LookAtVietnam – Hanoi authorities have decided to hold off on submitting the plan to raise tuitions

Hanoi authorities have decided to hold off on submitting the plan to raise tuitions, a decision made just a few minutes before the opening of the Hanoi People’s Council’s meeting on the morning of July 13.

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The delay has been confirmed by Chief Secretariat of the Hanoi People’s Committee, Nguyen Thinh Thanh.

Thanh confirmed that the Government’s Decree No. 49 on adjusting tuition at state-owned nursery and general schools came into effect on July 1. However, authorities collected opinions from organizations and individuals on the tuition hike and concluded that the draft plan needs reconsideration.

He explained that city authorities believe it is necessary to reconsider both the date for submitting the plan and also the tuition increases.

“The People’s Committee believes that it is not really necessary to submit the plan to raise tuitions at this moment, and that relevant agencies need more time to consider the issue, so that they can draw up a more reasonable and feasible plan,” Thanh revealed.

In fact, opinions still vary about the new suggested tuition levels. Most Hanoi voters and representatives from the Culture-Society Committee of the Hanoi People’s Council think that the suggested levels are overly high. They suggest that tuition should increase by 1.5-2 times instead of 4-5 times.

Nguyen Duc Toan, Head of the Culture-Society Committee of the Hanoi People’s Council, commented that most people agree tuitions need to be raised, but the question is by how much.

Under the Government’s decree, tuition must not be higher than five percent of the average person’s income.

Regarding income per capita, according to the Hanoi Statistics Office, inner city households have average incomes of 2.4 million dong per month, but high income rural households come in at 1.8 million dong per month, and low income rural households stand at 1.04 million dong per month.

According to Toan, people still have doubts about these figures and believe actual incomes are lower.

Toan noted that the tuition draft plan includes a sliding scale with three types of tuition rates, one for urban areas, and two others for rural areas (students with farming parents and students with parents working in other fields). Some argue that there should be only one tuition rate for rural areas.

If the draft plan is approved, some assert, tuitions will increase too sharply. For example, secondary school students in urban areas will pay 100,000 dong a month instead of 20,000 dong, while high school students will pay 120,000 dong instead of 30,000 dong.

Thanh observed that city authorities respect public opinion, so they have asked the Hanoi Statistics Office to re-calculate income per capita.

Source: Dan tri