Vietnam - Private schools driving students away with tuition rises

Many parents in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City look set to move their children out of private schools since they keep increasing tuition and charging a maze of additional fees.

In the capital, some having their kids enrolled at Ngoi Sao Elementary School complain it has raised the monthly tuition by 30 percent this year, and demanded a range of fees as well.

Hong, a mother, said she is afraid of being unable to fund her second-grade kid’s education at Ngoi Sao for long if the tuition keeps rising like the present.

“I’m not sure I can manage to support my kid until the fifth-grade [the end of Vietnam’s elementary education] and wrestle with the rise simultaneously,” she said.

A father whose kid studies at Thang Long International Elementary School, Thang said he would find another place for his child, for the establishment continues hiking tuition and adding a clutch of other fees each year.

“I have had to pay extra charges for facility construction, extra-curricular activities, uniforms, among others,” the parent pointed out. “What’s more, they have made no commitment to stop raising tuition in the coming years.”

The Hanoi Academy, comprising preschools through high schools, are also augmenting expenses to the extent that a lot of parents say they cannot afford.

“I am planning to send my kid to another school because it’s hard for me to continue covering all those increased tuition and supplementary costs,” said Minh, a mother whose child is learning at the institution.

Parents sending children to Le Quy Don Elementary School are plunged into the same plight, as they have been informed of multiple hikes in tuition and service charges.

Their counterparts in the southern hub, Ho Chi Minh City, are grappling with similar increases, but they appear to be unable to do anything other than choose another school for their children.

Many schools have already increased fees by up to 20 percent, which will discourage even the most patient moms and dads, who are currently battling soaring prices in food, fuel, and healthcare.

Saigon National Studies High School in Tan Phu District, for instance, collects 17 percent more of monthly tuition this year besides a range of fees, including facility construction costs, parents’ fund, and travel expenses.

Likewise, parents at Thai Binh Duong Elementary School in Tan Binh District now have to pay an extra 20 percent each month for their kids’ education.

“We would definitely enroll our kid in another school if things keep going on like this,” a mother said.

TUOI TRE

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