When will students be eligible for tuition reduction in Vietnam?

When will students be eligible for tuition reduction in Vietnam?

According to the provisions of Article 16 of Decree 81/2021/ND-CP, students in the following cases will receive a tuition reduction:

Case 1: Tuition reduced by 70% includes:

+ Students studying traditional and specialized arts at vocational education institutions, public and private higher education institutions with programs in culture and arts including: Traditional opera musicians, Hue traditional musicians, Southern amateur orchestras, stage actors, folk song performance arts, "ca tru" arts, "bai choi" arts, traditional musical instrument performances;

- Students majoring in royal music, "cheo", "tuong", "cai luong", dance, circus; certain labor-intensive, hazardous, and dangerous professions in vocational education as per the list regulated by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs;

- Students from ethnic minority groups (excluding those from very small ethnic minority groups) in particularly difficult villages/hamlets, level 3 ethnic and mountainous areas, particularly difficult coastal and island areas as stipulated by the competent authority.

Case 2: Tuition reduced by 50% includes: Students who are children of officials and public employees, workers whose parents have had work-related accidents or occupational diseases receiving regular allowances;

When will students be eligible for tuition reduction in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are the principles for determining tuitions in Vietnam?

According to the provisions of Article 8 of Decree 81/2021/ND-CP, the principles for determining tuitions are as follows:

- For public preschool and general education institutions, the principle for determining tuitions is as follows:

The tuition is built based on the principle of sharing between the state and learners, suitable for the economic conditions of each residential area, the actual ability of people to contribute, the increase in the consumer price index, the annual economic growth rate, the roadmap for calculating the cost of education services, ensuring educational quality.

- For public vocational education institutions, the principle for determining tuitions is as follows:

+ Public vocational education institutions partially covering their own recurrent expenditures and public vocational education institutions with state assurance for recurrent expenditures (hereinafter referred to as public vocational education institutions not yet self-sustaining in recurrent expenditures) determine tuitions not exceeding the ceiling level specified in point a clause 1 and point a clause 2 Article 10 of Decree 81/2021/ND-CP;

+ Public vocational education institutions fully covering their own recurrent expenditures determine tuitions for each department according to the adjustment coefficient compared to the ceiling level of tuitions for public vocational education institutions not yet self-sustaining in recurrent expenditures as stipulated in clause 2 Article 10 of Decree 81/2021/ND-CP;

+ Public vocational education institutions fully covering their recurrent and investment expenditures are allowed to determine tuitions ensuring cost recovery and reasonable accumulation as per the provisions of the Vocational Education Law 2014 and related documents.

- For public higher education institutions, the principle for determining tuitions is as follows:

+ Public higher education institutions partially covering their recurrent expenditures and public higher education institutions with state assurance for recurrent expenditures (hereinafter referred to as public higher education institutions not yet self-sustaining in recurrent expenditures) determine tuitions not exceeding the ceiling level specified in point a clause 1 and point a clause 2 Article 11 of Decree 81/2021/ND-CP;

+ Public higher education institutions fully covering their recurrent and investment expenditures, public higher education institutions fully covering their recurrent expenditures determine tuitions for each department according to the adjustment coefficient compared to the ceiling level of tuitions for public higher education not yet self-sustaining in recurrent expenditures as stipulated in clause 2 Article 11 of Decree 81/2021/ND-CP;

+ For training programs of public higher education institutions meeting quality standards as set by the Ministry of Education and Training, or meeting foreign or equivalent quality standards, institutions are allowed to determine tuitions on the basis of economic-technical norms issued by the institution, and transparently explain to students and society.

- For non-public and private educational institutions, the principle for determining tuitions is as follows:

+ Non-public and private educational institutions are allowed to independently set tuitions and prices for other services in the field of education and training (except for services priced by the state), ensuring cost recovery and reasonable accumulation, and are responsible for publicizing and explaining to students and society about the set tuitions and service prices determined by the institution;

+ Non-public and private educational institutions are responsible for explaining the average educational training costs per student, annual tuitions, full level tuitions for preschool education, general education, and the whole course tuitions for higher education; explaining the roadmap and percentage increase in tuitions for subsequent years (annual increase rate not exceeding 15% for higher education; increase rate not exceeding 10% for preschool and general education) and publicly disclose as per legal regulations and explain to students, society;

+ Students eligible for tuition exemption and reduction, state-supported tuition payment at non-public and private educational institutions receive state payments up to the maximum tuition for students at public education institutions not yet self-sustaining in recurrent expenditures in the locality;

+ Provincial People's Committees, based on local economic-social development conditions, required program achievements for primary education, student scale at primary level in the locality, and primary student/class norms as stipulated, are to formulate criteria identifying areas without sufficient public schools, submit to the provincial People's Council for approval and decide on support levels for primary school tuition payment in private schools in areas without sufficient public schools for each academic year; the tuition payment support budget is funded by the state budget as per the State Budget Law 2015 and guiding documents.

What are the regulations on tuition management and use in Vietnam?

According to the provisions of Article 13 of Decree 81/2021/ND-CP, the tuition management and use are as follows:

- Public education institutions utilize tuitions as stipulated by the Government of Vietnam regarding the financial autonomy mechanism of public service providers and consolidate into the annual financial reports of the educational institution as prescribed by law.

- Non-public and private educational institutions utilize tuitions based on the principle of self-sustainability in revenue and expenditure, and are responsible for financial management of their operations. They organize accounting work, pay taxes, and fulfill other financial obligations as prescribed by law.

- Educational institutions manage tuition collection and expenditure according to accounting, auditing, and tax policies, and publicly disclose their finances as stipulated by law; comply with inspection and examination requirements from financial authorities and competent educational management agencies, and bear legal responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of provided information and documents.

- Educational institutions, before enrollment or admission, must disclose and publicize the tuitions, training costs for each academic year, grade level for preschool and general education, the roadmap for tuition increase (if any) for each academic year, and projected costs for the full course for higher education.

- Educational institutions are responsible for publicly disclosing and explaining training costs, tuitions, and the roadmap for tuition increase for each academic year, grade level, and full course; publicly disclose the conditions ensuring quality per regulation; publicly disclose policies on tuition exemption, reduction and collect, reduce tuitions in the event of natural disasters, epidemics, and force majeure events.