The Ministry of Education and Training believes that the current tuition fee roadmap does not meet the requirements of Resolution 19-NQ/TW (on continuing to innovate the organization and management system, improving the quality and efficiency of public service units) because the tuition fee framework and level are still too low, not enough to cover training costs.

Information at the 2024 Higher Education Conference organized by the Ministry of Education and Training on August 9 showed that the tuition fees for the 2023-2024 school year for some majors are as follows: humanities, social sciences, journalism, tourism and hospitality is 12 million VND/year; IT, architecture and construction is 14.5 million VND/year; health sector is 18.5 million VND/year. Tuition fees for the following years will increase according to the roadmap to ensure that by the 2026-2027 school year, training costs will be covered. For schools with autonomy in regular expenditures or autonomy in regular expenditures and investment expenditures, a coefficient of 2 or 2.5 times will be applied.

For programs that meet the quality accreditation standards set by the Ministry of Education and Training or foreign standards, higher education institutions are allowed to determine the tuition fees for that program based on economic and technical standards issued by the educational institution, and publicly explain to learners and society.

For non-public and private schools, they have the right to proactively set tuition fees to ensure that they cover costs and have reasonable savings, and are responsible for publicly announcing and explaining to students and society the tuition fees they decide (according to the provisions of the Law on Education).

Evaluating the tuition fee roadmap compared to training costs, the Ministry of Education and Training said that although tuition fees are implemented according to the price mechanism prescribed in the Law on Prices, the Law on Education and Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW, by 2021, the roadmap for calculating public service prices must be completed (including full salary, direct costs, management costs and asset depreciation) for a number of basic areas such as healthcare, education and training, and vocational education.

However, the current tuition fee schedule does not meet the requirements of Resolution 19-NQ/TW because the tuition fee framework and level are still too low, not enough to cover training costs. Based on the tuition fee schedule of public higher education institutions prescribed by the Government in Decree 97/2023/ND-CP (amending Decree 81/2021 on the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees), tuition fees from the 2023-2024 school year will increase according to the schedule to ensure that by the 2026-2027 school year, they will cover training costs.

The Government requires that tuition fees for the 2022-2023 school year be kept stable at the same level as those for the 2021-2022 school year. Thus, tuition fees at public higher education institutions have been kept stable for the past 3 school years (from the 2020-2021 school year to the 2022-2023 school year) to share the difficulties with parents and students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Up to now, the tuition fee roadmap in Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP (on the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees) has not been implemented.

In addition, the decision to increase the basic salary from 1.8 million VND to 2.34 million VND (an increase of 30%) from July 1, 2024 has caused the annual salary fund of units to increase, causing difficulties in balancing revenue sources to maintain regular operations and improve training quality.

Regarding revenue autonomy, tuition fees have not been able to fully cover training costs due to competitive pressure in enrollment, and because increasing tuition fees will affect social security, schools still set tuition fees that do not fully cover costs. This also affects the unit's revenue. Units still have to implement tuition fees according to state regulations, and low fees make it very difficult for units.

Every year, the state budget cuts 2.5%-5% of regular expenditures, so it is very difficult. Revenues from educational services are mainly to offset the costs of generating revenue, so there is not much difference left to supplement the fund for developing career activities to renovate facilities, purchase teaching equipment, etc. The content of the expenditure level must comply with State regulations, limiting the autonomy of the unit. The salary level must still be implemented according to the prescribed position level, while schools have no revenue, or low revenue, so the source of additional income is very limited, making the lives of staff and lecturers very difficult.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, tuition fees at public higher education institutions are being adjusted slowly to ensure adequate compensation for costs according to the prescribed roadmap, thus affecting the financial autonomy of higher education institutions.

PHAN THAO