Vietnam’s education sector is entering a transformative phase as the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) prepares to restructure the entire system - from preschool to higher education - with the goal of establishing a more efficient school network and improving educational quality nationwide.

Proposal to merge schools starting from preschool level

MOET has recently sent a draft guideline on reorganizing preschool, general education, and continuing education institutions to the Ministries of Justice, Home Affairs, Finance, and to provincial and municipal governments.

The Ministry is urging localities to conduct a comprehensive review of their entire education network, including schools, satellite campuses, class sizes, teaching and administrative staff, and facility conditions - such as classrooms, dormitories, teachers' housing, kitchens, sanitation, clean water systems, and teaching equipment.

Based on this review, provinces and cities are to develop rational and cost-effective plans to restructure the system, which may involve merging, consolidating, dissolving, or establishing new educational institutions to optimize resources.

The Ministry recommends prioritizing the model of combined primary and lower secondary schools in sparsely populated or remote areas. It also encourages the merger of small, substandard preschools and primary schools within the same commune, following an appropriate roadmap.

Schools and satellite campuses with favorable conditions in terms of infrastructure, transportation, and population density should be retained, while ineffective and substandard satellite campuses should be dissolved. Students and learners from these campuses should be transferred to central schools with adequate facilities.

Continuing education centers and vocational-education centers will also be reorganized to better meet lifelong learning needs and suit the administrative models of provincial and local levels.

MOET emphasizes that the restructuring must not reduce children's or students’ access to education, nor compromise safety or accessibility. Mergers should not occur if travel distances are too far or transportation is inadequate.

Schools should only be merged within the same commune. Priority should be given to retaining campuses with favorable conditions, while eliminating ineffective satellite campuses.

During the reorganization process, each commune must maintain at least one preschool, one primary school, and one lower secondary school. In special cases, integrated primary and lower secondary schools may be formed, but with separate designated spaces for each level to ensure proper teaching conditions.

The Ministry has explicitly prohibited merging preschools with general education schools, and continuing education institutions with general education schools.

About 140 higher education institutions to be restructured

At a recent higher education conference in mid-September, Minister Nguyen Kim Son announced a large-scale restructuring of Vietnam’s public universities.

Under Resolution 71 of the Politburo, there is an urgent need to reorganize and restructure higher education institutions, dissolve those that fail to meet standards, eliminate intermediate administrative levels, consider merging research institutes with universities, and transfer some institutions to local government control.

Except for those under the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of National Defense, and private institutions, approximately 140 public universities currently administered by various central and local government agencies are subject to restructuring.

“There will be a significant reduction in administrative units,” Minister Son stated. He noted that possible scenarios include transferring centrally-managed universities to local authorities, merging local schools with centrally-managed ones, or consolidating multiple universities under the same ministry or province. Schools with small scale or substandard performance may be dissolved altogether.

According to the Minister, the restructuring - especially among institutions with overlapping disciplines - is meant to address the fragmentation and inefficiency plaguing Vietnam’s higher education sector.

“A special task force under MOET will develop detailed proposals for submission to the Prime Minister,” he explained. “Implementation will follow a top-down mandate, similar to the recent mergers of provinces and municipalities.”

The aim is not simply to reduce the number of institutions, but to strengthen and improve them. Minister Son added that some universities, although small, will be preserved due to their strategic geopolitical importance and will be required to rapidly develop.

Currently, there are clusters of universities with overlapping or complementary programs. For example, in the economics and law group: National Economics University, Foreign Trade University, Academy of Finance, University of Commerce, and Hanoi Law University. In the infrastructure and architecture group: Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, Hanoi Architectural University, University of Transport and Communications, University of Transport Technology, and Water Resources University. In the medical group: Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi University of Pharmacy, and the Academy of Traditional Medicine.

Thanh Hung