On September 22, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Le Tien Chau chaired a meeting on the situation and progress of implementing the arrangement of public vocational education (GDNN) institutions.
As of September 18, 2026, the whole country has 281 public vocational education institutions, of which: 90 institutions belong to ministries, branches and central agencies; 191 institutions belong to localities. Thus, the whole country has reduced 33 vocational education institutions (equivalent to a decrease of about 10.5% compared to July 31, 2026).
It is expected that by October 1, 2026, 23 colleges directly under ministries and sectors will be arranged and retained; 19 colleges and intermediate schools will be transferred to local management; and 58 vocational education institutions in localities will be arranged to be reduced.
Regarding the guiding viewpoint, Deputy Prime Minister Le Tien Chau said that the rearrangement of VET institutions is necessary, urgent and must be implemented quickly but very cautiously and surely.
The ultimate goal of the rearrangement is not to reduce focal points but to link vocational training with the human resource needs of the labor market; meeting market requirements on quantity, professional qualifications, nghiệp vụ and vocational skills. Governance must be better, use resources more effectively, higher quality of training, and workers' rights are better guaranteed.
Regarding specific tasks, the Deputy Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) to preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to urgently complete the principles and criteria for determining VET institutions and public higher education institutions in specialized fields.
At the same time, focus on appraising and definitively handling dossiers of plans to merge and dissolve colleges of ministries, branches, and localities according to their authority, ensuring completion before October 1st; monitoring, urging, and summarizing the progress and results of arranging vocational training institutions of ministries, branches, and localities; proposing, recommending, and promptly reporting on difficulties and obstacles.
For ministries and ministerial-level agencies with affiliated VET institutions, the Deputy Prime Minister proposed to implement 3 tasks.
First, urgently complete the plan to arrange VET institutions under management; clearly define the plan for each institution: Maintain and continue to be under ministries and sectors; merge; reorganize; dissolve or transfer to local management.
Second, complete the dossier of the project on merging and dissolving colleges for merging and dissolving institutions, and send it to the Ministry of Education and Training for appraisal for consideration and decision according to its authority before October 1.
Complete the dossier for transferring vocational training institutions directly under local management, send it to the Ministry of Home Affairs for appraisal; submit it to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.
Third, organize the consolidation of the apparatus, personnel, and finances of VET institutions after the merger decision is made.
The Ministry of Finance guides the handling of assets, finance, public assets, and transitional funds after arrangement; ensuring effective use, avoiding loss and waste.
People's Committees of provinces and cities urgently report on the expected network of public vocational training institutions directly under the arrangement. In which, clearly identify which institutions remain the same, which institutions are merged, reorganized, dissolved and which institutions are received from ministries and sectors.
