Ho Chi Minh City to provide meal, uniform support for disadvantaged students starting 2026

Passed at the council’s sixth session on Wednesday, the resolution applies from the 2025-26 academic year and targets children in especially vulnerable circumstances, including orphans, students abandoned by caregivers, children living with their grandparents or guardians who have passed away, students with disabilities, and those from poor or near-poor households as defined by local standards.

Under the resolution, four major support packages will be implemented.

Midday meals will be subsidized at actual cost, capped at VND40,000 (US$1.5) per day.

Additional funding will cover essential educational services such as day-boarding care, sanitation, shared learning materials and costs related to teaching activities, within the spending ceilings outlined in the resolution.

Out-of-classroom programs, including experiential activities, skill-building sessions, and school-based educational projects, will also be eligible for funding where appropriate for each grade level.

As for the uniform support, the city will provide VND300,000 ($11) per year for preschoolers, VND400,000 ($15) for elementary students, VND450,000 ($17) for middle school students, and VND500,000 ($19) for high schoolers.

For the first year of implementation from 2025 to 2026, the city will fund 50 percent of these amounts.

Support will only be disbursed if schools organize the corresponding activities or services.

The program will be fully financed by the city’s budget.

In related news, the council also approved financial support for study expenses and school supplies for ethnic minority students, trainees, and postgraduate learners residing in the city.

Beneficiaries include members of the Cham, Cho Ro, and Khmer communities, as well as other minorities from newly escaped-poverty, poor and near-poor households enrolled in vocational schools, colleges, universities or research institutes nationwide.

Eligible ethnic minority students will receive textbook support of up to VND400,000 per year at the elementary level, VND500,000 for the middle school level and VND600,000 ($23) for the high school level, benefiting an estimated 72,784 students.

Meanwhile, ethnic minority students, undergraduates, graduate students, and PhD candidates will receive VND1.5 million ($57) per month to cover study expenses, with around 1,100 individuals expected to qualify.

The policy excludes beneficiaries already supported under national programs, special admission systems or international joint training schemes.

Ho Chi Minh City is home to more than 509,000 ethnic minority residents, with many of them facing obstacles to accessing adequate learning resources.

The new policy is expected to help promote inclusive and equitable education in the southern metropolis.