Is it easy to implement tuition exemption and reduction?

In the 2022-2023 school year, 7 provinces and cities nationwide will exempt tuition fees for high school students: Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Da Nang, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Bac Kan, Can Tho, Quang Binh.

In the 2023-2024 school year, there will be 5 provinces and cities that will maintain free tuition for high school students: Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Ha Nam, Quang Binh.

The funding source for implementation must be guaranteed from the provincial and district budgets according to the provisions of the State Budget Law and the current decentralization of revenue sources and local budget expenditure tasks.

To exempt tuition fees for preschool children, students of public and non-public schools, and students of continuing education centers in the 2023-2024 school year, the People's Council of Da Nang City must budget nearly 410 billion VND, of which more than 316 billion VND will be spent on tuition exemption for students of public schools and 92.2 billion VND to support non-public students.

Hai Phong City plans to spend more than 400 billion VND from the local budget to exempt tuition fees for all students studying at kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, and high schools in the area.

This school year, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province plans to spend about 330 billion VND on tuition exemption for students at all levels. Of this, 190 billion VND will be allocated to support tuition reduction for 5-year-old children and secondary school students (primary school students are exempted by law).

The People's Council of Quang Binh province has just passed a resolution on tuition exemption for the 2023-2024 school year. According to this resolution, students in ethnic minority areas, border areas, mountainous areas, and extremely disadvantaged communes in coastal areas will be exempted from tuition fees for the entire school year. In the remaining areas, students will be exempted from tuition fees for the first semester. Public preschools and general education institutions, and continuing education institutions that have reduced revenue from tuition fees will receive financial support from the budget.

Mr. Tran Hai Chau, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Quang Binh province, said that in the context of many difficulties but before the serious impacts of natural disasters, especially the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years, to share the burden with the people, the province has made great efforts to implement tuition support policies. This regulation has been carefully developed by advisory agencies based on the summary of the practice of exempting tuition fees in the last 2 school years; in accordance with the socio-economic conditions of the province and the wishes of students and parents; demonstrating the sharing and companionship of the Party Committee and government with the people.

This is the second consecutive year that Quang Binh has exempted tuition fees for students. This school year, the province has about 580 schools with more than 233,500 students at all levels, with tuition fees ranging from 80,000 - 370,000 VND/month. According to Mr. Chau, the preliminary cost to implement the exemption of tuition fees for the first semester of the 2023 - 2024 school year in the locality is over 70 billion VND.

Dr. Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former Director of the Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Training, said that any country that cares about education will be a powerful country, and so will the locality. Quang Binh is not a rich province compared to some other provinces and cities, but the decision to exempt tuition fees for all levels of general education is very welcome and appreciated.

When deciding to exempt tuition fees, Quang Binh has balanced the budget to ensure that it covers tuition fees and there may be benefactors who commit to long-term sponsorship. That requires the Party, Government, People's Council and People of Quang Binh to also save money for education, limiting investment in projects that do not bring much efficiency.

From the perspective of a parent with 2 children studying in kindergarten and junior high school in Hanoi, Ms. Tran Phuong Thao (Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi) shared: She is currently paying tuition for both children of 600,000 VND/month, this payment is double compared to the previous school year. Both her husband and she are civil servants, with a total income of only about 19 million VND/month. Besides tuition, other expenses such as food, books, and extra classes, each month "swallow" more than half of the family's income.

“With a meager civil servant salary, I hope that Hanoi authorities will consider reducing tuition fees for preschool students, if not exempting them, to reduce the pressure on family income and expenses in the current context of price storms,” Ms. Thao said.

In reality, many provinces and cities really want to exempt tuition fees for preschool children and secondary school students but are "powerless" because they cannot balance their budgets./.

Source