Free tuition for all students improves the quality of education

According to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), implementing the policy of free tuition for all children from preschool to high school nationwide will significantly contribute to improving the quality of education and receive high consensus from society.

During the Politburo meeting on February 28, after listening to the Government's report on the ability to balance finances during and after the process of streamlining the political system's apparatus, the Politburo decided to exempt all tuition fees for students from kindergarten to high school nationwide.

Implementation time from the beginning of the new school year 2025-2026 (September 2025 onwards).

Teachers and students of Kim Chung A Kindergarten ( Hanoi ). Photo: Nguyen Hoai

Previously, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed that the Politburo and the Government Party Committee consider a policy of exempting tuition fees for students from preschool to general education.

Additional tuition exemption for preschool and primary school students

Regarding the tuition exemption policy, on the evening of August 28, information from the Ministry of Education and Training said that the Government has issued regulations on tuition exemption for students. According to current regulations, from September 1, 2025, the State will exempt tuition for all public students from 5-year-old kindergarten to junior high school (up to grade 9). In addition, the Government has also stipulated a policy of reducing 50% - 70% of tuition fees, supporting study costs for many poor students, students in difficult circumstances, students under social policy, ethnic minority students (studying in public schools and private schools).

In addition to the subjects exempted from tuition fees according to current regulations mentioned above, the Ministry of Education and Training proposed and received approval from the Politburo to add tuition exemption for preschool students from 3 months to 4 years old and high school students.

Accordingly, all preschool, primary, secondary and high school students at public schools will be exempted from tuition fees. Students at private schools will be compensated for tuition fees equal to those of public schools according to the law; the difference in tuition fees between public and private schools will be paid by the student's family.

According to statistics, the country currently has 23.2 million students (not including students studying at vocational education and continuing education centers), including: 3.1 million preschool students under 5 years old; 1.7 million preschool students 5 years old; 8.9 million primary school students; 6.5 million secondary school students and 3 million high school students.

Impact of policy when applied

The Ministry of Education and Training said that the state budget required to implement the tuition exemption policy for the above subjects is about 30 trillion VND (if deducting the local budgets of provinces/cities that have implemented tuition exemption, the central budget will have to implement less than this amount). In fact, the budget level that needs to be ensured will depend on the specific tuition level of each province/city directly under the Central Government under the authority of the Provincial People's Council decided on the basis of the Government's regulations on the floor and ceiling tuition levels.

Regarding the expected impact of the policy when applied, the Ministry of Education and Training said that tuition fees affect most families and are a matter of public concern every time a new school year begins. Expanding the number of tuition-free subjects will affect the balance of the State budget.

In addition, exempting tuition fees for high school students (grades 10 to 12) may affect the orientation of students after junior high school in choosing to continue to high school or choose vocational training.

However, the Ministry of Education and Training affirmed: "If the policy of free tuition for all children from preschool to high school nationwide is implemented, it will contribute significantly to improving the quality of education, gain high consensus from society, be in line with the superiority of the regime and policies of the Party and State on education and be in line with the general trend of developed countries."

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/bo-gddt-mien-hoc-phi-cho-toan-bo-hoc-sinh-lam-tang-chat-luong-giao-duc-10300740.html