The Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has requested that tuition fees at all education levels should be made public.
In a document sent to the people’s committees of provinces and cities nationwide, the ministry said the tuition fees for public education in kindergartens, primary, junior and high schools will be adjusted according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the 2016-2017 school year.
Accordingly, the people’s committees of the provinces and cities can decide the tuition fees for public kindergarten and primary schools based on the economic conditions of the localities and their area’s social standard of living.
With regard to tertiary education and vocation training under the MoET, the collection will be based on the tuition fee cap regulated under Decree 86/2015/ND-CP, which prescribed the collection and management of school fees of educational institutions under the national education system.
Tuition fees for full time education and short-term training classes will be collected based on a consensus between students and education institutions to ensure transparency.
Tuition fees for public higher education at university and self-financed vocational training schools should be collected according to the economic and technical standards and their expenditure should be decided by responsible management authorities to ensure their operation. However, it must not go higher than 150 per cent of the fees of institutions which have the government’s financial support.
Students with special circumstances, such as those whose families contributed to the revolutionary cause or who reside in border provinces, mountainous and disadvantaged areas or orphans with disabilities will still be granted tuition exemption, the MoET said.
The increase of tuition fees should not take place at the same time as the hike in health care service to limit its effect on CPI.
The MoET also asked local authorities to closely supervise the operation of extra classes and the monitor the illegal collection of school fees. Strict punishment should be imposed on organisations and individuals that violated the rules, it said.