"Tuition is 100% free, so why do I have to pay over 2 million VND?"

The article "8 provinces and cities will waive 100% of tuition fees from preschool to grade 12 in the 2024-2025 school year" has received considerable attention from parents. Below the article, many people questioned, "Why is tuition waived when my child has to pay over 2 million VND at the beginning of the year?"

Besides the many opinions welcoming the policy of 100% tuition fee exemption from preschool to grade 12 in the 2024-2025 school year in 8 provinces and cities (as of now) namely Da Nang, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Vinh Phuc, and Yen Bai , there are many questions from parents in these provinces and cities as well as other localities nationwide.

'Miễn học phí 100% mà sao con tôi phải đóng hơn 2 triệu đồng?'- Ảnh 1. — Students before taking the entrance exam for 6th grade at a school in Ho Chi Minh City.

"I was overjoyed to hear that tuition was free, but then I was shocked to hear about other fees to pay."

Specifically, a reader with the account gadaubac19081962 wrote: "My child is only in 6th grade, attending a public school in Khanh Hoa , yet at the beginning of the school year, while other classes don't know, my child's class has to pay a lump sum of 2,700,000 VND?"

Parent quockhanh14482 said: "I hope the city of Hai Phong will issue a regulation stating that additional fees cannot exceed the tuition fees that have already been waived. Just collecting annual fees for air conditioners already seems wrong."

The user ciqoggOX7xGWbQBQVraSnA shared: "Yen Bai offers free tuition but collects miscellaneous fees for gas, desks and chairs, projectors, TVs, birthdays, and uniforms, totaling nearly 3 million VND, not including the social contribution fee of over 2 million VND, making it 5 million VND in total."

A user named ax5r... commented: "I was overjoyed to hear about the tuition fee reduction for the entire province, but I was shocked when I received the payment notification. One fee was reduced, but another was added."

Another reader in Ho Chi Minh City said that her child attends a public primary school in Binh Chanh district, and although the child doesn't attend the boarding program, "we still pay 473,000 VND every month. That's not including other occasional expenses."

Distinguishing between tuition fees and other school fees.

So why is it that even though tuition is free, some students still need to pay several hundred thousand to several million dong each month? Thanh Nien Online would like to provide readers with some information:

Government Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP dated August 27, 2021, stipulates the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees for educational institutions within the national education system and policies on tuition fee exemption and reduction, support for learning costs; and service prices in the field of education and training.

'Miễn học phí 100% mà sao con tôi phải đóng hơn 2 triệu đồng?'- Ảnh 2. — Tuition is free, but students may still need to pay service fees to support educational activities in addition to tuition.

According to Decree No. 81, tuition fees are defined as: "the amount of money that learners must pay to cover part or all of the costs of educational and training services. The tuition fee level is determined according to the roadmap for ensuring the costs of educational and training services as stipulated in this decree."

According to Clause 3, Article 99 of the 2019 Education Law, primary school students in public educational institutions are exempt from tuition fees. From September 1, 2024, 5-year-old preschool children will be exempt from tuition fees, as stipulated in Clause 6, Article 15 of Decree No. 81. To date, eight provinces and cities nationwide have waived 100% of tuition fees from preschool to grade 12 for students in public educational institutions. Despite tuition fee exemption, students in the aforementioned groups may still need to pay for services supporting the educational activities of public preschool and general education institutions in addition to tuition fees. Furthermore, students are required to pay for health insurance (mandatory, except for those specifically exempted).

Service fees collected to support educational activities of public preschool and primary/secondary education institutions, in addition to tuition fees, are implemented according to resolutions issued by the Provincial People's Council, in accordance with the actual conditions of the locality and regulations. Each Provincial Department of Education and Training will issue a document guiding the collection and use of tuition fees and other fees; implement tuition fee exemptions, reductions, and support for learning costs during the school year for public education and training institutions in the area.

For example, in Ho Chi Minh City, at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City issued document 5307 providing guidance on the above content. The document provides guidance on the collection and use of tuition fees for public educational institutions; guidance on service fees to support educational activities according to Resolution No. 13/2024/NQ-HĐND; and other fees for organizing educational activities.

For example, at the primary school level in Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City provides guidance on fee collection according to the appendix attached to Resolution No. 13/2024/NQ-HĐND, such as services for organizing, managing, and cleaning boarding facilities; breakfast services; initial health check-up services (including school dental care); services for using air conditioners in classrooms with air conditioning (electricity costs, air conditioner maintenance costs, air conditioner rental costs if any); services for information technology applications and digital transformation... In addition, there are fees for organizing other educational activities (such as fees for enhancing foreign language skills; fees for organizing digital citizenship education activities; fees for organizing life skills education activities and school programs...); fees for individual students such as lunch money, uniform purchases; school supplies... Depending on the type of service parents register their children for, the monthly payment will vary.

Revenue must be disclosed.

According to regulations, educational and training institutions must publicly disclose their commitment to the full quality of education and training, the conditions of facilities and tuition fees, other fees, and the methods and timeframes for implementation as stipulated in Circular No. 09/2024/TT-BGDĐT dated July 19, 2024, of the Ministry of Education and Training on public disclosure in the activities of educational institutions within the national education system; Circular No. 61/2017/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2017, of the Ministry of Finance on guiding the public disclosure of budgets for budget-allocated units and state budget support; and Circular 90/2018/TT-BTC dated September 28, 2018, of the Ministry of Finance amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 61/2017/TT-BTC dated June 15, 2017, of the Ministry of Finance.

All fees must be fully and publicly disclosed in writing to parents, students, and pupils; the school's finance department is responsible for collecting fees and issuing receipts and invoices to each student, not assigning teachers to directly collect or disburse money, and simultaneously implementing all prescribed financial management regulations.

"I was overjoyed to hear that tuition was free, but then I was shocked to hear about other fees to pay."

Distinguishing between tuition fees and other school fees.

Revenue must be disclosed.

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