Synchronization in teaching and learning, improving professional quality
From the 2026-2027 school year, the whole country will use a common set of textbooks "Connecting Knowledge with Life". To prepare for the first school year of implementing the unified set of textbooks, schools across the country are urgently organizing training for teachers.
Standing Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong said that the education sector will organize teacher training in a streamlined direction, focusing only on the contents that teachers still have problems with, avoiding widespread deployment causing waste of time and money.
Leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training emphasized the view that unifying a common set of textbooks does not mean that teachers and students can only teach and learn in a single set of textbooks.
The Deputy Minister affirmed that textbooks are not ordinances but only learning materials, other sets of textbooks still have scientific and practical value for teachers and students to refer to. Teachers and students can also exploit more data from books, newspapers, and the internet to enrich knowledge and serve testing and evaluation.
Accompanying localities, Vietnam Education Publishing House said that the unit has deployed more than 300 training classes from the beginning of June to the end of July according to each subject and each level of education. Up to now, about 80% of the training content has been completed. In parallel with that, electronic textbooks, lesson plans, video tutorials and digital learning materials are also uploaded to the online platform so that teachers can learn on their own at any time.
According to Vietnam Education Publishing House, textbooks issued from 2025 and earlier are still allowed to be used and reused if they are not subject to adjustment; revised books will be newly issued or accompanied by correction documents.
Vietnam Education Publishing House is committed to improving quality and reducing costs to reduce book prices. In the 2026-2027 school year, the price of grade 1-12 textbooks decreased by an average of 13.3% compared to the previous year.
Proposal to exempt textbooks from fees in the form of borrowing - returning
In addition to using a uniform set of textbooks nationwide from next school year, the Government stipulates a roadmap for applying the free textbook policy in the form of borrowing - returning from the 2029 - 2030 school year. Before the general deadline, localities that balance their own budgets can apply this policy sooner.
To date, Quang Ninh, Hue, Ca Mau and some localities have announced free textbooks for students from the 2026-2027 school year.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Education and Training has proposed a plan to exempt textbooks for all students from grades 1 to 12 in the form of borrowing - returning, applied from the 2026-2027 school year. This is a very large scale expansion compared to the initial plan (which was only planned to be piloted first with grades 1, 6 and 10 students and then expanded according to the roadmap).
Strongly supporting this policy, Mr. Dinh Phu Cuong - Principal of Nguyen Van Luong Secondary School (Binh Phu ward) commented: "If Ho Chi Minh City goes first, this is an extremely humane policy. Ho Chi Minh City was also once a leading locality in exempting students from health insurance. Compared to health insurance, the value of a set of textbooks is not too large, so if the city implements this policy, it is very welcome and proud.
Besides the positive impacts from the above proposal, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet - Principal of Hiep Tan Primary School (Phu Thanh ward) - raised the issue that when students borrow books to use throughout the year, wear and tear or damage are inevitable. Although each year schools can estimate a natural loss rate of about 5%, in the early stages of implementation, this rate may be higher.
Schools and teachers must strengthen education, guide students to be aware of preserving and equipping them with skills to preserve and use books properly to maintain the quality of books for the following school years" - Ms. Nguyet emphasized.
Agreeing with this view, Mr. Dinh Phu Cuong said that changing students' habits of writing and drawing directly into books requires time and coordination from families. When applying the mass borrowing and return policy, the number of books that schools have to manage will increase rapidly.
If lending is massive, the school's facilities are not yet ready to meet immediately. The school needs to have a separate, safe, and airy space to avoid termites and mold and must arrange specialized personnel for management. Nguyen Van Luong Secondary School has about 2,000 students, if lending the entire school, the management of the number of books is extremely large" - Mr. Dinh Phu Cuong shared the reality.
