Free tuition, teachers escape the situation of "debt collection" from students

Many teachers are happy that from the 2025-2026 school year, students will no longer have to pay tuition fees from parents and students after the policy of exempting tuition fees for all students at all levels.

At the end of February, the Politburo decided to exempt all tuition fees for students from kindergarten to high school nationwide, starting from the 2025-2026 school year. This information is not only meaningful to parents and students, but also makes teachers happy.

Mr. Nguyen Hai Phong, Principal of Co To High School (Co To District, Quang Ninh Province) feels more secure when the tuition-free policy is applied. Poor students on the island can go to school without having to worry about tuition fees, and no student has to face the risk of dropping out of school.

Not only that, teachers will be significantly relieved of problems with records, books, and financial receipts and disbursements, and will be able to focus more on their professional work. In particular, teachers will no longer be under pressure to urge students and parents to complete tuition payments.

Teachers happily escape the situation of 'debt collection' for tuition fees. (Illustration photo: ND)

With more than 15 years of experience as a homeroom teacher, Ms. Hoang Thu Le, (42 years old, a secondary school teacher in Tuyen Quang ) felt relieved when she learned that the Politburo had completely exempted tuition fees for all students. Partly, she was happy because students were treated better and more fairly when they went to school, and partly, from now on, she did not have to urge or even constantly follow students and parents to 'collect debt' for tuition fees.

In recent years, in addition to the work of being a homeroom teacher with all kinds of administrative documents to complete and report, teachers are responsible for collecting all fees from parents every year and every month. "Not all parents proactively pay the full fee as soon as the teacher sends the first notice. Some parents often pay late for a month, even the entire semester, and only complete this obligation near the end of the school year," she said.

To have enough money to pay the school and complete the quota, homeroom teachers are always forced into the situation of "debt collection for hire".

"Money has always been a sensitive issue. Sometimes, if not said carefully, it will make parents feel uncomfortable. Those who lack sympathy will think that teachers will gain something by constantly urging them to collect money," Ms. Le confided. Her colleagues also announced the list of students who had not paid tuition fees in front of the class so that the children could go home and tell their parents. But she did not do so because she was afraid that the students would be embarrassed in front of their friends.

She also confided that the school board does not always sympathize with the difficulties in collecting money from homeroom teachers. There are cases where the school accepts the loss of revenue. However, there are cases where teachers have their salaries deducted or have to proactively compensate for the lack of money.

Mr. Tran Duc Manh, (40 years old, high school teacher in Vinh Phuc) shares the same headache when urging parents to pay. Some parents "know" that the school will not expel students for not paying, so they often drag out payments.

If there were only a few people, it would be fine, but many parents imitate each other, one does not pay, another will follow. And, like that, teachers have to do work unrelated to their profession. Every year, in a school of several hundred students, there are still dozens of people who refuse to pay.

Meanwhile, there are compulsory payments such as health insurance, lunch (for boarding schools), tuition fees, etc. If the school does not collect enough, it will not be able to perform insurance work well and will not be able to provide meals for students. When some schools "put" the responsibility of debt collection and collection on the shoulders of teachers, the loss of revenue in the school has decreased significantly, some schools have eliminated the loss of revenue for many years in a row.

This is the main reason why many principals know that assigning teachers the task of collecting money or “debt collection” is inappropriate but still do not want to do otherwise.

"Freeing all tuition fees for students also means a lot to teachers, no more chasing parents to collect money like creditors. From now on, teachers will be more at ease in their work, focusing on their expertise without having to worry about collecting money from students," said this teacher.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, the whole country has 23.2 million students (not including students studying at vocational education and continuing education centers).

To implement the policy of completely exempting tuition fees for students at all levels, the whole country will need up to 30,000 billion VND/school year (calculated according to the current tuition fee paid in the 2024-2025 school year as stipulated in Decree 81/2021 of the Government). In fact, this budget level will depend on the specific tuition fee level of each province and city under the authority of the Provincial People's Council to decide annually.

As for private schools, students will be compensated for tuition fees equal to the tuition fees of public schools according to the law; the difference in tuition fees between public and private schools will be paid by the student's family.

Khanh Huyen

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/mien-hoc-phi-thay-co-thoat-canh-doi-no-hoc-sinh-ar930811.html