[REVISION HISTORY]

Vietnam advances K-12 textbook reform and school mergers

Updated 55 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-11 06:51 UTC → 2026-10-27 23:32 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Vietnam continues its educational reforms through curriculum updates and massive institutional restructuring. Following directives from Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) is preparing a unified K-12 textbook set for nationwide implementation in the 2028–2029 school year. This reform includes centralizing textbook copyrights as state assets, transferring ownership from the Vietnam Education Publishing House (VEPH) to the Ministry to facilitate a roadmap for providing free books to students. To lower costs, MoET is researching ways to eliminate intermediaries and may delegate printing and distribution to local provinces. ~~The Ministry is also reviewing the general education curriculum to reduce academic pressure and emphasize STEM, digital literacy, and practical experience.~~ Simultaneously, a large-scale reorganization of public schools has significantly altered the educational landscape. All 34 provinces and cities have implemented restructuring, reducing the number of public educational institutions by 50.6%, from 37,530 to 18,555. This consolidation has resulted in 13,518 multi-campus institutions and 2,418 schools serving multiple educational levels. The restructuring has eliminated 33,870 management positions, leading to various reassignments, retirements, and transfers. ~~Regarding resource and organizational challenges, the~~ Minister Hoang Minh Son has directed local authorities to manage these personnel transitions carefully to ensure staff unity. The 2026–2027 school ~~year—the~~ year, the first to implement a unified textbook ~~set—has seen localized shortages despite supply assurances. MoET~~ set, has ~~submitted a report to the Prime Minister, identifying the Department~~ faced significant logistical challenges. Despite VEPH distributing hundreds of ~~General Education, the Department~~ millions of ~~Planning~~ copies, localized shortages of approximately 3.9 million books occurred due to administrative restructuring and ~~Finance, the Vietnam Education Publishing House,~~ shifting demand. While MoET reported that supply was largely stabilized by late September, provinces like Hai Phong and ~~its Supervisory Board for accountability reviews. The Ministry stated~~ Gia Lai reported ongoing difficulties. In response, the ~~review must focus on “shortcomings in guidance, demand aggregation, and~~ Politburo has established an inspection team to investigate the supply chain ~~management.” Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Lê Tiến Châu has called for~~ and hold responsible entities accountable, with investigations expected to conclude by December 2026. Additionally, the sector faces a ~~review~~ national teacher deficit of ~~large-scale schools created through mergers. While consolidation aims to reduce costs, concerns persist regarding whether massive institutions can maintain safety~~ over 100,000 staff, prompting discussions on increasing teaching quotas and ~~quality.~~ reforming teacher training institutions.

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