Private and public school students nationwide can receive tuition support.

This proposal is included in the National Assembly’s draft resolution on tuition exemption and reduction, which is being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice. According to the draft prepared by the Ministry of Education and Training, preschool children, middle school and high school students at public schools will be exempted from tuition fees, while primary school students at public schools will not have to pay tuition fees.

The Ministry of Education and Training proposes that the state budget will support tuition fees for preschool children and general education students at public continuing education institutions, as well as other public educational institutions implementing general education programs that are self-sufficient in regular expenditures and regular expenditures and investments.

The most notable new point is the proposal to expand tuition support to include preschool and secondary school students studying at private schools, continuing education institutions and other private educational institutions implementing general education programs.

The Ministry of Education and Training proposes that the tuition support level for students in this category should be at most equal to the tuition ceiling applicable to public educational institutions that have not yet covered their regular expenses, as issued by the Provincial People's Council in each locality.

According to the current 2019 Education Law, primary school students do not have to pay tuition fees, while 5-year-old preschool children and secondary school students are exempt from tuition fees.

Implementing the conclusion of the Politburo at the end of February, the policy is expected to add two more categories of children exempted from tuition fees, including children, preschool students under 5 years old studying at educational institutions and high school students, high school culture students studying at educational institutions.

According to the explanation of the Ministry of Education and Training, the proposal to support tuition fees for both preschool children and high school students at private and public educational institutions aims to ensure consistent and fair policy implementation for all learners, regardless of school type.

The drafting agency also proposed that the policy of tuition exemption, reduction and support nationwide will start from the 2025-2026 school year.

According to the 2023-2024 school year, the country has a total of 23.2 million students. The public sector accounts for the majority with 21.5 million students, while the remaining 1.7 million students study at non-public schools. Of these, 4.8 million are preschool children, 8.8 million are primary school students, 6.5 million are secondary school students and 2.99 million are high school students.

It is estimated that based on this data, the total budget need to exempt and support tuition fees for students from kindergarten to grade 12 nationwide is about 30,000 billion VND.

The total budget for tuition exemption for 5-year-old preschool children, primary and secondary school students in the 2025-2026 school year is VND22,500 billion. Thus, to fully implement the policy of expanding tuition exemption and support according to the conclusion of the Politburo, the state budget is expected to need to increase by VND8,200 billion.

Previously, at a group discussion session at the National Assembly, General Secretary To Lam emphasized that the goal of the universal education policy is to ensure that all children have the opportunity to study, with a step-by-step implementation roadmap from primary school to higher education levels, including financial support through tuition exemptions and free meals.

Currently, tuition fees for preschool students range from 50,000 to 540,000 VND/month and for high school students from 50,000 to 650,000 VND/month depending on the level of education and the area (urban, rural, ethnic minority and mountainous areas). The specific tuition fees are decided by the People's Councils of provinces and cities within the framework of the Government's regulations. Currently, many large localities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang... have proactively spent their budgets to reduce or exempt tuition fees for preschool and high school students in the area.