New tuition plan delayed until 2010-11

Published: 20/05/2009 05:00

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Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan acknowledged on May 20 that general implementation of the government’s new school tuition scheme will be delayed until the 2010-2011.

The government’s plan for reform of education and training finance in 2009-2014 will be submitted to the National Assembly on May 30.

The Deputy Prime Minister, who concurrently is Minister of Education, said that in 2009-2010, the tuition ceiling at the university and junior college level will increase by 50% in order to deal the shortfalls in the current tuition scheme (commodity prices have increased sharply, while tuition levels have been frozen since 1998).

Meanwhile, the tuition charge for general education (grades 1-12) will stay the same in 2009-2010.

Some National Assembly’s deputies have argued that the university tuition increase should not be implemented in 2009, while the national economy is still in big difficulties. Responding, Nhan said that it is really necessary to collect more from university, junior college and vocational school students. Students who have financial difficulties will be able to get loans for study

Nhan stressed that tuition levels have been frozen for the last 11 years, while the consumer price index has increased by 62 percent since 2000. At the current maximum level of 180,000 dong per month, the real cost is thus equal to just 62% of the cost of tuition nine years ago.

Nhan emphasized that it is imperative to reform education and training finances. The total expense borne for tuition and other educational expenses at the kindergarten and general education level (grades 1-12) should not be higher than 6 percent of average family income. The tuition scheme for vocational and university training needs to be based on the principle that both the state and learners share the expense.

Under the plan submitted by the Ministry of Education and Training to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in early May, the target tuition levels for seven university study branches in 2008-2012 will be between 200,000 dong (for students of teachers colleges) and 800,000 (medical and pharmaceutical colleges).

By 2012, the monthly cost of training a physician will be 1.7 million dong. Learners will pay 800,000, while the state will add 900,000 dong per student.

Asked about the new tuition scheme, Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh said that even when the tuition levels are raised as suggested, tuition will not cover all expenses.

What do you think about the new tuition scheme suggested by the Ministry of Education and Training? Do you think that most people can afford the suggested tuition levels?

The suggestions in the new tuition scheme are reasonable and will make the system more transparent. They create a foundation for financial reform in education and training, while the tuition levels fit the income of Vietnamese people.

There are two kinds of expenses for education: expenses for physical facilities and the cost of teaching and learning. I can say that the spending on teaching and learning has not been enough, while the state still has to cover the cost of spending on facilities.

The Ministry of Education and Training has proposed to raise university tuitions by three to four times, and set the tuition for general education at 6% of families’ average income. Even with the suggested tuition levels, tuition still will not be enough to cover all expenses on education. However, we have to accept these levels because the income of Vietnamese people remains low.

Will the new tuition levels be applied right now, when the national economy is still in big difficulties?

I don’t think that the implementation of the new scheme will be a hardship, because the State will still subsidise poor students. In fact, a lot of people still are able to travel and shop; they still can spend big sums of money.

VietNamNet/VNE

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