Vietnam battles spiralling school fees
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The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training (DoET) has said that public schools in the city are not allowed to collect any fees other than the ones that are clearly regulated, in a bid to put an end to overcharging.
Director of the municipal DoET Le Hong Son said that after the municipal People’s Committee issued a decision on school-fee collection, the department asked all 24 districts in the city to strictly follow regulations for the new academic year.
School fees in the city will rise almost six-fold this year compared with 2011-12, while next year they are expected to jump again as much as eight times.
The increased fees will be used to improve infrastructure and support schools’ professional activities. Under the new regulation, parents associations and schools must reach an agreement before fees are collected for day boarding and any other fees such as for uniforms and books.
The city does not collect fees for gifted students in special high schools and from special gifted classes in normal schools. Fees for infrastructure improvement and hygiene are also not collected in kindergartens, secondary schools and institutes of continuing education.
Schools must report all funds they receive from enterprises, organisations and individuals to the municipal DoET, and use of these funds must be based on the Ministry of Education and Training’s regulations and the municipal People’s Committee’s decision.
Deputy director of the municipal DoET Pham Ngoc Thanh said the schools’ receipts and expenses will be made available to the public so parents can supervise them. The schools will set up a committee to receive and resolve parents’ queries related to schools fees.
