Ho Chi Minh City seeks opinions on increasing 5,000 VND for boarding meals

Catering staff prepare meals for boarding students

The 2023-2024 school year has ended and Resolution 04 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council stipulates that service fees to support educational activities other than tuition fees for the 2023-2024 school year at public educational institutions such as boarding school fees, boarding school meal fees, etc. also expire.

Many problems arise

According to the assessment of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training based on the synthesis of opinions from localities, the organization, implementation and supervision of Resolution 04 in the 2023-2024 school year has created a buzz and received consensus and support from a large number of parents and people. However, there have also been some difficulties and problems.

Some educational activity revenues implemented according to the projects are not consistent with the list of industry codes in Decision No. 43/2018/QD-TTg; revenues from purchasing school uniforms, school supplies, teaching tools, learning materials, etc. are not consistent with the provisions of the Law on Prices.

In the process of organizing the implementation of revenue, VAT and corporate income tax revenues arise. Based on the study of the provisions of the VAT Law, the Corporate Income Tax Law and related documents, the Department of Education and Training has sent an official dispatch to the City Tax Department and received feedback. However, some revenues are still subject to corporate income tax. Based on Resolution 04, public educational institutions are only allowed to collect a level of revenue not exceeding the maximum level prescribed in the resolution, so tax costs are also a factor that significantly affects the quality of services. Currently, the issue of the quality of meals, drinks, rest, etc. for students has received a lot of attention from educational institutions, parents and public opinion.

In addition, due to the impact of market price fluctuations, some collection levels are no longer suitable and are not enough to ensure the quality of activities such as boarding lunch fees.

In preparation for the new school year, to have a basis for advising and proposing to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and submitting to the City People's Council to issue a resolution regulating the revenues and collection levels, and the revenue and expenditure management mechanism for the 2024-2025 school year, the Department of Education and Training is deploying to public schools from kindergarten to high school, and education and training departments to collect opinions on the revenues.

Adjust revenues

Accordingly, the resolution on the revenues and collection levels for the 2024-2025 school year determines the collection level to ensure that it is suitable for the characteristics of the situation and income of the people based on the needs of learners, in accordance with the actual conditions of the city; Inheriting the contents stipulated in Resolution No. 04 and promoting the achievements in the 2023-2024 school year that were agreed upon by the people; Reviewing the list of revenues to ensure that there is no overlap with revenues prescribed by other laws. Adding some revenues not yet prescribed in Resolution 04 to ensure that they are suitable for actual needs and current documents.

In particular, the fee for boarding meals will be adjusted from VND 35,000/meal/day to VND 40,000/meal/day, an increase of VND 5,000 compared to the 2023-2024 school year due to market prices and ensuring meal quality.

The school implements the high-quality program "Advanced, international integrated school", based on the practical situation, builds a collection level that ensures the principle of fully covering costs and has reasonable accumulation. The collection roadmap must be specifically determined in accordance with the level of education, the adjustment of the collection level (if any) to achieve the goal of financial autonomy must be built on a rolling basis for each school year, starting from the first grades and stable for each course, the rate of increase in service collection level must not exceed 15%/year and submitted to the competent authority for approval...

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Council's Social and Cultural Committee works with schools to record opinions in preparation for the People's Council meeting in July.

In addition, in March and April, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council's Committee for Culture and Social Affairs also organized monitoring sessions at a number of public schools in the areas to listen to opinions from schools during the implementation of Resolution 04. Most of the schools proposed to increase the cost of boarding meals to ensure quality and nutrition for students.

Add some revenue

Foreign language and information technology education services according to international certificate output standards (directly implemented by public preschool and general education institutions): 400,000 VND/student/month.

The proposed basis for this fee level is to ensure that foreign language teaching and learning in general education institutions achieve the best results, completing the objectives of the Project on foreign language teaching and learning in the national education system for the period 2017-2025 and the targets of the Resolution of the Party Congress. In particular, it is to meet learners' needs for advanced foreign language programs corresponding to the international foreign language competency framework (foreign language certificates and school education plans), promoting the teaching and learning of foreign languages ​​according to students' needs and the school's organizational capacity, including teaching foreign languages ​​according to international certificate standards.

Graduation exam review service for high school students (outside the school year): 15,000 VND/student/period.

Explaining this fee, the Department of Education and Training said that in reality, it is necessary to review for high school graduation exams for students at the end of May and June (after the summer vacation), especially for students with average and weak academic performance. During the "final exam review" period, students with average and weak academic performance really need the support of subject teachers to have orientation and help them review effectively. Therefore, this is a practical and legitimate need of students and parents in the important and decisive stage before taking the high school graduation exam. The fee includes teaching fees and management costs.

Add the cost of renting air conditioners to the revenue item "Service of using air conditioners in air-conditioned classrooms" and adjust the maximum collection level from 50,000 VND/student/month to 110,000 VND/student/month. Specifically: The maximum collection level is 50,000 VND/student/month for classes that are already equipped with air conditioners and a maximum of 110,000 VND/student/month for classes that need to use but do not have air conditioners and have to rent...

According to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, the basis for proposing this fee is that the temperature in Ho Chi Minh City in recent years has tended to increase, each year is higher than the previous year, greatly affecting the lives of people in general and the learning of students in particular. With the pressure of population growth, the average class size is from 30 to 45 students, in densely populated areas it can be up to 50 students/class. Renting air conditioners for temporary use during the school year, reducing the heat for students during the hot season is a practical and legitimate solution and need of students and parents. At the same time, mobilizing social resources to ensure the best conditions for students to have health, peace of mind to study and practice.

According to the process, after localities contribute their opinions, the Department of Education and Training will advise and the City People's Committee will submit to the City People's Council at the regular meeting in July to issue a resolution regulating the fees applicable for the 2024-2025 school year.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tphcm-lay-y-kien-ve-viec-tang-5000-dong-tien-bua-an-ban-tru-185240613150703443.htm