The Ministry of Education and Training responds to the petition against increasing university tuition fees.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son - Photo: GIA HAN

Accordingly, voters suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training should research and authorize local Departments to decide on and select a unified set of textbooks according to grade level to facilitate teaching and learning...

Use the textbooks chosen by the educational institution.

In response to this, the Ministry of Education and Training stated that Resolution 88/2014 of the National Assembly stipulates the socialization of textbook compilation; there are several textbooks for each subject.

The Ministry also cited the provisions of the 2019 Education Law and stated that, in implementing the law, the Ministry has issued circulars regulating the selection of textbooks in general education institutions.

This includes a regulation that each general education institution must select one textbook from the list of textbooks approved by the Minister of Education and Training for each subject and grade level, in accordance with the teaching and learning organization conditions and the socio-economic conditions of the locality.

Therefore, the use of textbooks chosen by educational institutions ensures suitability to local conditions and the objectives of the general education curriculum.

For teaching and learning in general education institutions, the national general education curriculum issued with Circular 32/2018 will be implemented uniformly.

The fact that each school uses different textbooks does not affect parents' involvement in monitoring and guiding their children's learning.

If tuition fees remain stable and recurrent expenditures are cut, many schools will not have enough funds to operate.

In addition, voters requested that university tuition fees not be increased to alleviate the burden on families with limited financial resources, thereby creating opportunities for students to focus on their studies.

In response to this, the Ministry of Education and Training stated that the Government issued Decree 81/2021 regulating tuition fees for educational institutions within the national education system and policies on tuition fee exemption and reduction, and support for learning costs.

Specifically, it stipulates a roadmap for adjusting tuition fees annually to ensure the pricing of education and training services is in line with Resolution 19/2017 of the Central Committee on continuing to innovate the efficiency of public non-profit organizations.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in order to control inflation and share the difficulties with parents and students, the Government issued Resolution 165/2022 requiring ministries, sectors, and localities to direct educational and training institutions under their management to maintain stable tuition fees for the 2022-2023 school year at the same level as the 2021-2022 school year.

Therefore, tuition fees at public educational institutions have remained stable over the past three academic years (2020-2021 to 2022-2023). These fees are very low, only covering 40-50% of training costs, with the remaining portion still needing to be subsidized by the State budget.

However, according to the Ministry, while tuition fees have not increased, the annual reduction of 2.5% in recurrent expenditures by the State budget has created difficulties for higher education institutions.

If tuition fees remain stable and recurrent expenditures continue to be cut, many educational institutions will lack sufficient funds to operate, and will be unable to implement the pricing of services as stipulated in Resolution 19.

Therefore, according to the Ministry, from the 2023-2024 academic year, the Government issued Decree 97/2023 amending and supplementing some articles of Decree 81/2021 stipulating that tuition fees for public universities that are not self-sufficient in covering recurrent expenditures will be implemented according to the tuition fee ceiling for the 2023-2024 academic year as stipulated in Decree 97/2023 (postponing the tuition fee schedule by one year compared to the regulations in Decree 81/2021).

The policies on tuition fee exemption and reduction, and support for learning costs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, policy-eligible students, ethnic minority students, and students from mountainous and island regions, as stipulated in Decree 81/2021, continue to be implemented to alleviate the financial burden on students and their families.

The Ministry stated that in the coming period, it will coordinate with relevant agencies to gather feedback during the implementation process in order to propose amendments to Decree 81/2021, which stipulates a suitable tuition fee roadmap, ensuring the implementation of the pricing roadmap for public service activities in the social sector and the implementation of social security.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-giao-duc-va-dao-tao-tra-loi-kien-nghi-khong-tang-hoc-phi-dai-hoc-20241016105724351.htm