Private schools "rip off" parents with a series of registration fees

Non-refundable, non-transferable

More than 100 private schools in Hanoi have begun accepting applications for grade 10 for the 2025-2026 school year based on secondary school transcripts. In order to "limit the virtual rate, causing difficulties in enrollment", and to make families responsible for their choices, these schools have offered many "deposit" levels with different fees to filter out cases with real needs and desires to study at their schools.

Dwight School Hanoi currently has the highest deposit. Parents must pay all four fees: registration, admission, deposit and guarantee, totaling VND113.6 million. Of which, the enrollment fee is VND9.8 million, the admission fee is VND28.8 million and the tuition "deposit" is VND30 million. These three fees are non-refundable and non-transferable. The guarantee fee (VND45 million) will be refunded if the student graduates from the school, or if they notify in writing of their withdrawal at least 60 days before the last day of school.

In 2025, Horizon International Bilingual School will charge a deposit fee of VND25 million. Hoang Mai Star School lists the deposit fee at VND24 million (high-quality program); VND26.5 million (gifted program). Archimedes High School maintains a deposit fee of VND23 million. Luong The Vinh High School charges VND15 million. Olympia Inter-level High School and Wellspring International Bilingual High School have similar deposit fees. In addition, many other private high schools have deposit fees ranging from VND1 million to VND10 million.

Faced with the increasing pressure to get into 10th grade at public schools, with 48,000 students unable to get into 10th grade at public schools, many parents in Hanoi have had to prepare a backup plan for a place at a private school if their children fail to get into a public school. Ms. Nguyen Thuy Ha, a parent whose child studies at Ly Thuong Kiet Secondary School (Dong Da District), said that her family is very concerned about the "deposit" of up to tens of millions of VND because the number one priority is that if her child is accepted into Le Quy Don High School, she will send her child to this school. This means that the family could completely lose the "deposit" to reserve a place at a private school for their child.

Is it legal to profit from reservation fees?

Faced with the chaotic situation of deposit fees, Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training Tran The Cuong said that although the deposit is a civil agreement between the school and parents, from an educational perspective "it is not good". Mr. Tran The Cuong stated: "We should not collect deposit fees, because doing so will destroy the exemplary and humane nature of the school". However, in reality, the above fee still exists in every admission season.

The fact that schools make such agreements with parents does not violate the provisions of the Civil Code and is not a prohibited act in educational institutions under the 2019 Education Law. Therefore, it is difficult for management agencies to impose sanctions on schools. The view that the reservation fee is intended to contribute to ensuring stability in the school's enrollment work is not objectionable if parents pay a reasonable amount of about 1-2 million VND to support administrative work. However, if the amount is too large compared to the average income of many families, they have the right to ask: Are those schools "profiteering" from this fee and losing the humanity of the education sector?

In fact, not all schools impose a deposit fee. For example, Mai Hac De High School (Hoang Mai District) or Dang Thai Mai High School (Soc Son District) do not impose a deposit fee during this year's enrollment season. Mr. Dam Khac Sy, Principal of Dang Thai Mai High School, said that only private schools in the inner city, where the population is dense and the competition rate is high, tend to impose a deposit fee. Meanwhile, private schools in the suburbs rarely impose a deposit fee to create conditions for many students to have the opportunity to study even though their families are not well off.

In the 2025-2026 school year, Hanoi will have about 127,000 students taking the high school graduation exam, of which 79,000 will have a place in public schools, the rest will go to private high schools, vocational education centers - continuing education and vocational training.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/truong-tu-bat-chet-phu-huynh-voi-loat-phi-ghi-danh-20250404191359458.htm