Public kindergartens plan to increase tuition fees to nearly 8 million VND

Ho Chi Minh City: Vang Anh Kindergarten, District 5, plans to charge tuition fees for kindergarten classes of nearly 8 million VND per month, double the current fee.

On the morning of April 22, Ms. Lam Thi Thuy Loan, Principal of Vang Anh Kindergarten, said that this tuition fee is expected when the school is 100% financially autonomous (paying its own teachers' salaries and operating costs). However, the school has only stopped at the step of surveying the opinions of parents, teachers and related agencies, as required by the district.

Accordingly, the monthly cost of kindergarten (3-6 years old) can be up to 7.87 million VND, double the current level. This is a package contribution, including tuition, breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, drinks, boarding service fees and participation in classes according to the project, and foreign language familiarization. For kindergarten (under 36 months), tuition will be lower but the school has not yet given a specific level.

"Most parents and other parties do not agree. The school only conducted a survey to report to the district. Up to now, we do not know whether the school will implement this model or not and what the roadmap is," said Ms. Loan.

Specifically, out of 236 parents who participated in the survey, only 16 agreed. Of the 78 officials in various departments of District 5, only 5 supported it. As for teachers, 21/26 agreed, the rest said they would quit if the school became autonomous because they were worried about unstable income when the budget was cut.

Vang Anh Kindergarten, District 5. Photo: School website — Vang Anh Kindergarten, District 5. Photo: *School website*

Aneducation official said that 100% financial autonomy means that the school no longer receives state budget and collects and spends on its own based on the principle of collecting enough to cover expenses. The People's Committees of districts will decide which units will implement this model.

However, this person thinks that there should be a step-by-step roadmap, possibly increasing tuition fees by 20% each year instead of being completely autonomous right away, to avoid shocking parents.

"With such a sudden increase in tuition fees, if I were a parent, I would not agree either," he said.

Vang Anh Kindergarten is a public school with more than 400 children, most of whom are of preschool age. The school has implemented an advanced, integrated model since 2016. Total revenues for preschool children are about 3.7 million VND per month and 2 million VND for the nursery block.

Ho Chi Minh City has more than 1,300 kindergartens, of which 467 are public. Nam Sai Gon Kindergarten, District 7, is currently the only school with 100% financial autonomy. The monthly cost for each child is about 4.7 million VND. Normally, kindergartens collect around 1.5 million VND per month, including 120,000-300,000 VND in tuition fees.

Le Nguyen

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