Free tuition: Reduce burden for parents, increase opportunities for schools

Reduce worries for parents

With four children of school age, Mr. Pham Duc Minh (Nam Dan commune) said that the exemptiontuitionhelp the couple reduce a burden. His family's situation is quite difficult when last year, the eldest daughter failed the public entrance exam to Nam Dan 1 High School due to a 0.5 point deficit and had to study in a non-public school with tuition fees 4 times higher than public schools. The remaining children, in addition to the 2 twins preparing to enter 3rd grade, their youngest child is not developing normally. Every month, in addition to tuition fees, the couple also has to worry about medicine and treatment costs. Therefore, when we heard that from the next school year, the children would be exempt from tuition fees, our family was very happy, reducing a big worry.

At Nguyen Canh Chan High School, for many years the school has always received help from benefactors to support tuition fees for students who are orphans or have sick or ill parents.

In the 2024-2025 school year alone, 12 students will receive tuition and study expenses support of VND3 million/student. In addition, the school has 63 ethnic minority students and 92 students from poor, near-poor households, and policy students who are all eligible for tuition reduction and exemption according to State regulations.

Teacher Nguyen Van Thuan - Principal of the school shared: "Our school has more than 1,000 students and they are mainly children of farmers, with many difficult circumstances. Therefore, although the tuition fee at my school is only from 40,000 - 90,000 VND/student/month, because of the difficult conditions, the school always creates conditions for parents to pay monthly to reduce pressure on families. Currently, with the tuition exemption policy, it will help families to worry less, and going to school will be more convenient."

Creating fairness for students

At the end of May, when her child had just completed the preschool program at Nam Dan Tuoi Tho Kindergarten, Ms. Dam Thi Tuyet (Van An commune) received a notice from the school to receive the tuition fee supported by the State for 5-year-old children. With the support level of 200,000 VND/month - equal to the tuition fee prescribed for public preschool children in towns in the delta district (old Nam Dan town) - her family received 1.8 million VND for 9 months of study.

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“I was very surprised that my child studied at a non-public school but still received the same level of support as children studying at public schools. This shows that the State really cares about all students, regardless of the region or where they study. Parents are also more secure when choosing a school for their children and believe that their children will receive fair policies.”

Ms. Dam Thi Tuyet (Van An commune)

The tuition exemption and reduction policy in recent years has had a positive impact on many students and their families. In particular, from the 2024-2025 school year, when the tuition exemption policy is implemented for all 5-year-old children, the significance of this policy is multiplied because in recent years, preschool education has always had the highest tuition fees.

In Nghe An, with this policy, last school year more than 64,000 students in and out of public schools benefited. Teacher Tran Thi Hanh - Vice Principal of Nam Dan Tuoi Tho Kindergarten said: Last year our school had nearly 50 5-year-old students receiving tuition support and the school created all conditions for the policy to reach parents soon. Although the support level is not much, parents are very excited and that helps families reduce part of their tuition costs.

The joy will be multiplied when, from the 2025-2026 school year, the State will support tuition fees for students studying at private educational institutions.

At Mai Hac De High School, there are currently more than 800 students studying, of which more than half are children of farming families with difficult economic conditions. Due to the nature of a non-public school, the school's tuition fees are higher than those of public schools, making the burden of education costs for parents even greater.

Sharing about the tuition exemption and reduction policy, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc - Vice Principal of Mai Hac De High School said: "I am very happy that the National Assembly has just passed the tuition exemption and reduction policy, including students studying at private educational institutions. This is truly a humane policy, creating convenience for parents, students and the school. I believe that when tuition fees are partially supported, parents will no longer hesitate to send their children to non-public schools, and at the same time, the school will also have more favorable conditions in recruiting students."

The exemption of tuition fees for all students nationwide is an “unprecedented” policy in Vietnam. This is considered a breakthrough, demonstrating the Party and State’s deep concern for education and training and social security. This policy also aims to concretize the Party’s major policy on ensuring fairness in access to education, in accordance with the 2013 Constitution, the Law on Education and the directions of the Politburo and the Secretariat.

From the perspective of industry management, Director of the Department of Education and Training Thai Van Thanh affirmed that this is a humane policy, opening up learning opportunities for all students across the country. This policy will also motivate students to strive and make efforts to improve, while at the same time, helping families have more resources to take care of their children and invest in education.