No legitimate prohibition of tutoring
From May 15, 2026, Circular 19/2026/TT-BGDĐT amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular 29/2024/TT-BGDĐT on tutoring and extra classes officially takes effect.
Compared to previous regulations, Circular 19/2026/TT-BGDDT has clarified the scope of educational activities that are not considered tutoring and extra classes. This regulation affirms that supplementary programs, such as strengthening English outside the official curriculum, are still allowed to be implemented according to relevant legal regulations.
Accordingly, activities that are not within the content of the curriculum of official subjects will not be considered tutoring and will not be within the scope of regulation of the Circular. These activities include: Cultural, artistic, and sports education; strengthening foreign language proficiency; STEM/STEAM education; digital skills education, artificial intelligence (AI); career guidance, life skills education and other comprehensive development content for students.
The Circular also emphasizes the responsibility of teachers when participating in extra classes outside the school. Teachers must be transparent about the content, location, time of extra classes and related relationships to prevent conflicts of interest, ensure compliance with the code of conduct and teacher ethics according to the Law on Teachers.
Regarding duration, each subject is still only allowed to organize extra classes for a maximum of 2 periods/week. However, the principal is given more proactive power when he can propose to the Director of the Department of Education and Training to allow increasing duration for some groups of students according to regulations, accompanied by accountability.
In addition, out-of-school tutoring facilities must publicize the curriculum, duration, list of teachers and fee level to increase transparency and create conditions for society to supervise.
The Circular also requires the establishment of a hotline at all management levels, from schools, commune-level People's Committees to Departments of Education and Training to receive and handle feedback from parents, students and people related to tutoring and extra classes.
Integrate lifelong learning records on VNeID
Decree 88/2026/ND-CP of the Government on management of education and training data takes effect from May 15, 2026.
Accordingly, each individual in the national education system will be issued a lifelong learning application code based on a personal identification number. All data on transcripts, training results, diplomas, and certificates of learners will be centrally stored at the National Database on Education and Training, and integrated display on the VNeID electronic identification application.
The government set out a roadmap for issuing lifelong learning application codes starting from May 15, 2026 and completing nationwide before January 1, 2027.
The digitization of learning data is expected to help simplify administrative procedures, limit diploma fraud, and at the same time support learners, management agencies and recruitment units to easily look up and verify information in the digital environment.
Clear identification of school types
From May 10, 2026, Circular 15/2026/TT-BGDDT officially takes effect, applying a unified General Charter for primary schools, secondary schools, high schools and general schools of many levels nationwide.
The new charter consolidates separate regulations, synchronizing the organization, management and operation of the school.
According to the new charter, general schools are divided into three main groups including one-level schools; multi-level schools and specialized school systems.
In which, the specialized school system includes ethnic minority boarding and semi-boarding schools; specialized high schools; art and sports talent schools; educational institutions for people with disabilities and reform schools.
Supplementing the "Level 1 Money" level in the foreign language proficiency framework
Circular 33/2026/TT-BGDĐT on the Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam officially takes effect from May 31, 2026.
The Circular is built on the basis of reference to the European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) updated version 2020-2021, and is also adjusted to suit the foreign language teaching and learning conditions in Vietnam.
A prominent new point is the addition of the "Pre-A1" level, for those who are just starting to learn foreign languages, especially suitable for the trend of learning foreign languages early in Vietnamese children.
The addition of this level helps to complete the foreign language proficiency assessment system in a more continuous and comprehensive direction, while facilitating the articulation and recognition of certificates with the international community.
The Circular also clarifies the description of competencies in each skill of listening, speaking, reading, and writing so that teachers, training institutions, and learners can easily apply them in teaching, testing, and assessment.
For some specific languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean, regulations allow the use of competency frameworks issued by the host country to ensure compliance with language characteristics and international practices.
