Lunch support for preschool children

On March 11, 2013, the Ministries of Education and Training, Finance, and Home Affairs jointly signed Circular No. 09/2013/TTLT-BGDĐT-BTC-BNV guiding the implementation of lunch support for preschool children and policies for preschool teachers as stipulated in Decision 60/2011/QĐ-TTg dated October 26, 2011.

According to this joint circular, preschool children aged 3 and 4 attending preschools whose parents reside in border communes, mountainous areas, islands, or communes and villages with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions as defined by current regulations; or whose parents are classified as poor households; or who are orphans with no guardians or who are disabled and facing economic difficulties will receive a lunch allowance of 120,000 VND per month per child.

In addition, 5-year-old kindergarten children attending preschools under Decision No. 239/QD-TTg dated February 9, 2010, also receive support of VND 120,000/month/child. Kindergarten children from ethnic minority groups aged 3-5 years old from poor households receive support equivalent to 30% of the general minimum wage/month/child as stipulated in Joint Circular No. 03/2012/TTLT-BGDĐT-BTC-BLĐTBXH dated November 19, 2012.

The principle for supporting these children is as follows: Each child is entitled to support for a maximum of 3 school years; the school years eligible are the years when the child reaches the ages of 3, 4, and 5 according to their birth certificate. Lunch support funds are disbursed to the preschool or directly to parents in cash based on the number of months of schooling, up to a maximum of 9 months per school year, and are paid twice a year: the first payment covers 4 months and is made in October or November each year; the second payment covers 5 months and is made in March or April each year.

This Circular takes effect from April 5, 2013, and replaces Circular No. 05/2003/TTLT-BGDĐT-BNV-BTC dated February 24, 2003.

NT (Compilation)