During a working session with the Social and Cultural Committee - Ho Chi Minh City People's Council on the implementation of Resolution 04 on the morning of March 19, many schools in District 1 said that the collection of 35,000 VND/lunch meal is not suitable for the actual situation in this area.

Inappropriate collection level

At the meeting, Ms. Do Ngoc Chi - Principal of Nguyen Binh Khiem Primary School, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City - said that through the implementation of Resolution 04, the fee for boarding meals was not really appropriate because the school's boarding lunch also included snacks for students.

In fact, over the past 2 years, the school has also received a lot of feedback from parents, wishing to increase the cost of boarding meals by 5,000 VND/student, to 40,000 VND/meal/day/student, to serve better meals for children.

"With a fee of 35,000 VND/meal, schools in the center have difficulty balancing to ensure the quality of boarding meals, including serving lunch and snacks during the day. Based on the above reality, the school has received high consensus from parents expressing their desire to increase the fee for boarding meals to 40,000 VND/meal/day" - Ms. Do Ngoc Chi said.

Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi My Hanh - Principal of Vo Truong Toan Secondary School, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City - shared: "To put Resolution 04 into practice, the school sought the consensus of parents. The consensus rate of parents was 100%. Parents of the school are only concerned about the boarding meal fee, hoping to maintain the collection level of 40,000 VND/meal as in previous years."

At the survey, Ms. Mai Thi Hong Hoa - Vice Chairman of District 1 People's Committee, Ho Chi Minh City - also said that the district received many opinions from parents wishing to adjust Resolution 04, how to increase the collection level so that some units can apply it. The ultimate goal is to create the best conditions for their children to study and develop fully.

Proposal for ceiling of 40,000 VND

Regarding the implementation in such schools, presenting to the survey team, Mr. Vo Cao Long - Head of the Department of Education and Training of District 1, Ho Chi Minh City - said that in the first year of implementing Resolution 04, schools in District 1 kept the same collection level for boarding meals and maintained the collection level, increased and decreased the collection fees in accordance with the regulations of Resolution 04.

However, with the economic conditions and costs in District 1, along with the Department of Education and Training's survey of parents' requests, Mr. Long proposed to increase the fee for implementing boarding meals compared to the current ceiling in Resolution 04.

"The Department of Education and Training recommends increasing the price of boarding meals, ranging from the floor to the ceiling, from 35,000 - 40,000 VND/meal to ensure nutrition and best serve students; recommends not taxing boarding meals for students" - Mr. Vo Cao Long presented.

At the survey, Mr. Cao Thanh Binh - Head of the Department of Culture and Society, Ho Chi Minh City People's Council - said that Resolution 04 will expire in May 2024 and the Department of Culture and Society is in the process of conducting a survey to re-evaluate Resolution 04, in order to issue a new resolution to replace it.

Mr. Binh also assessed that District 1's proposal to widen the tax range is reasonable.