Ho Chi Minh City looks to launch free textbook program for all students

The proposal is aimed at replacing an earlier plan that would have initially benefited only students in grades 1, 6, and 10.

According to the proposal, sent to relevant departments and agencies for consultation, the program will be carried out under a borrow-and-return system for students enrolled in both public and private schools across the city.

The policy will also extend to learners in continuing education programs, as well as participants in literacy education courses.

Under the city’s original roadmap, only first-, sixth-, and 10th-grade students were expected to receive free textbook loans starting in the 2026-27 school year, which starts in September, with the program gradually expanding each year until all grade levels were included by 2029.

The revised proposition accelerates that timeline by making the program available to every student from the outset.

If the scheme is approved, the department will work with local authorities to estimate the city’s textbook demand each year.

The consolidated forecast will be submitted to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee for approval by October 30, providing the basis for state budget allocations for the following academic year.

Schools will be responsible for distributing textbooks through their libraries at the beginning of each school year or semester.

The handover process must be completed no later than 15 days before the start of the new academic year.

Students will be required to return their complete set of borrowed textbooks to the school library within 15 working days after the school year ends or when they apply for transferring to another school or leaving the education system.

Also, the department will coordinate the exchange of textbooks among school libraries at the same educational level through an interconnected library network in a bid to maximize the use of existing public assets before approving the purchase of additional books.

State funding would be allocated annually within regular education spending to replace textbooks that become unusable due to normal wear and tear.

Schools would also be permitted to purchase reserve stock equivalent to no more than 10 percent of the actual demand.

Compensation for lost or damaged books

Ho Chi Minh City is home to nearly 2.5 million students across all educational levels.

Under the proposal, students or their legal guardians would be required to compensate schools for textbooks that are lost or damaged beyond further use owing to negligence.

The preferred method of compensation would be to replace the item with a new copy of the same textbook.

If replacement is not possible, financial compensation will be calculated based on the length of time the book has been used.

Borrowers will pay 80 percent of the book’s value if it has been used for less than one year, 50 percent if it has been used for between one and three years, and 20 percent if it has been in circulation for between three and five years.

No compensation would be required for textbooks that had been in use for more than five years.