Gradually providing free textbooks
On the afternoon of August 17, the People's Council of Ca Mau province passed many resolutions, of which the most notable are 4 policies related to education: providing free textbooks, supporting milk for children, scholarships for specialized school students and adjusting tuition fees for public educational institutions that self-ensure regular expenses.
Students at public and private educational institutions implementing education programs in the province are provided with a free set of textbooks for use in the learning process. The distribution is carried out through the educational institution where the student is studying.
The policy is implemented according to a roadmap. In the 2026-2027 school year, primary school students are provided with free textbooks; in the 2027-2028 school year, it is expanded to secondary school students and in the 2028-2029 school year, it continues to expand to high school students.
According to the education sector, in the 2026-2027 school year, Ca Mau has about 345,230 high school students and continuing education students at the high school level. If implemented simultaneously at all levels of education, the estimated cost is about 93.163 billion VND/year. In the first school year alone, when implemented for elementary school students, the cost is about 28.958 billion VND.
The total budget for policy implementation in the period 2026-2029 is expected to be about 93.163 billion VND, from the state budget and other legal sources if any.
Nutrition support, investment in high-quality education
Along with the policy of free textbooks, the Provincial People's Council also considered and approved a resolution to support milk for preschool children and elementary school students in difficult circumstances in the period 2026-2030.
The subjects proposed for support include preschool children, primary school students from poor households, near-poor households, children with disabilities at public and non-public educational institutions and specialized education schools. Children under 11 years old who are nurtured at public and non-public social assistance and protection facilities are also eligible.
The expected support level is 5 boxes of milk of 110ml/week for preschool children and 5 boxes of 180ml/week for primary school students in the 9 months of the school year. Children under 11 years old at social assistance and protection facilities are provided with 1 box of milk of 180ml/day throughout the year. The state budget supports 100% for beneficiaries.
The whole province has about 4,535 children and students expected to benefit from the policy. The total implementation cost in 5 years is about 24.094 billion VND, an average of 4.818 billion VND/year.
Ca Mau currently has Bac Lieu High School for the Gifted and Phan Ngoc Hien High School for the Gifted, with an average scale of nearly 2,000 students per year. According to the resolution, specialized school students who are eligible for scholarships with a level not lower than 3 times the tuition fee as a basis for tuition fee exemption for public high schools in the locality. Scholarship consideration is linked to academic results, training and achievements in national, regional or international excellent student exams.
In the last 3 school years, the number of specialized school students granted scholarships increased from 976 to 1,102, averaging about 1,031 students/year, accounting for about 55% of the total number of students of the two specialized schools. The estimated average implementation cost is about 11.594 billion VND/year.
Another policy related to education is to amend tuition fees for public preschool, general and continuing education institutions that self-ensure regular expenditures from the 2026-2027 school year.
Tuition fees are divided by ward and commune area and number of study sessions. For high schools, studying directly 1 session/day, the expected fee is 900,000 VND/student/month in the ward and 700,000 VND in the commune. In case of studying 2 sessions/day, the fee is 1.3 million VND and 1.05 million VND respectively. Online learning is calculated at 70% of the tuition fee for direct learning.
The addition of tuition fees is to serve as a basis for determining the state budget to subsidize continuing education institutions when implementing the tuition fee exemption policy from the 2026-2027 school year. The total estimated compensation cost is about 12 billion VND/year.
Notably, this policy is associated with Ca Mau receiving and reorganizing educational institutions belonging to the SOS Children's Village system. Hermann Gmeiner Ca Mau High School is expected to be renamed Ca Mau - Ninh Binh High School, directly under the Department of Education and Training, implementing a mechanism of autonomy and self-sufficiency for regular expenses.
