JOINT CIRCULAR No. 54/1998/TTLT/GDĐT-TC GUIDING THE COLLECTION, EXPENDITURE AND MANAGEMENT OF TUITION FEES AT PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM

JOINT CIRCULAR
HGuidelines for collecting, spending, and managing tuition fees at public educational and training institutions within the national education system

Implementing Decision No. 70/1998/QĐ-TTg dated March 31, 1998 of the Government Chairman on the collection and use of tuition fees at public educational and training institutions within the national education system. The Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Finance guide the collection, spending, and management of tuition fees in public schools and educational and training institutions as follows:

1. Tuition fees at public educational and training institutions within the national education system are contributions from families or students themselves to ensure educational and training activities together with the State.

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS:

2. The subjects for collecting tuition fees are students studying at public educational and training institutions within the national education system, except those exempted or granted reductions.

3. The level of tuition fee collection within the tuition fee framework is determined by the Government and publicly announced by the competent authority at the beginning of each academic year.

4. In addition to tuition fees, schools and educational and training institutions are permitted to collect admission fees according to current regulations, and early childhood and primary education institutions may collect construction participation fees according to Decision No. 248/TTg dated November 22, 1973 of the Government Chairman, with the level of collection determined by the People's Councils and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities.

Apart from the above-mentioned collections, educational and training institutions shall not collect any other mandatory fees related to education and training.

5. Schools and educational and training institutions organize the collection of tuition fees. The collected tuition fees must be deposited into the National Treasury and used entirely in accordance with Decision No. 70/1998/QĐ-TTg of the Government Chairman and detailed guidance provided in this Circular. Tuition fees shall not be deducted from the annual budget plan for education and training of educational institutions.

1. Tuition Fee Framework:

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

The tuition fee framework according to Decision No. 70/1998/QĐ-TTg of the Government Chairman applies to full-time regular programs at public educational and training institutions and is stipulated as follows:

1.1. For educational institutions:

cities, towns, industrial zones:

AT Kindergarten: - from VND 15,000 to 80,000 per student per month

Secondary school: - from VND 4,000 to 20,000 per student per month

High school: - from VND 8,000 to 35,000 per student per month

rural plains and midlands:

AT Kindergarten: - from VND 7,000 to 20,000 per student per month

Secondary school: - from VND 3,000 to 10,000 per student per month

High school: - from VND 6,000 to 25,000 per student per month

rural mountainous areas:

AT Kindergarten: - from VND 5,000 to 15,000 per student per month

Secondary school: - from VND 2,000 to 8,000 per student per month

High school: - from VND 4,000 to 15,000 per student per month

For training institutions:

Vocational training: - from VND 20,000 to 120,000 per student per month

Secondary vocational training: - from VND 15,000 to 100,000 per student per month

College: - from VND 40,000 to 100,000 per student per month

University: - from VND 50,000 to 180,000 per student per month

Master’s degree training: - from VND 75,000 to 200,000 per student per month

Doctoral degree training: - from VND 100,000 to 250,000 per student per month

When necessary, the Minister of Education and Training shall coordinate with the Minister of Finance to review the actual situation and propose adjustments to the tuition fee framework to the Government Chairman.

2. Level of Tuition Fee Collection:

2.1. The People's Councils and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities shall base their determination of the level of tuition fee collection applicable to various educational and training forms, including kindergartens, boarding classes, continuing education forms, short-term vocational training at technical, vocational, and training centers, and other educational and training forms in each locality and region within their province or city, on the needs for education development, the living standards of local residents, and the aforementioned tuition fee framework.

2.2. The Rectors of Universities, Principals, and Heads of central-managed training institutions shall base their determination of specific levels of tuition fee collection for different categories of students on the aforementioned tuition fee framework, the characteristics and development requirements of training fields and forms, and the circumstances of each type of student.

2.3. Tuition fees shall be collected monthly. Kindergarten and short-term vocational training institutions shall collect fees based on the number of months of actual study. Secondary and high schools shall collect fees for nine months per year. Regular training institutions shall collect fees for ten months per year; other training systems shall collect fees based on the number of months of actual study.

3. Exempted and Reduced Tuition Fee Categories:

3.1. Exemption from tuition fees for the following categories:

3.1.1. Elementary school students

3.1.2. Students who are children of martyrs

3.1.3. Students who are heroes of the armed forces; heroes of labor; war invalids.

3.1.4. Students who are children of war invalids, children of disabled veterans, and children of those receiving benefits equivalent to war invalids with a disability rate between 61% and 80%.

3.5.1. Students whose parents are permanently residing in highland mountainous regions (excluding cities, towns, and townships) and remote inland and island areas.

3.1.6. Students with disabilities and economic difficulties, whose labor capacity has been reduced by 21% or more due to disability and have been confirmed by the Medical Appraisal Board.

3.1.7. Full-time regular students in teacher training programs who commit to serving in the education and training sector after graduation.

3.1.8. Orphaned students without guardianship.

3.1.9. Students selected for ethnic minority preparatory universities, ethnic minority boarding schools, vocational training for people with disabilities, and special education schools (with disabilities).

3.1.10. Students whose families (parents or guardians) are classified as famine-stricken households under current state regulations, with an average monthly income converted to less than 13 kg of rice per person.

3.2. Reduction of 50% in tuition fees for the following categories:

3.2.1. Students who are children of war invalids; children of disabled veterans, and those receiving benefits equivalent to war invalids with a disability rate between 21% and 60%.

3.2.2. Students who are children of civil servants and employees whose parent is entitled to regular compensation due to work-related injuries.

3.2.2. Students who are children of officials, employees, or civil servants whose father or mother receives regular compensation due to a workplace accident.

3.2.3. Students who have families (families, parents, or fosterers) classified as poor households according to current State regulations. A poor household is a household with an average monthly income per capita converted to rice:

Less than 25 kilograms of rice in urban areas

Less than 20 kilograms of rice in rural plains and midlands

Less than 15 kilograms of rice in mountainous rural areas.

4. Procedures for exemption and reduction of tuition fees:

4.1. Elementary school students; students majoring in education as stipulated in Points 3.1.1 and 3.1.7 of Section 3 above are not required to submit an application for tuition fee exemption.

4.2. Students eligible for exemption or reduction of tuition fees must submit an application for such exemption or reduction according to a unified form issued by the Rectors of Universities, Principals of schools, and heads of educational and training institutions, accompanied by confirmation of the information declared by the student's family from local authorities (such as the Department of War Invalids and Social Affairs, People's Committee of communes, wards) signed and stamped, along with a recommendation from the class teacher.

4.3. The Rectors of Universities, Principals of schools, and heads of educational and training institutions shall base their decisions on the general provisions of Decision No. 70/1998/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister, specific provisions of this Circular, local confirmation opinions, and recommendations from class teachers to decide on the exemption or reduction of tuition fees for students and compile a list to report to the higher-level educational management authority.

4.4. Exemption and reduction of tuition fees shall be implemented throughout the period of study at school and educational-training institutions, except in cases where families are classified as famine-stricken or poor households and are reviewed annually.

4.5. In cases of emergency due to large-scale natural disasters in the region, the Joint Office of Education and Training and Finance and Price Control will consider and submit a decision to the Provincial People's Committee to exempt or reduce tuition fees for students in affected areas based on the extent of damage and within a specified time frame. For individual cases where families or students face sudden difficulties confirmed by local authorities, the school will consider and decide on the exemption or reduction of tuition fees within a specified time frame.

5. Collection and use of the tuition fund:

5.1. The collection and use of the tuition fund shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of Decision No. 70/1998/QĐ-TTg dated March 31, 1998, of the Prime Minister. Specifically as follows:

5.1.1. Educational and training institutions are responsible for organizing the collection of tuition fees and depositing them into the State Treasury. Receipts for tuition fee collection are issued by financial agencies.

5.1.2. Educational and training institutions and local educational management agencies may use the entire collected tuition fees for the following purposes:

5.1.2.1. Strengthening material infrastructure for teaching and learning.

5.1.2.2. Supplementing funds for educational and training activities, including support for organizing graduation exams.

5.1.2.3. Supporting direct teaching activities and services.

5.1.2.4. Supporting general management and regulation work within the local education and training sector.

5.1.3. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, the Rector of universities, the Principal, and the head of schools and training institutions under central agencies shall specify the proportion of tuition fees allocated to cover the expenses mentioned in Clause 2 of this Article. Among these, the proportion of tuition fees allocated for strengthening material infrastructure for teaching and learning (Clause 2.1) shall not be less than 35% for the education sector and not less than 45% for the training sector, while the proportion allocated for supporting general management and regulation work (if applicable) within the local education and training sector (Clause 2.4) shall not exceed 20%.

5.2. The Financial and Accounting Department (for institutions with such a department), the accountant, or the school office (for institutions without such a department) shall directly collect monthly tuition fees from students. When collecting, they must issue a receipt for each student (according to Form C27-H issued together with Decision No. 999-TC-QĐ-CĐKT dated November 2, 1996, of the Ministry of Finance). All collected tuition fees must be deposited into the State Treasury account designated for the school unit according to the account number specified in Point 6.1 below.

5.3. The tuition fund shall be fully utilized for educational and training activities, specifically as follows:

5.3.1. Strengthening material infrastructure for teaching and learning (such as repairing and improving existing facilities, constructing small classrooms, laboratories, workshops, libraries, dormitories for students; purchasing, leasing material infrastructure and equipment for teaching, learning, professional management, administrative tasks, and other related activities).

5.3.2. Supplementing funds for educational and training activities, including support for graduation exams (including all business operation costs and regular expenses within the scope of educational and training activity funding, including costs for graduation exams at schools and educational-training institutions, and management fund business operation costs at the institution).

5.3.3. Supporting direct teaching activities and services. Including costs for supporting direct teaching and service labor of teachers, staff serving teaching, and related departments, rewards, and collective welfare benefits at schools and educational-training institutions.

5.3.4. Specifically, the portion allocated for supporting general management and regulation work within the local education and training sector, as stipulated in Clause 2.4 of Article 4 of Decision No. 70/1998/QĐ-TTg of the Prime Minister, shall not exceed 20%. The Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Finance will provide further guidance on this matter.

6. Management of the tuition fund:

6.1. The Central State Treasury has the responsibility to guide the local State Treasury system to instruct educational and training institutions to open accounts for the tuition fund at the local State Treasury.

The local State Treasury where the educational and training institution opens the tuition fund account shall be responsible for returning funds to the educational and training institutions according to the provisions of Decision No. 70/1998/QĐ-TTg and the provisions of this Circular.

6.2. Annually, along with preparing the budget for revenue and expenditure from the State Budget, each level, school, and educational institution prepares the budget for tuition fee revenue and expenditure, reports it to the higher-level education management agency for approval, then submits it to the financial authority at the same level and transfers it to the State Treasury as the basis for reissuance and control of expenditures. Departments of Education and Training prepare the budget for revenue and expenditure of funds allocated to support management and general regulation work within the education sector in their locality, which are submitted by schools in the locality, and send them to the Department of Finance and Prices for submission to the Provincial People's Committee for consideration and decision.

In cases where the Provincial People's Committee or the head of central educational institutions decides on new tuition fee rates, the schools and educational institutions must adjust their budget for tuition fee revenue and expenditure and report it to the competent authority for decision in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

The management of tuition fee revenue and expenditure at educational institutions is centrally carried out in the Financial and Accounting Office. At educational institutions without a Financial and Accounting Office, it must be centralized in the School Office. The school must maintain accounting books to record tuition fee revenue and expenditure, strictly prohibiting off-the-books spending and keeping funds outside of the accounting records.

6.3. Educational institutions are responsible for depositing the monthly tuition fee revenue into the account of the Tuition Fee Fund at the State Treasury, and after the end of the year, they must report the final settlement of tuition fee revenue and expenditure and comply fully with the financial reporting system as prescribed. The decision on tuition fee revenue and expenditure must be consolidated into the annual Settlement of the State Budget (recorded under other sources of funding). Educational institutions must report the final settlement of tuition fee revenue and expenditure to the education management agency and the financial authority at the same level so that these agencies can consolidate and report upwards to the higher-level management agency.

6.4. To compile and report the total tuition fee revenue and expenditure for the entire sector annually, before the 20th day of the last month of the first quarter, local Departments of Education and Training must compile and report the final settlement of tuition fee revenue and expenditure of educational units under their management to the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Finance and Prices, and the Ministry of Education and Training. For educational institutions managed by the central government, the respective ministries in charge must compile and report the final settlement of tuition fee revenue and expenditure of their subordinate units to the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Finance.

6.5. Accounting and settlement work:

Schools and educational institutions must implement the accounting and statistical work as prescribed in the Accounting and Statistics Ordinance dated May 10, 1998; Decree No. 25/HĐBT dated March 18, 1989 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) on the organization of accounting; the State Budget Law and guiding documents of the Law; Decision No. 999 TC/QĐ/CĐKT dated November 2, 1996 of the Minister of Finance on the issuance of the accounting system for Administrative and Public Services and current accounting regulations of the State.

To account for tuition fee revenue and expenditure, the school must open separate accounting books and record according to current regulations.

7. Other Revenue Items:

7.1. Educational institutions may collect admission fees: For educational institutions managed by localities, the Provincial People's Committee shall stipulate; for schools and training institutions managed by the central government, the Ministry of Education and Training shall stipulate, after obtaining the agreement of the Ministry of Finance.

7.2. Schools and preschool, primary, and secondary educational institutions may collect contributions for school construction as decided by Decision No. 248/TTg dated November 22, 1973 of the Prime Minister, with the collection rate determined by the People's Councils and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS:

This Circular takes effect from August 1, 1998. All previous regulations contrary to this Circular are hereby abolished.

During implementation, if there are any difficulties, please promptly reflect them to the Joint Ministries for review and appropriate amendments./.