The pressure of childcare costs today

Raising children to study nowadays is not simply a matter of parents buying their children textbooks, a few uniforms and paying a few hundred thousand dong each month to be assured that their children have received a full education.

From the 2025-2026 school year, all preschool children from 3 months old and students at all levels from primary school to high school are exempted from tuition fees. However, in order for their children to learn a variety of skills and knowledge, participate in many extracurricular and extracurricular activities, and learn foreign languages, parents have to spend a lot of money, time, and effort.

Having children going to school these days, parents shoulder many worries.

PHOTO: NGOC DUONG

L O FROM WHEN CHILDREN GO TO KINDERGARTEN

Mr. P., whose child is in kindergarten (3-4 years old) at a public kindergarten in An Lac Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, said that just calculating the monthly school fees for a child is about 2.2 - 2.3 million VND. This amount includes breakfast, lunch, breakfast service fees, service organization fees, boarding cleaning, learning materials, school supplies... and gifted subjects such as math thinking, aerobics, drawing, life skills, English familiarization... Because of his busy work, instead of having to take his child to outside gifted classes, he registered his child to study at school.

Mr. P. said that the amount he pays each month may be only half or one-third of what parents with children in private schools pay. Private kindergartens have fewer students per class and children have more English lessons, so tuition and meal expenses can be up to more than 5 million VND/month/child.

Paying for two children's school fees takes up a whole month's salary.

Ms. Ng.Minh has 2 children, one in grade 1 at a public school in Tan My Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, and one in kindergarten (5-6 years old) at a private kindergarten in the same ward. The first grader studies an integrated program, with monthly tuition fees, meal fees, boarding service fees, drinking water, digital transformation information technology application services, and other fees according to the regulations of an advanced integrated school... from 6 to 6.5 million VND/month. As for the kindergartener, including tuition and meals at school, the monthly fee is more than 7 million VND.

"Both my husband and I are busy with work so we don't have much time to take our children back and forth to learn English outside, so we always register them for school programs. In general, each month for two children to go to school, just the school fees alone are more than 13 million VND, which is a month's salary of mine. That's not including the breakfast for the older child and the expenses at the beginning of the year that everyone has to pay for such as books, uniforms, shoes, health insurance, initial health check-up fees...", Ms. Ng.Minh said.

Many parents are willing to sacrifice many things, from money, time, work to invest in their children's education.

Photo: Ngoc Duong

PARENTS' VIEWPOINT: INVESTING IN EDUCATION IS NOT A "LOSS"

Speaking to Thanh Nien reporter, Mr. Nguyen Ch.C, a parent with two daughters (grades 6 and 8) studying at a secondary school in Xuan Thoi Son commune (formerly Hoc Mon district), Ho Chi Minh City, said that raising children to study is not simple nowadays. If only to let the children gain general knowledge, study slowly to get a high school diploma, then it would be simple.

"However, many parents today, including my wife and I, do not want their children to repeat the difficulties and hardships like we did in the past - when our parents were poor and wanted to study but did not have money to go to school, so they came out of school with many skills and knowledge at a disadvantage. Society is increasingly competitive, students should learn many soft skills, especially foreign languages, because artificial intelligence (AI) is developing strongly now and in the future. Humans can compete with machines thanks to soft skills, emotional intelligence, and foreign language ability. Only then will children not face barriers in any environment," Mr. C. said, explaining the reason why he and his wife work hard and try to save money to take care of their children.

Since the age of 5, Mr. C's two daughters have been studying at clubs such as MC, swimming, music, singing... at the children's home. Mr. C. chose to study here because the tuition is affordable and can be committed for a long time. Currently, each child participates in 3 clubs: martial arts, drawing, and organ at the children's home of the Hoc Mon Commune Cultural and Sports Service Supply Center. Each child studies for 1.1 million VND/month. In addition, Mr. C. and his wife let their children study English at the center, each child spends 2.5 million VND/month. At school, the children do not study as boarding students, but Mr. C. picks them up at noon to go home for lunch. Therefore, the school fees for each child are about 430,000 VND for drinking water, electronic contact books and voluntary subjects (English with native speakers, life skills, STEM). With a freelance job and a solid foundation of knowledge, Mr. C. can tutor his children in subjects such as math, physics, chemistry, and biology, so they do not need to take extra classes outside, saving at least 500,000 VND/month/subject.

Mr. C. calculated that the total tuition fees for his two children cost him and his wife more than 8 million VND each month. That does not include breakfast, books, uniforms, shoes, health insurance, and contributions to school activities...

Mr. C. believes that his story is not unique. Around him, parents in urban areas all choose to prioritize their children's education, even though they will have to sacrifice many things, from money, time, and affect their work to some extent. However, everyone believes that investing in education is not a "loss".

Similar to Mr. C., Ms. Ng.Th, whose children are in 8th and 11th grade at schools in Tan Hung commune, Dong Nai province, chose to do freelance work to be proactive in taking her two children to school, sometimes 4-6 times a day. Ms. Th. said that just counting the cost of buying uniforms, sports shoes, and sandals for her two sons, it was nearly 5 million VND, not to mention the cost of textbooks, school bags, school supplies, breakfast, etc. During the school year, if the children are weak in any subject, they will find teachers to teach them extra English. "These expenses are doubled because if my brother studies, my brother must study too," Ms. Th. said.

Hope parents accompany their children with love

It is a fact that when investing a lot of effort, time, money... in their children's education, many parents have very high expectations. However, along with that, there will be angry scolding from many parents, such as: "Parents work hard all day, spend so much money for their children to just study, but they still can't finish studying".

In an interview with Thanh Nien Newspaper on the topic of parents' companionship with their children, Master - Doctor Pham Van Giao, Director of the Institute of Applied Psychology - Education, said that as parents' expectations grow and the pressure for achievement increases, studying becomes a burden for many children. In this context, the saying "Learning does not lose your childhood" becomes more thoughtful than ever.

Therefore, according to Master - Doctor Giao, modern education needs to return to the four fundamental pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be, as established by UNESCO in the famous report "Learning: The Treasure Within" (1996). Therefore, parents should be companions, not pushy coaches.

"Parents should not only love their children when they have good results, because every child needs a safe home to return to, especially when they feel like they have "lost". Scores cannot fully reflect a child's intelligence, personality and inner strength. When your child stumbles, loses direction or is disappointed, be a support so that they can feel safe, rest and start over - not with pressure, but with love", shared Master - Doctor Giao.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ap-luc-chi-phi-nuoi-con-an-hoc-thoi-nay-185251006195525978.htm