Vietnam Ministry of Education to launch unified K-12 textbooks by 2028

Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is preparing a new unified set of textbooks for grades 1 through 12, intended for nationwide implementation starting from the 2028–2029 school year. Following directives from Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, the Ministry is reviewing the general education curriculum to reduce academic pressure, minimize unnecessary specialized knowledge, and emphasize practical experience, STEM, digital literacy, and national values.

A key component of this reform is the centralization of textbook copyrights. MOET plans to establish a legal mechanism to define textbook copyrights as state assets, transferring ownership from the Vietnam Education Publishing House to the Ministry. This move aims to facilitate a roadmap for providing free textbooks to students.

To reduce costs for families and the state budget, the Ministry is also researching ways to cut out intermediaries in the distribution process and is considering delegating printing and distribution responsibilities to local provinces. Additionally, MOET is addressing immediate shortages of textbooks for the 2026–2027 school year and has ordered investigations into those responsible for supply failures.