Vietnam opens new school year for 26 million students, inaugurates 107 border schools

The nationwide ceremony was held from 7:30 to 8:30 am in a hybrid format, connecting schools across the country.

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attended the main ceremony at Muong Khuong Boarding Elementary and Secondary School in northern Lao Cai Province, together with Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son and other officials.

Nearly 1,000 students from ethnic minority groups including the Mong, Dao, Bo Y, Nung, and Pa Di attended the event in traditional costumes.

Speaking at the event, Hung said the 2026-27 school year should mark substantive reform across the education system, from management and teaching methods to how student progress is assessed.

He said education must move away from “teaching what we have” toward “teaching what learners and the country need,” while shifting from simply transmitting knowledge to developing students’ abilities and personal qualities.

Schools should also place less emphasis on scores and focus more on students’ actual progress, he added.

The prime minister called on the education sector to put learners at the center, with schools as the foundation, teachers as the driving force, families as support, and society as a partner.

Addressing students, he encouraged them to learn independent thinking, teamwork, responsibility, and how to master technology rather than be controlled by it.

In northern Hung Yen Province, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended the ceremony at Le Quy Don High School, where nearly 2,000 teachers and students began the new academic year.

Across the province, more than 750,000 students and nearly 45,000 teachers and education managers joined school opening activities.

In Bac Ninh Province, Permanent Member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Tran Cam Tu attended the ceremony at the provincial Ethnic Minority Boarding School.

The school, founded in 1993, has 417 students this year, nearly 93 percent of whom are from ethnic minority groups.

It is expected to expand to 18 classes and 630 students during 2026-30, while a VND66-billion (US$2.5 million) project will add new classrooms, specialized facilities, and dormitories.

Meanwhile, about 2.3 million students in Hanoi began the new school year on Saturday.

Tran Duy Hung Secondary School served as the capital’s main venue, with Hanoi Party Secretary Tran Duc Thang attending.

The school chose “Breakthrough” as its theme for the year, with a focus on discipline, substantive quality, student skills, and physical and mental well-being.

Elsewhere across Vietnam, millions of students marked the start of the new academic year with ceremonies attended by senior officials.

In Dong Nai, more than one million students returned to school, while the city is expected to put around 350 new classrooms into use during the 2026-27 academic year.

The opening day was particularly significant in border and mountainous areas, where a series of newly built boarding schools welcomed students for the first time.

In Lang Son, more than 1,200 students began the school year at the new Mau Son Boarding Elementary and Secondary School, a nearly VND400-billion ($15.2 million) campus equipped with classrooms, a sports hall, swimming pool, and facilities for information technology, foreign languages, and arts.

In Nghe An, 10 new boarding schools in border areas opened for more than 14,000 students.

Parents said the boarding model would make schooling safer and more convenient for children who previously faced difficult journeys, particularly during floods and landslides.

More than 4,000 students in six border communes in Thanh Hoa also began studying at newly built boarding schools, while Ha Tinh inaugurated two boarding schools serving nearly 3,000 students.

The schools form part of a broader government drive to improve access to education and living conditions for children in remote and border communities.