Proposal to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children: Ministry of Education and Training "listens and recalculates"

Above is the opinion of Dr. Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers ( Ministry of Education and Training ), regarding the proposal to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children that has been causing a stir in public opinion recently.

Speaking to Dan Tri reporter on October 10, Mr. Duc said that it is normal for management agencies to make proposals and receive public feedback.

In fact, when making this proposal, the Ministry of Education and Training hopes to have policies supporting teachers' children, considering it a priority policy of the industry.

Dr. Vu Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Teachers and Educational Managers, Ministry of Education and Training (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

The purpose of the policy is to create a favorable environment for teachers in their professional activities, help teachers have a stable life, feel secure in their work, and attract talented people to the profession.

However, when making the proposal, there were many opposing opinions in society. With the spirit of seeking knowledge, the Drafting Committee always listens to the opinions of experts, society and functional agencies to continue to perfect the draft Law on Teachers, so as to harmonize different professions and ensure national resources.

"This is just a draft, not the final opinion to be included in the law. In particular, when introducing any policy, we must evaluate the impact, and only those policies that receive high consensus will be included in the law appropriately.

With the proposed plan to exempt tuition fees for teachers' children, based on listening to public opinions in an open-minded spirit, we will review the contents of the draft to have appropriate calculations in accordance with practical socio-economic conditions and fairness with other professions," said Mr. Duc.

Previously, on October 8, at the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee to give opinions for the second time on the Draft Law on Teachers, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son proposed a policy of exempting tuition fees for biological and legally adopted children of working teachers. If the policy takes effect, it is expected that the annual expenditure for this content will be more than 9,200 billion VND.

The purpose of the policy is to create a favorable environment for teachers in their professional activities (Illustration photo).

The proposal has received mixed reactions from the public. A retired teacher in Quang Ninh said that teachers' children have more opportunities to study than children from other working-class families and should not be given priority in terms of tuition fees.

This teacher believes that many professions in society have much lower incomes than the teaching profession. Children from these families have fewer opportunities to study than teachers' children due to economic hardship and lack of attention, care, and investment in education.

Based on this reality, the teacher suggested that the tuition exemption policy should only be applied to specific subjects instead of applying it to professions. For the teaching profession, the policy should be applied to teachers in special circumstances, teachers in difficult socio-economic areas, teachers who are single mothers, single fathers, etc.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, a PhD in Education, said that the proposal to exempt teachers’ children from tuition fees is a policy that shows respect for teachers. However, Ms. Huyen said that the policy is more about encouragement and sharing in spirit.

"Public tuition fees from kindergarten to high school are currently very low, ranging from over 100,000 VND to over 300,000 VND/month. The burden of raising children to study in each family does not lie in tuition fees but comes from many other costs in and out of school such as parent funds, extracurricular activities, extra classes...

With an estimated figure of 9,200 billion VND/year, will exempting teachers' children from tuition fees affect the budget for other sectors? This must be carefully considered," Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen analyzed.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/de-xuat-mien-hoc-phi-con-giao-vien-bo-gddt-lang-nghe-va-tinh-toan-lai-20241010221844589.htm