Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education is facing student backlash over new tuition fees - a 20% increase compared to before.
During the orientation session for new students in early September, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education announced that the tuition fee for the standard program for new students ranges from 13-16.25 million VND per semester.
For previous courses, tuition fees ranged from VND693,000 to VND827,000 per credit. Meanwhile, last year's tuition fees ranged from VND555,000 to VND652,000 per credit.
Upon hearing the news, many students were upset and left comments on the school's official fanpage and social networking forums.
Thanh Phong, a second-year student, said that the tuition fee for each credit in engineering has increased by about 20% compared to last year. According to the male student, this is too high an increase and different from the school's commitment when consulting on admissions.
"One of the criteria for choosing a school is reasonable tuition fees. The school previously committed to not increasing the tuition by more than 10%, but now it's increasing uncontrollably. How can students with difficulties afford it?" Phong said.
Thu Huong, a new student majoring in Industrial Management at the school, was also surprised by the tuition fees. The female student said she did not look at the admission plan but learned about the tuition fees through consulting channels and current students at the school.
"I thought that even if the tuition fee increased, it would only increase by about 10%, so I added and subtracted the tuition fee at that time, and when I found it suitable for my family's financial situation, I enrolled in the school. Unexpectedly, the tuition fee increased so much," Huong shared.
Tuition fees for the standard program of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education in 2023-2024. Photo: Screenshot
Responding to VnExpress on September 13, a school representative said they would hold a dialogue with students about tuition fees on September 16.
According to him, the tuition fee for the 2023 enrollment period has been announced in the enrollment plan. For previous enrollment periods, the above tuition fee is only temporary. The school has not collected it yet because it is waiting for the conclusion of the Government and the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training. For the high-quality program, the school will maintain the old fee of 28-46 million VND per year, as committed.
This person said that the school is completely autonomous (regular and investment expenses) and will comply with regulations if tuition fees increase. He said that the school currently determines that the cost of training an engineering student is 29 million VND per year. This cost is about 26 million VND for an economics student. Thus, the tuition fee for new students is equivalent to the training cost.
"In previous years, the school collected low tuition fees because it had not yet developed a project to set economic and technical standards. Currently, the school has determined the training costs for each student according to each profession, so it must collect the correct amount to cover the costs," he said.
The school representative also added that after two or three years of not increasing tuition fees, the school has encountered many difficulties in investing and upgrading teaching equipment, laboratories, workshops, and operating costs. The school has applied many methods from calling for support, mobilizing business resources to equip laboratories, practice rooms, and air conditioning in classrooms.
"In the technical sector in general, the tuition fee of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education is still lower than other schools. Students must also determine that university is an opportunity, university tuition is an investment for the future," he said.
Ho Chi Minh City University of Education said it plans to set aside tens of billions of dong in a fund to support disadvantaged students and provide scholarships to encourage learning.
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education. Photo: Manh Tung
At the end of August, the Ministry of Education and Training said it had submitted to the Government a draft to amend and supplement a number of articles of Decree 81 on tuition fees.
According to the draft, preschool, high school, and university tuition fees for the 2023-2024 school year will apply the ceiling level of the 2022-2023 school year, which is one year later than the tuition increase roadmap set forth in Decree 81.
If this plan is passed, tuition fees for public universities will be capped. The monthly income for the next school year will be 1.2-2.45 million VND, depending on the major, instead of 1.35-2.76 million VND. The current income is 980 thousand to 1.43 million VND per month.
Schools that are autonomous (paying their own salaries, allowances, repairing facilities, etc.) can collect up to 2-2.5 times the above amount, or 2.4-6.15 million VND per month, depending on the level. With quality-accredited training programs, universities can determine their own tuition fees.
Le Nguyen
* Student name has been changed
Source link
Comment (0)