New schools and support policies are reshaping ethnic minority education in Vietnam, with the focus shifting from basic access to learning quality and future opportunities.
The 2026-2027 academic year has been identified as a year of transition, breakthroughs and substantive change in education and training. It will also test what fundamental, comprehensive and distinctive changes the implementation of Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW, dated August 22, 2025, can deliver compared with previous academic years.
For ethnic minority education, the new school year begins with a range of policies aimed at ensuring that every student has access to quality education. Yet beyond greater investment, what matters more is whether those resources can be translated into real progress for learners.
New schools along the border
General Secretary and President To Lam with ethnic minority students at the inauguration of Si Pa Phin Primary and Lower Secondary Boarding School in Dien Bien Province on January 31, 2026. Photo: VNA
The opening ceremony for the 2026-2027 academic year took place from 7:30am to 8:30am on September 5, combining in-person and online events nationwide.
A highlight of this year’s opening day was the inauguration of inter-level boarding schools that had met the conditions to begin operation. This came after more than a year of implementing the Politburo’s policy under Notice No. 81-TB/TW, dated July 18, 2025, on investment in schools for land-border communes.
According to a report by the Ministry of Education and Training, the first phase involves the construction of 108 inter-level boarding schools across 19 provinces and cities, which are expected to add 4,396 classrooms and meet the educational needs of around 113,000 students in border areas.
Ahead of the 2026-2027 academic year, more than 90 schools had been handed over. For projects that were less than 90% complete, local authorities were prioritizing the completion of classrooms, administrative buildings, boarding facilities and dining halls to ensure adequate learning and living conditions for students.
These figures show how a major policy is rapidly being translated into tangible infrastructure. Yet the value of these new schools cannot be measured solely by the number of classrooms added or the percentage of construction completed.
After the opening ceremonies, the real test begins: Will students attend school more regularly, learn better and have greater opportunities to develop?
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Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attends the opening ceremony for the 2026-2027 academic year and the inauguration of Muong Khuong Primary and Lower Secondary Boarding School in Muong Khuong Commune, Lao Cai Province. Photo: chinhphu.vn/Nhat Bac
Building inter-level boarding schools, therefore, is not simply about adding more schools and classrooms. It is a comprehensive policy designed to safeguard the right to education, improve living conditions and enhance the quality of human resources in ethnic minority, mountainous and border areas.
Under Notice No. 81-TB/TW, the Politburo identified investment in schools for land-border communes as a key and important task in implementing ethnic minority policies. Such investment is intended not only to raise educational standards and improve human resource quality while developing a pool of ethnic minority officials, but also to contribute to strengthening national defense and security in border regions.
Ensuring learning and living conditions for boarding students
Alongside investment in school infrastructure, the Government has issued Decree No. 188/2026/ND-CP, setting out policies for students at boarding schools and boarding schools in land-border communes.
Under the decree, schools are given priority for investment in facilities and teaching equipment. They also receive funding for the operation and maintenance of buildings and machinery, regular activities and the responsibilities associated with specialized schools.
Muong Khuong Primary and Lower Secondary Boarding School is one of four border schools in Lao Cai Province where construction began in November 2025. With 28 classrooms serving 980 students from ethnic minority communities including Mong, Dao, Tay, Giay and Tu Di, the project has a total investment of VND257 billion (about US$9.7 million). Pictured: Teachers and students ahead of the new academic year. Photo: Trong Bao
The Ministry of Education and Training is seeking broad public feedback on a draft decree setting out preferential admission and learning-support policies for students from ethnic groups with very small populations.
One of the draft’s key proposals is monthly financial support equivalent to 150% of the statutory base salary for university and postgraduate students from these ethnic groups, along with priority access to dormitory accommodation. The ministry is expected to submit the decree to the Government for issuance in October 2026.
Boarding students receive VND1.17 million per month in meal support for up to nine months of each academic year, as well as VND2.05 million per academic year to purchase uniforms and learning supplies. At each level of education, students are also provided with blankets, mosquito nets and other personal items worth VND2.05 million per student.
Investing simultaneously in schools and ensuring adequate food and accommodation shows that the policy is moving beyond simply getting children into classrooms. It is increasingly focused on creating an environment in which they can remain in school and study with peace of mind over the long term.
Narrowing the gap in access to education
Ensuring equity in education is one of the most prominent priorities for the new academic year.
At a meeting on preparations for the 2026-2027 academic year and the implementation of Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW on June 15, General Secretary To Lam stressed that support policies should follow the principle that areas facing greater difficulties should receive greater assistance.
Co Tu students at Tay Giang Primary and Lower Secondary Boarding School in Da Nang are all smiles on the opening day of the new academic year on September 5. Photo: Huy Truong
In that spirit, a range of new policies were introduced ahead of the new academic year.
The Ministry of Education and Training is also gathering feedback on a draft decree governing preferential admission and learning-support policies for students from ethnic groups with very small populations. One notable proposal would provide university and postgraduate students from these groups with monthly support equivalent to 150% of the statutory base salary, while giving them priority for dormitory accommodation. The decree is expected to be submitted to the Government in October 2026.
A policy providing free general education textbooks has also been introduced under Decree No. 271/2026/ND-CP, dated July 3, 2026.
Under the roadmap, all students nationwide will receive free textbooks from the 2029-2030 academic year. However, several localities with large ethnic minority student populations, including Khanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Ninh, Ca Mau, Hue and Gia Lai, have already introduced the policy from the 2026-2027 academic year.
Reducing the cost of education is an important step toward realizing the goal of equitable access, particularly for students in areas that continue to face significant difficulties.
During the 2025-2026 academic year, around 4.82 million preschool children and 19.08 million school students attended classes nationwide. The age-appropriate enrollment rate reached 98.3% at primary level, 93.3% at lower secondary level and 67.5% at upper secondary level.
(Figures from the Ministry of Education and Training’s conference reviewing the 2025-2026 academic year and outlining tasks for 2026-2027, held on August 27, 2026.)
The true measure lies in how students’ lives change
Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung, Deputy Minister of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Y Vinh Tor and other delegates inspect desks, chairs and computer equipment at Ia Puch Primary and Lower Secondary Boarding School in Gia Lai Province. Photo: Ngoc Thu
Taken as a whole, the 2026-2027 academic year marks a notable shift in education policy for ethnic minority, mountainous and border areas.
Resources are being concentrated on removing long-standing bottlenecks involving schools, teachers, food and accommodation, education costs and access to learning opportunities.
At a meeting on August 25 reviewing one year of implementing Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW, General Secretary To Lam called for a focus on ensuring the essential conditions for education, beginning with the goal of having “enough schools, enough classrooms and enough teachers.”
In the 2025-2026 academic year, around 4.82 million preschool children and 19.08 million school students attended classes nationwide. Age-appropriate enrollment rates stood at 98.3% at primary level, 93.3% at lower secondary level and 67.5% at upper secondary level.
Having enough schools, classrooms and teachers is essential, but it is not the ultimate goal.
New schools and additional support policies merely create the foundation. What matters more is whether that investment actually helps students attend school more regularly, reduces the risk of dropping out, improves learning outcomes and gives them greater opportunities to develop.
The goal is to ensure that no student’s opportunity to learn is restricted by a shortage of schools, classrooms or teachers, and that a child’s educational quality and future are not determined too heavily by where they happen to be born and raised.
That is also the test for the implementation of Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW. If policy stops at channeling more resources into disadvantaged areas, only the input side of the equation will have been addressed.
The ultimate measure must be how far the gaps in educational quality and development opportunities between students in disadvantaged areas and those in more favorable locations can be narrowed.
On September 5, Vietnam entered the 2026-2027 academic year, the first school year following the 14th National Party Congress. It marks not only the beginning of another academic year, but also a transition from laying the groundwork for reform to delivering substantive change.
The State can create the conditions through schools, teachers and support policies. But ultimately, the effectiveness of all those resources must be visible in the learners themselves. Every school built and every policy introduced only truly matters when it helps a child in a disadvantaged area learn better, go further and have more opportunities for the future.
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