Vietnam's National Assembly is pressing the education sector for answers over textbook shortages, teacher staffing gaps and exam integrity as lawmakers review problems affecting schools nationwide.
The National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Society held an accountability hearing with Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son on the morning of Sept. 20.
In her opening remarks, National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh stressed the importance of education.
Among the pressing issues she raised for discussion was an assessment of how laws and resolutions adopted by the National Assembly in the education sector have been implemented.
National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Thanh speaks at the hearing. Photo: National Assembly Media
The government and National Assembly have adopted a number of laws aimed at providing maximum support for the education sector. However, Thanh said problems that emerge during implementation need to be identified and addressed early rather than allowed to persist, create bottlenecks and ultimately lead to wider consequences.
She said that when problems in education affect a generation of students for two or three years, particularly those beginning a new level of schooling, the consequences cannot easily be remedied overnight.
Thanh also called for greater clarity on salaries, allowances and benefits for teachers, particularly those working in disadvantaged areas. She asked for an assessment of localized teacher surpluses and shortages, as well as issues arising from the restructuring of educational institutions, including the effectiveness of school principals after mergers.
She also called for an assessment of the transparency of the national high school graduation examination and university admissions process.
On textbook shortages, the National Assembly vice chairwoman described the situation as alarming and said its causes needed to be identified to prevent a recurrence. The education sector has access to data on student enrollment and textbook printing plans, she said, and should confront the problem directly to find a definitive solution.
Keeping the national high school graduation exam stable
In his opening report before answering lawmakers' questions, Education and Training Minister Hoang Minh Son said the ministry had prepared and submitted to the government a draft decree covering teacher salaries, allowances and support policies.
However, the decree has not yet been submitted to the government for issuance and will undergo further review and refinement after the Politburo provides its views on a broader salary policy reform plan.
Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son delivers his report at the hearing. Photo: National Assembly Media
According to Ministry of Education and Training figures, Vietnam was short of 104,516 public preschool and general-education teachers relative to staffing norms as of June 2026, at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
After the restructuring of schools was completed and student numbers reviewed, however, the additional staffing requirement for the 2026-2027 school year stood at 43,267 positions. Local authorities also had about 44,770 allocated positions that remained unfilled, while 48,374 contract teachers were working at public educational institutions.
Son emphasized that the reported teacher shortage was measured against official staffing norms.
Turning to the national high school graduation exam and university admissions, Son said the current model had evolved over several stages. In recent years, the exam has delivered positive results and reduced the burden on students, he said. However, misconduct occurred in some locations this year.
The Ministry of Education and Training has analyzed the causes and proposed measures aimed at preserving the stability of the examination while strengthening quality controls and minimizing misconduct.
Son said the most important objective is to ensure fairness in the selection and assessment of university applicants while improving the quality of education and Vietnam's human resources.
During the 2025-2026 school year, the ministry introduced measures to gradually tighten regulations so that university admission criteria and assessment methods better reflect applicants' actual abilities, while reducing misconduct and the use of certificates in ways that could create unfair advantages.
In its report prepared for the hearing, the ministry acknowledged that errors and violations had continued to occur during exam supervision. It attributed them mainly to human factors and failures to properly follow procedures at some examination sites.
The National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Society holds an accountability hearing with the education minister. Photo: National Assembly Media
The ministry said it would maintain the current examination model while refining regulations, standardizing its question bank, strengthening technology and security measures, stepping up inspections and imposing strict penalties for violations.
The ministry said the national examination serves several purposes: assessing students' academic performance as a basis for high school graduation, providing information for evaluating education quality, and generating reliable data that universities and vocational education institutions can choose to use in admissions.
"The examination is not a compulsory university entrance examination. Educational institutions have the right to decide whether to use its results or other admission methods in accordance with regulations," the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the system offers several advantages. The examination is administered uniformly nationwide while allowing students to sit it in their own localities, significantly reducing travel and accommodation costs as well as broader social pressure compared with the previous system of multiple examinations.
Nationwide exam data also provide a basis for evaluating and comparing education quality among localities and educational institutions and can support policymaking.
However, organizing a nationwide examination places stringent demands on exam quality, question banks, physical facilities, digital infrastructure, security and measures to prevent cheating. Differences in examination conditions among regions, the risk of cheating with advanced technological devices, human error and the need to ensure independent inspection and oversight remain challenges that need to be addressed.
The Ministry of Education and Training said it would maintain the existing examination model for now while gradually modernizing assessment procedures. It has submitted to the prime minister a proposal to introduce computer-based high school graduation exams in phases, taking into account differences in infrastructure among localities.
Vietnamnet.vn
Podcast
.svg){kind=icon}
