Ahead of the 2026-2027 academic year, VietNamNet spoke with Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son about the sector’s priorities for improving the quality of teaching and learning.

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Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son. Photo: MOET

A new academic year is beginning with many new policies and tasks for the education sector. What concrete steps will the sector take to deliver visible changes right from the start of the school year?

Minister Hoang Minh Son: In this new academic year, the first priority is to implement a single, unified curriculum and set of textbooks nationwide. Schools have already prepared for this, while teachers have received training and are ready to put it into practice.

The second priority is to continue implementing mechanisms and policies for teachers in order to give the teaching workforce greater motivation.

For students, the attention and investment from the State and local authorities are also clearly reflected in a range of practical policies, including tuition exemptions. Some localities are also providing lunch support, organizing two teaching sessions a day and moving ahead of the national schedule in providing free textbooks.

This year, 108 schools in border areas are being put into operation. In the past, students had to study at small satellite school sites under very difficult conditions. This year, they have a better learning environment.

At the university level, there has been a major shift this year in training in basic sciences, key engineering disciplines and strategic technologies. More than 40,000 students, including those who enrolled in 2025 and 2026, will receive scholarships and financial support. This represents a significant change, allowing them to focus more fully on their studies and improve the quality of their learning.

Other policies to be implemented in the next stages will also have certain impacts.

How will the Ministry of Education and Training continue its efforts to build a system of “genuine learning, genuine exams and genuine talent”?

It can be said that tackling misconduct and cheating in learning and examinations is a major task. It cannot be accomplished overnight, but requires time and persistence.

To achieve this, the education sector itself must first change, beginning with reforms to assessment, including how learning is evaluated and how examinations are organized so that they genuinely reflect students’ abilities. The way schools’ performance is assessed must also change. Criteria and indicators used to evaluate schools and educational activities in individual localities need to be adjusted.

Changes in assessment will lead to concrete adjustments ranging from curricula and textbooks to teaching methods. The Ministry of Education and Training is developing and finalizing a set of education development indicators, including indicators for local education development and individual higher education institutions. These indicators will focus on substance rather than achievements for their own sake. They will accurately reflect educational quality and the conditions each school and locality has in place to ensure that quality.

At the same time, the ministry is developing an action program to further strengthen school culture, discipline in teaching and examinations, and appropriate conduct toward teachers and students. Building a disciplined, genuinely safe and healthy learning environment requires not only the efforts of the education sector but also the participation of society as a whole.

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Teachers and pupils on the opening day of the new academic year at a primary school. Photo: Trong Tung

As for the obsession with achievements, when society and families place excessive expectations on grades, it becomes difficult to achieve genuine education. Genuine education must bring real progress to learners rather than simply being measured by scores. Students need to see that their own efforts are producing results for themselves. The same applies to families: expectations should focus on their children’s progress and well-rounded development, rather than merely on grades that push them to compete with their peers or meet their parents’ expectations.

Only with the participation of society as a whole can the education sector fully carry out its responsibilities.

General Secretary and President To Lam recently called for less one-way transmission of knowledge, rote learning, superficial learning and studying merely for exams, and for greater emphasis on self-learning, practice, experience, independent and creative thinking, and problem-solving skills. What measures will the ministry take to implement this direction?

As I said, society as a whole needs to work together to bring education back to its true purpose. If students are to learn for reasons other than exams and grades, they need to understand that they are studying for their own progress rather than simply competing for scores.

For its part, the education sector needs to make major changes to assessment. It is important here to distinguish between “assessment for learning” and “assessment of outcomes.” When each student is assessed to understand where they currently stand, they can determine how they need to learn in order to improve their knowledge, capabilities and personal qualities.

Alongside assessment, teaching and learning methods need to change so that students learn deeply and meaningfully, rather than simply memorizing material to recite in class or pass an exam. Teaching and learning should provide more hands-on experiences instead of focusing only on memorization and completing exercises. Participating in practical activities and a diverse range of experiences can also help students gain stronger knowledge, develop a deeper understanding and build the capabilities they will need for their future development.

Teachers, meanwhile, should not place excessive emphasis on their class’s achievements or their students’ scores. This allows teachers to focus instead on how every student in the classroom can make the greatest possible progress. That reflects a teacher’s dedication, and it is also something the educational environment should always encourage.

As the new academic year begins, what would you like to share about the education sector’s efforts and determination in fulfilling its mission and meeting the country’s expectations in this new stage of development?

Education and training are a cause of the entire people and have always received special attention from the Party, State and society as a whole.

In the new context, the role of education and training is receiving even greater attention, particularly through the direct involvement of the country’s highest Party and State leaders.

The demands placed on education and training are greater, and so are the challenges. This requires the sector to take greater responsibility and show stronger determination and effort to adapt and meet new requirements.

The determination and efforts of the entire sector are reflected in the theme of the new academic year: “Renew thinking, drive strong change, deliver substantive results.”

I believe that with their dedication, professional responsibility and commitment to the sector’s overall development and the progress of learners, our teachers will do everything they can to translate policies and mechanisms into concrete, substantive results.

The changes taking place in every school today will have a profound impact on the development of pupils and students, who represent the country’s human resources, its people and its future. Together with schools, teachers, pupils and students, we will make every effort and remain determined to live up to the special attention and expectations that the Party, State and society as a whole have placed on the education sector.

Thanh Hung