Hanoi plans fee for early drop-offs, late pick-ups at public schools

The proposal is part of a draft resolution issued by the Hanoi People’s Committee, which seeks public feedback on a list of fees and the mechanisms for managing revenues and expenditures for services supporting education and training at public preschool and general education institutions.

If approved, the resolution will take effect from the 2025-26 academic year, applying to children enrolled in public preschools and students in public elementary, middle and high schools, as well as those attending continuing education programs in Hanoi.

The regulation will cover all public education institutions in the city, except for those classified as high-quality public schools.

Under the draft, Hanoi would introduce a new after-school care service allowing schools to supervise students before and after official school hours.

This service would not include meals and would be capped at VND12,000 per hour.

Other existing service fees would remain unchanged, including VND235,000 ($8.9) per month for day-boarding care, VND133,000 ($5) per month for boarding equipment, VND16,000 ($0.6) per month for drinking water, and VND10,000 ($0.37) per kilometer for student transportation.

The draft also proposes the removal of two services currently permitted at the middle school level – two school sessions per day and extra-curricular educational activities.

This change aligns with Circular No. 29 from the Ministry of Education and Training, which prohibits schools from collecting additional tuition fees for extra lessons starting in the 2025-26 school year.

Furthermore, under the government’s Directive No. 17, middle and high schools with adequate facilities must organize two school sessions per day as part of their official schedule.

The only remaining out-of-hours service will be life skills education programs, which schools may directly organize, with a proposed fee of VND15,000 ($0.56) per teaching hour.

According to the draft, educational institutions must prepare detailed cost estimates based on the maximum fee levels and obtain written agreement from parents.

All fees must be approved by the school administration and relevant local authorities – either the ward or commune People’s Committee, or the municipal Department of Education and Training – before implementation.

Fees must not exceed the draft ceilings.

Schools are also required to provide official receipts for all payments and to offer appropriate fee exemptions or reductions for students from disadvantaged or policy beneficiary families.

In the case of online learning, public preschools and general education institutions will not be allowed to collect any of the fees specified in the resolution.