Vietnam will raise school fees at public schools in the 2010-2011 academic year from twice to seven times higher than the previous ones, said Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien at a conference in Hanoi on July 29. The hike which is applied for preschools, junior and senior high schools will be different for each region. The fees will not surpass 5% of residents’ average income, the Phap Luat Thanh pho Ho Chi Minh newspaper reported Jul 30. Accordingly, the monthly fees for preschool students in urban areas will be from VND110,000 ($5.26) to VND160,000; those in rural areas will be VND30,000-VND50,000 and in mountainous areas VND20,000-VND40,000. The fees for junior secondary students in urban areas will be VND30,000-VND50,000; for rural area will be VND15,000-VND35,000 and for mountainous areas will be VND10,000-VND30,000. The fees for those at urban high schools will be VND50,000-VND75,000; for those at rural ones will be VND35,000-VND55,000 and for those at mountainous ones will be VND20,000-VND40,000. Primary students will enjoy full exemptions of school fees. From the 2011-2012 academic year, tuition fees will be adjusted annually based on the average consumption price index (CPI) released by the government. Vietnam welcomes 22 million pupils and students in the 2009-2010 school year. Of them, 3.47 million attend nursery schools and kindergarteners; around 6.84 million join primary schools; 9.1 million take part in high schools and more than 1.8 million attend universities.
