Updates in the preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support for children with disabilities attending educational institutions under the national educational system

The right to education is a basic human right, especially children’s. Through education, each person is better equipped with means of protecting his or her own human rights and others’ as well as contributing to the society’s general development. For children with disabilities (CWDs), the right to education has even greater significance, acting as the foundation for providing them with knowledge and skills, getting stable jobs, living independently in the future and a way for them to integrate into the community as quickly and properly as possible[1]. Ensuring the right to education of CWDs in particular, and people with disabilities (PWDs) in general, Vietnamese law affirms the government’ responsibility for facilitating PWDs’ studies in accordance with their needs and capabilities (Clause 3, Article 61 of Constitution 2013, Article 27 of Law on People with Disabilities 2010). In order to encourage CWDs to receive education, Vietnamese government has introduced a lot of preferential policies, ranging from enrollment, curricula, assessment to provision of learning aids and materials when necessary[2], and particularly tuition fees and learning expenses.

1. Several updates in the preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support for CWDs

The preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support for CWDs is recognized in Clause 2, Article 27 of Law on People with Disabilities 2010, whereby CWDs “…are entitled to exemption from or reduction in tuition fees, training costs and other fees; consideration for scholarships; support in terms of learning aids and school supplies.” In accordance with the socio-economic development in each period, the government implements different policies on tuition fees exemption & reduction and learning expenses support for CWDs.

Since its promulgation (on June 14, 2019), Education Law 2019 has demonstrated the government’s great interest in education for PWDs. The preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses is directly included in Article 85 on “Scholarships, social allowances, tuition fees exemption and reduction, tuition fees and living expenses support.” To specify the regulations of the Law, on August 27, 2021, the government issued Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP speculating the mechanism of charging and managing tuition fees for educational institutions under the national education system, the policy on tuition fees exemption and reduction as well as learning expenses support, service fees in the field of education and training (this Decree has taken effect since October 15, 2021, in place of Decree No. 86/2015/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 145/2018/NĐ-CP). In particular, the preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support for CWDs is included in Articles 14, 15, 18 and 20 of this Decree.

Accordingly, Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP expands the scope of PWDs (including CWDs) who are entitled to the preferential policy on education and increase in monthly learning expenses support during academic years compared to current legal documents (up to the date of writing this article – September 2021). Specifically, Decree No. 86/2015/NĐ-CP issued on October 02, 2015 by the government regarding the mechanism of charging and managing tuition fees for educational institutions under the national education system and the policy on tuition fees exemption and reduction as well as learning expenses support from academic year 2015 – 2016 to academic year 2020 – 2021 (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 145/2018/NĐ-CP).

Why is there such an assertion?

Firstly, compared to Decree No. 86/2015/ NĐ-CP, Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP expands the scope of CWDs entitled to the preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support:

Currently, in accordance with regulations in Articles 6, 7, 8 and 10 of Decree No. 86/2015/ NĐ-CP, not all CWDs are entitled to tuition fees exemption and reduction as well as learning expenses support when they go to school. Specifically, in terms of tuition fees, except for primary school students in public educational institutions who do not have to pay tuition fees, in cases of preschool children or mainstream students, only CWDs encountering financial difficulties (from poor households, near-poor households and CWDs orphaned by their parents) or considered prioritized cases are eligible for tuition fees exemption or reduction. Regulations on learning expenses support are similar.

Meanwhile, in this regard, Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP stipulates as follows:

“Article 14. Students not having to pay tuition fees

1. Public primary school students…”

“Article 15. Students exempted from tuition fees

…2. Preschool children and students with disabilities.”

“Article 18. Students receiving learning expenses support

…2. Preschool children, mainstream students and students with disabilities attending continuing educational institutions under the general educational program…”

Based on the aforementioned regulations, it can be affirmed that Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP expands the scope of beneficiaries of the preferential policy on education, aimed at recognizing all CWDs (with valid disability certificates) attending educational institutions under the national education system are entitled to the preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support. Specifically:

Regarding tuition fees: CWDs who are public primary school students do not have to pay tuition fees, preschool children and students with disabilities are exempted from tuition fees (Clause 1, Article 14 and Clause 2, Article 15 of Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP).

Regarding learning expenses support: Preschool children and CWDs who are mainstream students and students attending continuing educational institutions under the general educational program receive learning expenses support to buy books, notebooks and other school supplies (Clause 2, Article 18 of Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP).

Secondly, the monthly tuition fee support per academic year for CWDs in accordance with Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP is increased by 1.5 times compared to Decree No. 86/2015/ NĐ-CP:

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 11 of Decree No. 86/2015/ NĐ-CP, preschool children or mainstream students with disabilities encountering financial difficulties (from poor or near-poor households) or CWDs orphaned by their parents are directly supported by the government with learning expenses of 100,000 VND/student/month to buy books, notebooks and other school supplies in the actual school time and no more than 9 months/academic year.

In fact, this support is not great compared to the prices of basic textbooks in accordance with the curricula, not to mention specific learning materials[3]. Therefore, in order to support children further during their learning process, in accordance with Clause 10, Article 20 of Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP, from the 2021 – 2022 academic year, the government has increased the learning expenses support for CWDs by 1.5 times, with the amount of 150,000 VND/student/month to buy books, notebooks and other school supplies in the actual school time and no more than 9 months/academic year.

In addition, it should be noted that CWDs’ entitlement to the preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support in accordance with Decree No. 86/2015/NĐ-CP or Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP does not exclude their enjoyment of policies on exclusive scholarships and learning expenses support for PWDs in accordance with Joint Circular No. 42/2013/TTLT-BGDĐT-BLĐTBXH-BTC. In particular, regarding learning expenses support, as specified in Clause 2, Article 7 of the Circular, CWDs are entitled to the most favorable support regime in accordance with Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP. Regarding scholarships, CWDs from poor and near-poor households attending preschools, mainstream educational institutions, continuing educational institutions, specialized schools and inclusive education development support centers are also eligible for monthly scholarships equal to 80% of the base salary as prescribed by the government in each period[4]. Scholarships are awarded for 9 months/academic year (Clause 1, Article 7 of Joint Circular No. 42/2013/TTLT-BGDĐT-BLĐTBXH-BTC).

2. Significance of new the preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support for CWDs

Updates in the preferential policy on tuition fees and learning expenses support for CWDs to go to school in Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP have many important implications in terms of legislation and practice.

First of all, Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP can be considered a “push” for the government to take responsibility for facilitating CWDs’ studies. Studying is a citizen’s right, but PWDs have limited learning opportunities compared to other people, so it is necessary to support them in studying and exercise their right to study. Such support comes from not only their relatives and family members, but also the government, the community and the society. This is the basic principle of education for PWDs as stipulated in the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for PWDs 1993. To specify this principle, Clause 3, Article 61 of Constitution 2013 and Clause 1, Article 27 of Law on People with Disabilities 2010 stipulate the government’s responsibility to facilitate learning and vocational training for PWDs. At the same time, Vietnamese law also recognizes a number of rights related to education of PWDs, in which “PWDs… are entitled to exemption from and reduction in tuition fees, training costs and other fees; consideration for scholarships; support in terms of learning aids and school supplies” (Clause 2, Article 27 of Law on People with Disabilities 2010). Corresponding to PWDs’ rights are the government’s responsibilities. Although based on the socio-economic development in each period, the government introduces different policies on tuition fees exemption & reduction and learning expenses support for CWDs, in general, before Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP was issued, not all CWDs attending schools had been entitled to such policies. This also means that the government has not fulfilled its responsibility to facilitate CWDs’ attending schools. When Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP has come into force (October 15, 2021), specifying that all CWDs (with disability certificates) are entitled to tuition fees exemption and learning expenses support, the government must certainly be responsible for creating favorable conditions regarding tuition fees and learning expenses support to buy books, notebooks and other school supplies for all CWDs attending educational institutions under the national education system. In other words, updates in Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP have created a “push”, which is an important legal basis for the government to facilitate CWDs’ attending schools.

Next, regulations in Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP contribute to opening up opportunities for children to go to school, study, have stable jobs and live independently in the future. In fact, over the past years, around 55.5% of PWDs at the age of 5 to 24 have been eligible for tuition fees exemption and reduction[5]. This means that nearly half of PWDs have not been entitled to the preferential policy on tuition fees exemption and reduction. Considering the reality, it cannot be denied that financial conditions have considerable impacts on CWDs’ school attendance. According to the survey results in Field Report 2016, 53.7% of interviewed PWDs have dropped out of schools for many reasons. One of the major reasons was that their families could not afford their school attendance (52%)[6]. Statistics also show that more than half of PWDs aged 5 and over have not completed primary school[7] and had few opportunities for access to higher education. In comparison with the total population, the number of PWDs account for 7.06% of the population aged 2 years and over, and 15.37% of those who have not completed primary school[8]. Being unable to attend schools or dropping out of schools midway are the reasons why the literacy rate and intellectual level of PWDs are much lower than the national average. Furthermore, this leads to PWDs’ difficulties in access to employment opportunities. According to the results of Vietnam National Survey on People with Disabilities 2016, the percentage of PWDs who have not completed primary school and secured jobs is much lower than that of people without disabilities. As a result, PWDs continue to live in the vicious circle of poverty and hardship.

Obviously, for CWDs, attending schools demonstrates their effort to overcome difficulties. Our government needs to provide necessary support to encourage them to study, as Vietnam National Survey on People with Disabilities 2016 affirmed: “A policy to promote school attendance is tuition fees reduction.”[9] Based on that, requests and recommendations in supplementing regulations on tuition fees exemption and learning expenses support for PWDs to study have been proposed throughout the process of amending, supplementing to and completing legislation on education in the past years. The school gate has become closer to CWDs since the government decided on tuition fees exemptions and learning expenses support for all CWDs attending schools under the national education system in Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP. This new regulation has somehow reduced the difficulties of CWDs’ families in letting them become literate and created more opportunities for them to study, improve their knowledge and skills so that they could make use of their knowledge and talents to contribute to our country and society.

In addition, in terms of legislation, this regulation represents a huge progress in formulating, amending and supplementing to Vietnamese law in line with international commitments, the first of which is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRDP). By stipulating the policy of tuition fees exemption and learning expenses support for all PWDs attending schools under the national education system, Vietnamese law has taken a step closer to specifying the right to “access to free and quality primary and junior secondary education on an equal basis with others in the same community” of PWDs in general and CWDs in particular (Point b, Clause 2, Article 24 of CRPD).

Thus, it can be seen that Decree No. 81/2021/NĐ-CP has many updates in terms of both tuition fees and learning expenses support for CWDs attending educational institutions under the national education system. It has both legislative and practical significance, bringing PWDs, especially CWDs, closer to schooling at all levels./.