HCMC to spend $25M waiving tuition fees until 12th grades

By Le Tuyet February 20, 2025 | 06:56 pm PT

Students at Dinh Tien Hoang Primary School in HCMC's District 1 in 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Ho Chi Minh City will allocate VND653 billion (US$25.6 million) to waive tuition fees for all children and students in public and private schools starting from the next academic year, except for schools with foreign investment.

As approved on Thursday by the city's legislators, the financial support for tuition exemption will cover students from under five years old to 12th grades. The tuition support per student per month is as follows:

Education Level	Tuition Support (VND/student/month) (VND100,000 ≈ US$4)
	Group 1	Group 2
Daycare	200,000	120,000
Kindergarten (excluding five-year-old kindergarten)	160,000	100,000
High school	120,000	100,000
Continuing education at the high school level	120,000	100,000

Group 1 includes students in Thu Duc City and the urban districts of 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, Go Vap, Tan Binh, Tan Phu, and Binh Tan.

Group 2 consists of students in the outlying Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Nha Be, and Can Gio districts.

At the end of last year, HCMC fully covered tuition fees for secondary school students, allocating around VND237 billion ($9.27 million). Five-year-old preschoolers and primary school students were already exempt from tuition fees under the Education Law.

With this decision, HCMC has become the ninth locality in Vietnam to provide free education for all students in general education. Other provinces and cities implementing similar policies this year include Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Vinh Phuc, and Yen Bai.

According to government decrees, the tuition cap for public preschools and general education ranges from VND50,000 to VND650,000 per month, depending on local conditions. Currently, tuition fees across provinces vary from VND8,000 to VND340,000 per student per month, with the lowest fees found in rural and mountainous areas.