Listing dozens of service fees currently being collected at schools.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - With tuition fees completely waived by the State, a question many parents are concerned about is what other service fees they will have to pay.

An educational activity organized for students in Ho Chi Minh City, a collaboration between schools and businesses, involves a fee (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

At a recent meeting with voters in Hanoi , General Secretary To Lam requested that the city investigate and address the situation where schools are collaborating with companies, bringing in outside teachers, and charging more tuition fees than the amount the State has already waived.

According to the General Secretary, the State manages and is responsible for education and the universal education program. If educational institutions lack teachers, they must organize training and allocate them scientifically and rationally; they cannot bring in outside teachers to teach and collect fees from parents.

"Schools cannot be turned into service establishments," the General Secretary said, and demanded that Hanoi investigate and take action, as this "is contrary to the nature of education and causes public outrage."

Starting from the 2025-2026 school year, the Politburo has decided to waive 100% of tuition fees for students from preschool to high school in public schools nationwide. This policy not only reduces the financial burden on parents but also creates conditions for all children to have equal access to education, contributing to improving the quality of human resources in the future.

However, at the start of the new school year, parents are not required to pay tuition fees for their children, but they still have to pay some other fees as stipulated by regulations.

Let's take a look at the revenue streams of the two major cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Hanoi: Regulations on 5 service groups

In Hanoi, the City People's Council has passed a Resolution stipulating the list of 5 revenue items and the revenue levels, as well as the management mechanism for revenue and expenditure, for services supporting educational and training activities at public preschools, primary and secondary schools, and continuing education institutions (excluding high-quality public educational institutions).

The resolution stipulates the list of fees and fee levels for services supporting education and training activities: food and boarding services; student transportation services; after-hours childcare and student care services; life skills education services; and other educational support services... The resolution also specifies the mechanism for managing the collection and expenditure of funds for services supporting education and training activities.

List of service fees in Hanoi (Source: Hanoi City).

Specifically, regarding regulations on food and boarding services: The meal fee for students is 20,000 VND/student/day for breakfast and 35,000 VND/student/day for lunch.

Daycare services: 235,000 VND/student/month; daycare equipment services (tools, equipment, shared items and personal items for daycare services) are 200,000 VND/student/school year for preschool level, and 133,000 VND/student/school year for primary and secondary school levels...

The fee levels stipulated in the resolution are all ceiling levels (the highest levels).

Hanoi also stipulates that extracurricular educational services (directly provided by public educational institutions) are charged on an hourly basis, with a maximum of 15,000 VND per hour.

Ho Chi Minh City: Listing up to 24 types of fees

Meanwhile, in Ho Chi Minh City, public schools are allowed to collect fees for 24 services, ranging from enhanced joint programs to transportation, meals, boarding, uniforms, air conditioning, health check-ups, and more.

Regarding educational services and support, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council has approved nine fees, including: organizing, managing, and cleaning boarding facilities; serving breakfast; after-hours care and nurturing; initial health check-ups; using air conditioning; information technology and digital transformation facilities; transporting students; and dormitory fees.

Specifically, the ceiling for Group 1, which includes students in the wards, will be higher than that for Group 2, which includes students in the 54 communes and the Con Dao Special Zone.

The maximum scores for students in groups 1 and 2 are as follows:

List of service fees in Ho Chi Minh City as stipulated by the City People's Council.pdf

The Department stated that this is the maximum fee. Depending on the actual conditions and the needs of the students, schools can negotiate with parents for a specific fee, but it must not exceed the ceiling and must not increase by more than 15% compared to the previous school year.

In addition to the nine fees mentioned above, according to the guidelines of the Department of Education and Training, schools may collect 15 other fees to support the school's programs and for individual students.

The school's program includes content such as: computer science instruction, enhanced English language training, digital citizenship education, life skills, STEM education, talent development, clubs, childcare staff, investment stimulus programs, advanced and high-quality integrated content, etc.

Other services for individual students include: equipment and supplies for boarding students; uniforms; learning materials; meals and drinks; parking;...

Daycare and daycare services are provided within the school (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

Regarding fees for educational programs, the Department requires schools to build upon previous years' practices, ensuring that fees are collected in full, expenditures are balanced, and funds are used for their intended purpose, with transparency to parents. Fees should be commensurate with the quality of educational services and training. Any increase in fees (if any) should not exceed 15% compared to the previous year.

In general, schools must explain, disclose, and reach an agreement with parents before collecting any fees.

List of service fees in Ho Chi Minh City as stipulated by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training.pdf

A comparison of revenue categories between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City reveals that, in essence, school service activities are not significantly different. However, the way these categories are designed differs considerably.

Hanoi groups extracurricular educational activities into one large service category, while Ho Chi Minh City separates them into specific content and subjects. This results in a larger number of fee items in Ho Chi Minh City, even though many of these items have similar content.

These fees have essentially been maintained for many years, even before tuition was waived. Now that tuition has been completely waived, the management, transparency, and control of service fees in schools are becoming a matter of particular concern to society.

The issue isn't just about the number of fees collected, but about the line between necessary educational support and the risk of "commercializing" the school environment.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/diem-danh-hang-chuc-khoan-thu-dich-vu-dang-duoc-thuc-hien-tai-truong-hoc-20251217090224807.htm