According to the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council on September 4, some mountainous areas have recently been removed from the list of extremely disadvantaged areas. Faced with this reality, many voters are worried that it will affect their children's education because they will no longer receive support in terms of tuition exemption and reduction.
Therefore, voters in Thanh Hoa as well as many other provinces and cities have sent petitions to the National Assembly requesting the Government to consider support policies (tuition exemption and reduction, support for students' study costs) for teachers and students in mountainous areas who are facing difficulties due to having just left disadvantaged areas with slow economic development.
Regarding this issue, recently, the Ministry of Education and Training issued Official Dispatch No. 4285/BGDĐT-VP regarding the response to voters' petitions.
According to the Ministry of Education and Training, Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP dated August 27, 2021 of the Government stipulating the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees for educational institutions in the national education system and policies on tuition exemption and reduction, support for learning costs, and service prices in the field of education and training (Decree 81) has stipulated policies on tuition exemption and reduction, support for learning costs for students in difficult circumstances (exemption and reduction of tuition fees for students with disabilities, from poor and near-poor households and support for learning costs for students in extremely difficult areas).
For students in areas that are no longer on the list of particularly disadvantaged areas according to Decision No. 861/QD-TTg dated June 4, 2021 of the Prime Minister approving the list of communes in Region III, Region II, Region I in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2025, Decree 81 has stipulated a roadmap for tuition exemption for all 5-year-old preschool children and junior high school students, specifically: tuition exemption from the 2024-2025 school year for 5-year-old preschool children; tuition exemption from the 2025-2026 school year for junior high school students.
Thus, 5-year-old preschool children and junior high school students with difficult circumstances who are no longer in particularly difficult areas will be exempted from tuition fees according to the above roadmap.
In addition, the Ministry of Education and Training has drafted a Decree regulating policies for nursery children, students and trainees in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, coastal and island areas and educational institutions with nursery children and students enjoying policies.
The draft Decree stipulates policies for nursery children, students and trainees in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, especially disadvantaged communes in coastal and island areas and educational institutions with nursery children and students enjoying policies. The draft Decree is expected to be considered and promulgated by the Government in 2024.
