Expanding tuition exemption for non-public students: A policy to ensure fairness

The whole country is preparing to enter the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2025-2026 school year. For big cities, this is a high-pressure competition because public school places cannot meet the number of junior high school graduates.

For example, in Hanoi, there will be about 48,000 students who have to study outside the public or vocational education when they enter grade 10. This brings a lot of financial worries to families with school-age children.

"Many parents whose children are about to enter grade 10 are very worried because if their children fail to get into public schools, the burden of tuition fees at non-public schools will greatly affect the family's economy. Especially at the present time, jobs are unstable, waiting to be arranged and streamlined," said Ms. Nguyen Boi Lan, a parent whose child attends Ly Thuong Kiet Secondary School (Long Bien District, Hanoi).

According to Ms. Lan's calculation, with the total income of the couple being more than 20 million VND/month, the monthly expenses for the education of the two children being about 6 million VND, the remaining amount must be very frugal to ensure family living expenses.

Therefore, if the child fails to get into a public school, the cost will increase by at least 2-3 million VND/month. "This is a significant expense for a civil servant family with 2 children going to school," Ms. Lan affirmed.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Ha, a teacher at Phung Khac Khoan High School (Hanoi), said that many of her students come from poor families. Because of little investment in education, many of them do not have enough academic ability to enter public schools, so they are forced to enter private schools.

The family's difficulties are made even more difficult when the cost of studying, even at about 2 million VND/month, is a burden and is the reason why many students are at risk of dropping out of school due to their difficult family circumstances.

Tuition support for students at public and private educational institutions aims to ensure consistent and fair policy implementation for all learners. Illustrative photo

Fair and necessary

On April 17, 2025, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that after the Politburo decided to exempt tuition fees for public school students nationwide from the 2025-2026 school year, it also concluded that it would request the Government Party Committee and the Ministry of Education and Training to expand the tuition exemption for students from preschool to high school at private schools.

Accordingly, students of non-public schools will be compensated for tuition fees equal to the tuition fees of public schools according to regulations (the difference in tuition fees between public and non-public schools will be paid by the student's family). The Ministry of Education and Training is drafting a resolution of the National Assembly on tuition exemption and will soon submit it to the National Assembly Standing Committee.

It is known that many provinces and cities across the country have exempted tuition fees for students from kindergarten to grade 12 from the 2024-2025 school year such as: Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Vinh Phuc, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Yen Bai...

However, for non-public students, this policy has not been implemented by many localities, except for Ho Chi Minh City, which will apply this policy from the 2025-2026 school year. Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training Nguyen Van Hieu emphasized that the City wishes to implement a practical education policy, demonstrating deep concern for the people, while contributing to improving the quality of life and creating pride in the local development.

With this decision, families with children going to school will be exempted from tuition fees depending on the level and subject from 100,000 to 200,000 VND/month/student.

Regarding the fact that students studying at private schools will also be exempted from tuition fees from the next school year, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Binh, Principal of Luong The Vinh High School (Hanoi), said that although the economic level of the school's parents is quite good, many parents were very happy when they heard this information.

"The policy of exempting tuition fees for students from kindergarten to high school, including public and private schools, may not bring many economic benefits to families with conditions and voluntarily sending their children to private schools, but clearly, exempting tuition fees not only helps reduce the economic burden for many families, especially families with many children, but also creates equal learning opportunities for all students, regardless of family circumstances.

Thanks to that, no matter which school they study at, students will enjoy preferential policies from the state, contributing to nurturing the dream of building a civilized and developed society. This is also what we educators have long desired," said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Binh.

According to data from the Ministry of Education and Training, in the 2023-2024 school year, the country will have 23.2 million students, of which 1.7 million are non-public students (accounting for 7% of the total number of students nationwide). According to Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, tuition support for both preschool and secondary school students at private and non-public educational institutions aims to ensure consistent and fair policy implementation for all learners, regardless of school type.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/mo-rong-mien-hoc-phi-voi-hoc-sinh-ngoai-cong-lap-quyet-sach-dam-bao-tinh-cong-bang-20250422120924158.htm