The Government should rethink raising tuition

(04/12/2007) Tran Xuan Nhi, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, discussed Government plans to increase school tuition fees.

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) plans to submit their tuition increase draft. Do you think it is necessary to raise school fees?

The incomes and living standards of the Vietnamese people have been considerably improved. However, I have to remind you that 80% of Vietnam’s rural population still lives in poverty.

I don’t agree that school tuition should be raised proportionally to retail inflation. If the Communist Party and the State want all Vietnamese people go to school and if Vietnam strives to universalize education, the state has to spend money on it. Instead of increasing primary and secondary school tuition, we should increase University fees. However, the increases should be limited, because the average income of Vietnamese people is, on average, so low, just several hundred dollars a year.

The Government has set up a widely popular loan programme for University students. However, there is a question as to whether students can pay off the debt. As such, the State should also develop a scholarship system for poor students. It is expected that a University student needs VND1.5mil a month to attend school.

Many people have doubts over education spending transparency. Do you think it would be appropriate to clarify where the money is going before increasing school fees?

That is MOET’s job; they should develop a expense tracking programme that will better manage spending. Any tuition increase should warrant the establishment of an efficient and honest management system.

Do you think that there are better solutions to improve the quality of education other than a tuition increase?

The Government should rethink how schools are run, managed and funded. I think the state should not ‘take on’ too many schools and universities. It should support and be involved in several key schools and universities only and let the rest acquire funding through non-state investments, tuition and other sources.

Currently, 90% of universities and colleges are state owned, meaning the state must spend a lot to support all of them.

The state now spends VND6-10mil a year for each student, while student’s responsibility amounts to only VND1.8mil in tuition per year, meaning state-owned universities collect VND8mil a year from the Government for every student. Meanwhile, non-state universities collect VND3.5-5mil per student only and are still able to cover all expenses. The most important thing is efficient spending.

Ha Thi Thanh Thanh, Headmaster, Chairwoman of the Management Board of Saigon’s private owned Informatics and Economics High School:

I think that increasing school tuition will negatively impact Vietnamese students’ fondness for learning. I think that universities can mobilise other financial sources through scientific research and technology sharing.

Regarding receipts and expenses, our school collects a maximum of VND3mil a year per student; lower than a state owned school’s tuition. Private owned schools always have an effective but smaller apparatus.

As far as I know, 20% of the state budget is being spent on education and training, and this proves to be a high figure. I think what is most important now is to use funding as effectively as possible.