Free tuition also requires limiting other fees

At the 9th Session, the National Assembly heard a report on the policy of exempting and supporting tuition fees for preschool children, general education students, and those studying general education programs at educational institutions in the national education system. According to the report, the resolution is expected to be submitted for approval and promulgation at the 9th Session of the 15th National Assembly and the policy will be applied from the 2025-2026 school year.

At the 9th Session, the National Assembly heard a report on the policy of exempting and supporting tuition fees for preschool children, general education students, and those studying generaleducation programs at educational institutions in the national education system. According to the report, the resolution is expected to be submitted for approval and promulgation at the 9th Session of the 15th National Assembly and the policy will be applied from the 2025-2026 school year.

According to Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, according to statistics for the 2023-2024 school year, the country currently has 23.2 million students (including 21.5 million public students, accounting for 93%; 1.7 million non-public students, accounting for 7%). Regarding funding, to implement tuition exemption and tuition support from the 2025-2026 school year for the subjects according to the draft resolution, it is estimated at about 31.4 trillion VND/school year.

Participating in the discussion on this content, the majority of National Assembly deputies said that the draft resolution related to tuition fee exemption and support has profound humanitarian significance, demonstrating the great political and social responsibility of the State towards the young generation and the future of the country. This is a big step forward, not only in terms of education, but also a clear social policy message of reducing the burden on families, encouraging equal birth, child rearing and schooling.

The Politburo’s decision on free tuition not only brings joy to millions of families but also marks an important step forward in the field of education. This policy closely follows the development trend of the times, demonstrating the vision of creating the future and the humanistic ideology of the leaders of the Party and State. A policy in line with the development trend of the knowledge economy and an important step forward in ensuring the right to basic education for all children.

According to the delegate, for the policy to be effective, the delegate suggested that there should be careful preparation of financial resources, ensuring that the quality of education is not affected when tuition fees are no longer collected. At the same time, the budget allocation needs to be reasonable so that public schools can continue to improve their facilities, teaching quality, and teacher benefits.

In addition, delegates suggested that there should be a mechanism to control other fees when applying tuition exemption, avoiding exempting one official fee but incurring many other fees, even on the voluntary basis of parents, to ensure that students enjoy the real policy. In reality, many schools currently have many additional fees such as uniform fees, extra classes, soft skills, boarding fees, etc. If not controlled, the tuition exemption policy may be "diluted" in effectiveness.

Delegates suggested that there should be a mechanism to strictly control non-tuition fees, be public, transparent and supervised by parents and People's Councils at all levels, to avoid the situation of "free tuition but increasing other fees". Establish a hotline and information portal to report policy violations for people to monitor.

PEACEFUL

Source: https://baovinhlong.com.vn/thoi-su/thoi-su-goc-nhin/202505/mien-hoc-phi-cung-can-han-che-cac-khoan-thu-khac-c8803c5/