On the afternoon of October 22, the National Assembly discussed in groups three draft laws: Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the 2019 Education Law; Law on Vocational Education (amended); Law on Higher Education (amended).
The draft Law on Education amends Article 32 in the direction of stipulating that the State provides a set of textbooks for unified use nationwide. At the same time, the Government stipulates the free provision of textbooks for students.
This is a content that has received much attention and discussion from parliamentary delegates.
Participating in the discussion and contributing opinions, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Anh Tri, National Assembly Delegate of Hanoi City Youth Union, supported and said that this is the right policy, which the people are looking forward to.
However, Mr. Tri acknowledged that building a nationwide unified textbook set from the 2026-2027 school year will have many difficulties and challenges, due to limited time and large workload.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Anh Tri was concerned that the implementation would not be up to the set schedule, and at the same time, asked Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son about the plan to build a shared textbook set:
"I would like to know which set of books the Minister plans to use for the whole country? ".
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Anh Tri noted that if the Ministry plans to choose 1 of the 3 current sets of books as a shared set of books, it needs to be carefully reviewed to ensure quality.
Regarding the policy of providing free textbooks, Mr. Nguyen Tuan Thinh - National Assembly Delegate of Hanoi City Youth Union recommended that the drafting agency carefully study and soon issue specific instructions.
"We can print textbooks to distribute to schools and schools to lend students. Thus, it is both free and economical, without having to worry about having to buy textbooks every year.
Of course, during the use process, any textbooks are damaged, students lose them, and must be compensated and compensated" - Mr. Thinh suggested and said that with this option, the problem of free textbooks for students nationwide can be solved.
Discussing and answering questions and recommendations from delegates, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son emphasized that the unified textbook set for the whole country will be implemented from the 2026-2027 school year.
The compilation, appraisal and promulgation of a unified textbook set will be carried out according to a strict and scientific process, inheriting the achieved results of the previous stage, while overcoming existing shortcomings.
"The Ministry is developing a project and there will be a specific plan in the project" - Mr. Son said.
Regarding the process, the Minister said that the Ministry will ask for the General Secretary's opinion on the project and then submit it to the Prime Minister for approval.
"Try to have a plan in November" - the Minister said.
