Localities are still short of 3,916,370 textbooks
On September 15, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) said that, according to aggregated data from the Vietnam Education Publishing House (VPA), by the end of September 14, 2026, the total demand for updated textbooks (textbooks) is 245.94 million copies; the print plan is 228.9 million copies. To date, VPA has supplied localities with about 236.6 million copies of textbooks.
In the afternoon of September 14, 2026, the Ministry organized an online meeting with the Departments of Education and Training of 34 provinces and cities to continue reviewing and directing the handling of textbook shortages. According to aggregated data, confirmed by 6:00 PM on September 14, 2026, localities still lack 3,916,370 textbooks.
Based on the needs confirmed by localities, the Ministry has directed NXBGDVN to continue transferring and providing additional supplies immediately on September 15, 2026; prioritizing handling cases of students who do not have books or still lack many books, especially in boarding schools in border areas, schools in remote and isolated areas, areas with difficult socio-economic conditions and students eligible for support, issuance or loan of textbooks.
Causes of textbook shortage
Objectively, the Ministry of Education and Training said that the 2026-2027 school year has many new factors simultaneously impacting: The first time using a unified set of textbooks nationwide; some localities implementing support policies, issuing textbooks, the arrangement of administrative units and reorganizing the network of schools and classes changes needs; the time from when needs are fully identified to the time to meet is very short.
These factors make the demand for textbooks fluctuate greatly, arising in a short time, while the production, printing and supply process requires preparation time" - the Ministry of Education and Training stated.
Subjectively, the Ministry of Education and Training frankly acknowledges its responsibility in forecasting, summarizing and analyzing the demand for textbooks in the new conditions, which has not kept up with reality; the assessment of production organization capacity, management and supply network of NXBGDVN is not complete; solutions to handle some limitations in supply organization and book source coordination are not fast and flexible enough.
The work of registration, forecasting and supply coordination in some localities is also not really proactive, leading to a gap between actual needs and information to serve supply. The updating of arising needs, especially after changes in school and class organization, textbook support policies and additional purchase needs of students and parents, in some places is not timely.
The Ministry of Education and Training frankly acknowledges that "the absence of local textbooks is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Training, NXBGDVN and localities".
The Ministry of Education and Training believes that the occurrence of localized textbook shortages in some localities is very regrettable; these shortcomings and limitations need to be seriously recognized, rectified and overcome, and cannot be repeated in the following school years, especially in monitoring, forecasting, data connection, checking, urging and coordinating when actual needs fluctuate.
Regarding tasks and solutions, in the immediate future, the Ministry of Education and Training focuses on handling the number of missing textbooks that have been confirmed; directs NXBGDVN to transfer books between localities, continue to print and supply additionally according to actual needs; prioritize localities, educational institutions and students who still lack books.
While waiting for the printed version, electronic textbooks are provided free of charge at taphuan. nxbgd. vn/tap-huan; educational institutions also exploit books at libraries and old books that are still usable, limiting the impact on students' learning.
The Ministry continues to direct NXBGDVN to review production capacity, management and supply network; overcome bottlenecks, strengthen coordination and build rapid response mechanisms when demand fluctuates.
Localities urgently confirm the exact needs, coordinate to supply additional supplies, and ensure that all students have enough textbooks to serve their studies.
In the long term, the Ministry will review and propose to improve the management mechanism of textbooks in the direction of identifying them as public products and services, essential and specific commodities; manage the entire supply chain based on unified data; clearly define the responsibilities of state management agencies, localities and businesses; build a reserve mechanism, flexible coordination, ensuring proactive and stable supply right from the beginning of each school year.
