the reservation fee at Newton Secondary and High School is publicly listed at 12 million VND/student for all training systems and grades. If students enroll, this amount will be deducted from other fees. If they do not enroll, parents will not get their money back. At the secondary and high school, the fee is 6 - 8 million VND. It is expected that Ms. Ngát will have to spend a total of 20 million VND to reserve a place for her son.
"My family has just moved, and my husband has just lost his job due to downsizing, so our finances are getting tighter and tighter. However, my husband and I are still willing to spend all our money, just hoping that our child will have a reserve spot, to reduce the psychological pressure if he fails the public school entrance exam," Ms. Ngát shared. Although the amount of money spent is not small, she has never hesitated to give her child a spot in a quality private school.
Many parents in Hanoi are willing to spend tens of millions to deposit a place in 10th grade at a private school for their children. (Illustration photo)
The female parent said that if she did not register and reserve a spot, after Hanoi organized the 10th grade entrance exam and announced the results, the early admission schools would have closed their applications, and it would be difficult for her students to register. In addition to the two schools above, listening to the advice of her colleagues, Ms. Ngát planned to find another private high school to be more certain of a spot.
Following her child's studies closely, seeing that her child was under too much pressure and that exams were becoming increasingly difficult, Ms. Pham Thi Tuyet Mai (38 years old, Dong Anh, Hanoi) discussed with her husband about spending 23 million, equivalent to nearly 2 months' salary, to buy her daughter a "reservation" ticket at Archimedes High School (Dong Anh) in the upcoming admissions period.
This amount includes the preparatory course for skills and knowledge before officially enrolling at the school, military course, books, uniforms and August tuition. Once submitted to the school, it will not be refunded or transferred in any form.
High school admission fees at Archimedes School. (Screenshot)
"In class, my child's teachers assessed her as having good academic performance and being able to get into a top public school, but I was worried that on the day of the exam, she might not do well due to nervousness and pressure, leading to a score that was not as expected. Paying the deposit fee is also like buying peace of mind for myself, and also to reduce my daughter's stress," said Ms. Mai. The amount of money spent was nothing, when many other parents in the class planned to register for 2-3 private schools at the same time, the cost would increase by tens of millions of dong.
Currently, many non-public schools in Hanoi have announced enrollment for grade 10 for the 2025-2026 school year. In addition to expected fees such as tuition, uniforms, and boarding fees, many schools require candidates to pay a deposit fee when enrolling. If admitted, many schools will deduct this amount from the costs of the year. If not admitted, depending on the school, parents may receive a partial, full, or no refund.
Dwight School Hanoi announces a one-time, non-refundable and non-transferable admission fee of VND28.8 million, payable within 7 days of receiving the admission letter. In addition, students enrolling in the 2025-2026 school year are required to deposit VND30 million. This deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable and will be deducted directly from the tuition fee.
In the affordable segment, the Alpha School education system also requires parents to pay a registration fee of 3 million VND and an admission fee of 8 million VND. FPT Bac Tu Liem High School and FPT Hoa Lac High School charge an admission fee of 2 million VND.
Previously, in March 2024, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training requested that schools not collect deposits or reserve seats during the enrollment process for the first grades of the 2024-2025 school year. Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong said that private schools collecting deposits is inhumane and destroys the exemplary nature of schools.
The schools explained that this clause was to ensure stability, to avoid parents submitting and withdrawing applications, causing confusion. However, Mr. Cuong disagreed. He considered this clause to be a civil agreement between parents and the school, but from an educational perspective, it was not good.
At that time, the Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training suggested that private schools should not collect reservation fees and create maximum conditions for parents and students to withdraw their applications when needed. However, this year's enrollment season, the practice of collecting high reservation fees continues to occur.
In the 2024-2025 school year, it is expected that the whole city will have about 127,000 students taking the junior high school graduation exam, of which 79,000 will be admitted to public grade 10, and 48,000 will study at private high schools, vocational education centers, and continuing education centers.
This year, Hanoi has chosen Foreign Language (English, French, German, Japanese, Korean) as the third subject for the 10th grade entrance exam, along with Literature and Math. The admission score is the total score of the three subjects on a 10-point scale, without any coefficient, plus priority and incentive points (if any).
The 2025 Hanoi 10th grade entrance exam will take place on June 7-8. As every year, students can register up to 3 options for the general education system, of which options 1 and 2 must be in the enrollment area, and option 3 is random. Candidates cannot change their options after registration.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/phu-huynh-can-rang-chi-hang-chuc-trieu-dat-coc-suat-vao-lop-10-truong-tu-ar930999.html
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