Are students temporarily residing in Ho Chi Minh City exempt from tuition fees?

Ho Chi Minh City's proposal to waive tuition fees for all students at all levels has attracted much public attention. Will students with temporary residency status also be exempt from tuition fees?

A lesson in economics and law for 12th grade students of class 12A12 at Le Quy Don High School, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: NHU HUNG

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has just completed a draft resolution on specific policies to support tuition fees for preschool children, public and private high school students, and high school continuing education students from the 2025-2026 school year.

Ho Chi Minh City has proposed waiving tuition fees for all students at all levels. Many readers enthusiastically agree with this proposal.

Readers welcome

Reader Khai Phong expressed his joy: "We welcome Ho Chi Minh City's initiative on this matter. Universal education should include tuition fee exemptions for all students from preschool to the end of 12th grade."

Reader Hoang Mai shared: "Although I know that tuition fees only account for a small portion of the expenses students currently have to pay, every little bit helps. Parents are under too much pressure these days."

Similarly, a reader with the email address vant****@gmail.com believes that education is a national priority if the country wants to become prosperous in the future.

Free tuition is a condition for our children to be able to learn more about their favorite subjects, especially skills-based subjects.

Reader Khoa, on the other hand, believes that tuition fee exemption should be expanded to other localities. "I think that in rural areas like poor provinces, tuition fees should also be waived so that children can attend school and receive a full education," reader Khoa wrote.

Reader Uncle Ba Nguyen expressed support for Ho Chi Minh City's proposal, but stated that two things must be ensured for it to be implemented.

Firstly , it's important to ensure the livelihood and income of teachers, because teachers also need to live and work, and the cost of living in Ho Chi Minh City is not cheap.

Secondly , all forms of revenue and expenditure (through loopholes or circumvention of the law) by the school and the parent representative committee are strictly prohibited.

Similarly, reader Minh Nguyet wrote: "Tuition fees should be waived, but quality must be maintained, and teachers should be paid high salaries to motivate them to work, avoiding widespread private tutoring where students have to pay for extra classes."

Proposed for all public and private school students

Reader Duy and several other readers have asked: Surely this only applies to those with permanent residence in Ho Chi Minh City, but are temporary residents eligible for this policy?

According to the Department of Education and Training, the department has proposed that all students studying at public and private schools in Ho Chi Minh City receive tuition fee support starting from the 2025-2026 school year.

Therefore, tuition fee exemption will not take into account whether students have permanent or temporary residence registration; they only need to be studying at schools in Ho Chi Minh City.

However, the Department of Education and Training also stated that it proposes tuition fee support for students in private schools, but students in schools with foreign investment are not included in this program.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hoc-sinh-tam-tru-tai-tp-hcm-co-duoc-mien-hoc-phi-202412171114174.htm