It takes more than 30,000 billion VND per year to exempt tuition fees for students nationwide.

(PLVN) - The total state budget expenditure required to exempt tuition fees for preschool children and public primary school students and support tuition fees for preschool children and private primary school students is estimated at about 30.6 trillion VND.

The budget needs to spend an additional 8,200 billion VND/year.

On the afternoon of April 25, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave its opinion on the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on exempting tuition fees for public preschool and primary school students from the 2025-2026 school year. The draft Resolution will be submitted to the National Assembly at its 9th session, and the policy will be applied from the 2025-2026 school year.

Presenting the Government's Proposal, Ministerof Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that this Resolution is expected to add the following subjects to be exempted from and supported to pay tuition fees: Preschool children under 5 years old studying at educational institutions and high school students, and those studying the General Education Program at educational institutions.

Thus, according to the draft Resolution, the State will support tuition fees for both preschool children and primary and secondary school students at public and private educational institutions to ensure access to education, demonstrate the superiority of the regime and implement a unified and fair policy for learners; encourage the development of non-public education, and enhance the socialization of education.

Providing more information about the impact of the tuition support policy on the State budget, the Minister of Education and Training said that according to statistics for the 2023-2024 school year, the country has 23.2 million students. Of which, there are 21.5 million public students, accounting for 93%; 1.7 million non-public students, accounting for 7%.

The Government estimates that the total budget expenditure required to exempt tuition fees for preschool children and public primary school students and to support tuition fees for preschool children and private primary school students is about VND30,600 billion. Of which, the public sector is VND28,700 billion; the private sector is VND1,900 billion.

In fact, the total State budget for tuition exemption for 5-year-old preschool children, primary school students, and secondary school students from the 2025-2026 school year is 22,400 billion VND. Of which, the public sector is 21,800 billion VND; the private sector is 600 billion VND.

Thus, the State budget must ensure an additional 8,200 billion VND when implementing the policy according to the National Assembly's resolution. Of which, the public sector is 6,900 billion VND; the private sector is 1,300 billion VND.

Agree on proposal to exempt and support tuition fees for students

Examining this content, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society Nguyen Dac Vinh said that the Standing Committee of the Committee basically agrees with the policy of exempting and supporting tuition fees for preschool children and public, private and public secondary school students of the draft Resolution.

The draft Resolution stipulates the method of tuition support for learners paying through educational institutions. However, at the expanded preliminary review meeting of the Standing Committee of the Culture and Social Affairs Committee, the agencies agreed to implement the method of tuition support by providing it directly to learners. The Standing Committee of the Committee proposed to implement this method.

Explaining later, Minister Nguyen Kim Son agreed with the direction of directly supporting tuition fees for students through their parents and guardians because this option is feasible and reasonable.

According to Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai, this policy of the central government should be included in the budget for education. "The source of expenditure for education must be included, so this should be included in the education expenditure. The budget can handle it, if necessary, it must be spent," said the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly.

Deputy Minister of Finance Do Thanh Trung informed that the Ministry of Finance recognizes this as a common task and will calculate the total budget for regular expenditure. However, to ensure budget allocation, the Ministry of Education and Training needs to fully assess the number of students in both public and non-public schools to have a basis for calculation.

Concluding the meeting, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong said that the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed on the necessity of issuing a resolution on tuition exemption and support for preschool children, high school students, and students of general education programs at educational institutions in the national education system.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly requested the agencies to complete the draft resolution dossier and submit it to the National Assembly at the 9th session. The issuance of this Resolution, according to Mr. Phuong, aims to promptly institutionalize the Party's policy, demonstrate the superiority of our regime, ensure fairness in access to education and the State's responsibility towards learners, care for the younger generation and ensure social security.

Minh Trang

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/can-chi-hon-30000-ty-moi-nam-de-mien-hoc-phi-cho-hoc-sinh-ca-nuoc-post546665.html