Reporting to Lao Dong newspaper, M.N (a student studying pedagogical medicine for the second year at Saigon University) said that after enrolling, he has not yet received a support amount of 3.63 million VND/month for living expenses for pedagogical students.
"I come from a poor family, my parents are farmers. When I learned that pedagogical students were supported with living expenses, I considered it a great hope to reduce the economic burden and pursue a higher education with peace of mind. But the delay in payment made me very sad and worried. I have to study and work at the same time, and sometimes work late at night to have enough money for accommodation and food, so my studies have been significantly affected and degraded," M.N shared.
M.N added that not only second-year students but also third-year students at the school are owed this living allowance.
T.L - a student who just graduated from the History Pedagogy major at Saigon University in 2025 said that he is also owed living expenses for the fourth year.
According to T.L, in 2021, he enrolled and registered under the assignment of training tasks to be exempted from tuition fees and receive a monthly living allowance of 3.63 million VND according to Decree 116 of the Government.
However, it was not until the 4th school year that they received living allowances with a total amount of nearly 109 million VND, equivalent to 30 months, while the allowances in the 4th school year are still owed to date.
"The school has informed me that I have completed the application as requested, but I have not yet received this outstanding amount," T.L said.
On November 4, speaking with Lao Dong, a representative of Saigon University confirmed that the above incident occurred. "Currently, the school has not received all the funding, so it cannot be transferred to students. The school is reviewing the data and will provide specific information," he said.
According to Decree 116, from 2021, pedagogical students trained according to social needs or assigned tasks, ordered or bid will be supported with 100% of tuition fees and 3.63 million VND/month for living expenses (no more than 10 months/school year).
In case pedagogical students have enjoyed the policy, they will have to be compensated if they do not work in the education sector after 2 years of graduation; do not work for at least twice the training period from the date of recruitment; students transfer to another training sector, drop out of school, do not complete the training program or are disciplined and forced to drop out of school.
