In 2013, a pilot program for tuition fee autonomy will be implemented.

The Ministry of Education and Training is coordinating with the Ministry of Finance to urgently implement a pilot project on tuition fee autonomy, to be submitted to the Prime Minister for approval in early 2013, with the aim of applying it immediately in the 2013-2014 academic year.

Exceeding the limits of Decree 43

According to the Ministry of Finance's plan, university tuition fees will be divided according to different fields of study and types of programs. Some fields will receive significant state support, others less, and some will be entirely funded through private investment.



University entrance exam candidates. (Pham Mai/Vietnam+)

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Truong Giang, Deputy Director of the Administrative and Business Affairs Department, Ministry of Finance, said that in the context of a stagnant budget but a demand for improved training quality, it is a difficult problem, and changing the tuition fee collection mechanism is one way to solve it.

According to Mr. Giang, the rate of increase in the number of students is higher than the rate of increase in the budget, so the average cost per student has decreased.

Government Decree 43 allows for a phased increase in tuition fees until 2015, but calculations by the Ministry of Finance show that, if the roadmap is followed, the tuition fee ceiling will only meet 60% of the needs by 2015. Therefore, it is necessary to propose exceeding the ceiling and establishing autonomy for schools.

"The issues in Decree 43 need to be amended to link service pricing and training based on specific orders," Mr. Giang said.

Specifically, financial support, instead of being based on the quantity of inputs as traditionally done, needs to shift to being based on the quality of outputs, from average budget estimates to sector-specific estimates: which sectors society needs, which sectors have increasing training needs, which require support, which require little support, and which do not require support at all.

“For example, in the fields of economics, finance, and banking, the number of students has reached its limit. This year, the Ministry of Education and Training has decided not to open any more programs in these fields, but existing schools are still recruiting. Therefore, in addition to managing the number of students, we need economic solutions, specifically that tuition fees should not be subsidized. For instance, tuition fees that were previously subsidized at 10 million VND would now only be 4 million VND, allowing 6 million VND to be used to support programs that need training, such as agriculture, forestry, and medicine…,” Mr. Giang analyzed.

To be implemented in 2013

According to Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga, the Ministry will actively coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to promptly implement the development of this project.

In multidisciplinary universities, some fields of study have high demand, while others are difficult to recruit students for. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training is currently requesting universities and academies to conduct research on each field of study within their institutions: which fields, what mechanisms are in place, which fields charge high tuition fees, which fields need support, etc., and report this information to the Ministry for compilation.

Universities also need to calculate the actual expenditure necessary to ensure quality training in each field. This will serve as the basis for proposing tuition fees to the Prime Minister.

“These issues will be discussed in detail at the University and College Admissions Conference scheduled for January 19, 2013. A specific plan will be developed in the first quarter of 2013, and it must be implemented in 2013,” Mr. Ga said.

To facilitate the smooth implementation of this project, Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang also suggested that the Ministry of Education and Training should provide information to students so that candidates can research and choose their professions accordingly.

According to (vietnamplus.vn) - HL