On July 21, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee announced that it had just issued Official Dispatch No. 8961 on implementing the policy of free general education textbooks and support funds at the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year.
According to the document, Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Thai Van Thanh assigned the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Finance, and the People's Committees of communes and wards to base on their functions and tasks to implement the policy of free general education textbooks and support funds at the beginning of the new school year.
The implementation must closely follow the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training in Official Dispatch No. 4369/BGDĐT-KHTC dated July 10, 2026 and the direction of the People's Committee of Nghe An province, ensuring efficiency and compliance with regulations.
Previously, in Official Dispatch No. 8605/UBND-VX dated July 14, 2026, Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Thai Van Thanh assigned the Department of Education and Training to preside over and coordinate with the Department of Finance, People's Committees of communes, wards and related units to advise the Provincial People's Committee to implement Decree No. 271/2026/ND-CP dated July 3, 2026 of the Government.
The Decree stipulates the exemption of general education textbooks; tuition fee exemption and curriculum for National Defense and Security Education at higher education institutions and vocational education. The implementation advice must be completed before July 31, 2026.
The subjects of application include general education students studying at public and private educational institutions implementing the General Education Program; students studying National Defense and Security Education subjects at public and private training institutions.
Funds for policy implementation are allocated from the state budget according to the current decentralization. The Central budget supports local budgets according to the principle of targeted support to implement social security policies in each period.
According to the roadmap, from the 2029-2030 school year, all students nationwide will be exempt from textbooks. Localities with the ability to balance budgets or mobilize socialized resources are encouraged to deploy earlier, prioritizing border areas, islands, ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas and areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions.
The People's Committees of provinces and cities are fully responsible for organizing the implementation of policies in localities; transferring textbooks between educational institutions at the same level according to the library inter-agency mechanism to improve the efficiency of using public assets.
Localities must approve the annual textbook demand forecast plan before October 30 to serve as a basis for making estimates, and at the same time ensure that books are stored in school libraries no later than June 15 every year.
Provincial People's Committees are allowed to decide on the form and decentralize authority to purchase textbooks and curriculum; organize centralized procurement or assign it to the Department of Education and Training, People's Committees of communes, wards, and educational institutions to implement, ensuring publicity, transparency and compliance with bidding regulations.
