On Aug. 26, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, in coordination with the School of Educational Sciences under Hanoi National University of Education, held a training conference on implementing the emotional intelligence competency framework for students across the capital.

The initiative is part of the Hanoi education department’s plan to promote comprehensive, human-centered education and develop what Vietnam’s education sector describes as “happy schools.”

Vuong Huong Giang, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, said that by assessing and monitoring students’ emotional intelligence development, schools can identify the strengths, difficulties and support needs of different groups of students.

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Vuong Huong Giang, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, speaks at the conference. Photo: Ngoc Minh

The findings can then give teachers a stronger basis for adjusting classroom organization, homeroom activities, experiential learning and school counseling, she said.

To ensure effective implementation, the Hanoi education department asked schools to focus on four areas:

Raise awareness and recognize EQ development as a way to help reduce school violence and foster a safe, positive and happy educational environment.

Keep students at the center of EQ assessments and use the results to support their progress. The results must not be used to grade, rank or compare students, or as a basis for evaluating teachers or schools.

Integrate EQ naturally into group lessons, class activities, experiential learning and everyday interactions rather than turning it into a separate subject or creating additional administrative procedures and paperwork.

Follow appropriate access-control procedures and safeguard students’ data security and privacy when managing information on the EQ system.

Nguyen Ngoc Ha, vice rector of Hanoi National University of Education, said the university would work alongside the capital’s education sector to develop training materials, design assessment tools and provide systematic training for administrators and teachers.

The university will also bring together leading specialists in psychology and education to ensure that the EQ competency framework is applied scientifically while remaining appropriate for students’ psychological development, age and real-life school environments.

Under the plan, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training will pilot the program at nine educational institutions covering three levels of schooling and different parts of the city in 2026.

Based on the pilot results and feedback from teachers, students and parents, the assessment tools will be refined before the program is expanded across Hanoi.

Thanh Hung