The National Assembly has passed the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Education Law, this law takes effect from the beginning of January 2026.
One of the notable new points of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Education Law is that from 2026, no secondary school diplomas (THCS) will be issued and there will be a national unified textbook set.
Accordingly, the new law stipulates that diplomas of the national education system are documents expressed in paper form or numbers issued to learners upon graduation from high school (THPT);
Learners complete the education program, training program and meet the output standards of the corresponding level in vocational education and higher education.
Diplomas of the national education system, according to the provisions of this law, include high school diplomas, vocational secondary school diplomas, intermediate diplomas, college diplomas, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, doctoral degrees, diplomas of specialized training programs of certain specialized industries and fields.
Thus, compared to the old regulations, the amended law has removed the issuance of secondary school diplomas. Instead, students who complete the primary education program, secondary education program and meet the conditions according to the regulations of the Minister of Education and Training are certified by the school principal for completing the program.
Regarding regulations on textbooks, the law clearly states "The Government stipulates the exemption of textbooks for students".
The Minister of Education and Training decided on a set of general education textbooks for unified national use.
The National Council for Appraisal of Textbooks is regulated and established by the Minister of Education and Training according to each subject and educational activity to appraise textbooks. The Council and members of the council are responsible for the content and quality of appraisal.
The Minister of Education and Training approves textbooks for use in general education institutions after being appraised and rated as meeting standards by the National Council for Appraisal of Textbooks; stipulates standards and procedures for compiling and amending general education textbooks.
Textbooks deploying the general education program concretize the requirements of the general education program on educational goals, content, and requirements for students' qualities and abilities; orient teaching methods and methods of testing and evaluating educational quality;
The content and form of textbooks do not carry prejudices against ethnicity, religion, profession, gender, age and social status; textbooks are presented in the form of printed books, Braille textbooks, and electronic books.
