Three new education bills: Developing education in the new era

On October 22, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son presented a report on three draft laws amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education, the Law on Higher Education (amended), and the Law on Vocational Education (amended).

Ho Chi Minh City students on the opening day of the new school year 2025-2026 - Photo: ANH KHOI

Regarding the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the draft focuses on institutionalizing a number of important contents of the Party, especially Resolution 71 of the Politburo .

As stipulated, lower secondary education is compulsory, preschool education is universalized for children from 3-5 years old. Supplementing regulations on principles of State policies in science and technology and digital transformation, especially the controlled application of artificial intelligence, building a national database on education and training.

There will be a plan for a unified set of textbooks in November.

The draft law stipulates that the State shall provide a set of textbooks for uniform use nationwide to ensure equal access to education, quality, modernity, and conformity with educational goals. The Government shall stipulate free textbooks for students; implement appropriate socialized solutions for textbooks, ensure sustainability, and meet the requirements for improving the quality of education...

Discussing in groups, delegates all expressed their agreement on the need to compile a unified set of textbooks. However, they suggested that attention should be paid to the quality of textbook compilation and that the ministry should have a plan for the textbooks currently in use, to avoid waste and control textbook prices.

Explaining to the group, Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that he is developing an implementation plan. The plan includes a plan and will seek the General Secretary's opinion and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval. He said that he will try to have a plan by November at the earliest and affirmed that it will be implemented in time for the 2026-2027 school year.

Another content, the bill stipulates that school councils will not be organized in public educational institutions. This is to institutionalize the provisions in Resolution 71 of the Politburo.

Accordingly, the draft law stipulates that within a maximum of 12 months from the effective date of this law, public preschools and public general education institutions are responsible for transferring the tasks and powers of the school council to the school board and reviewing, amending and supplementing relevant internal documents according to the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Add vocational secondary school at the same level as high school

Regarding the draft Law on Vocational Education (amended), Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the bill adds a type of vocational secondary school at the same level as high school to promote the effectiveness of streaming and career guidance, contributing to the universalization of high school education while providing young human resources with vocational skills for development, and at the same time does not stipulate school councils in public vocational education institutions.

Regarding linkage, the draft completes the cooperation mechanism between schools and enterprises through the formation of a diverse network of institutions participating in vocational education, encouraging enterprises to directly participate in program development, teaching, internship and assessment, along with regulations on the mechanism for establishing a fund for training human resources for enterprises.

In addition, the law also emphasizes innovation in training programs, enrollment, recognition of learning outcomes, expansion of financial support policies, preferential credit for learners...

In the process of amending the three bills, we thoroughly grasp the spirit of perfecting the law not only to remove bottlenecks, overcome existing problems and limitations in practice, but more importantly to create and pave the way for the development of the education sector in the new period.

Minister Nguyen Kim Son

Ensuring uniqueness and autonomy

Explaining further to the group about the Prime Minister's authority to appoint the director of the National University, Mr. Son said that he will continue to research and carefully review to ensure compliance with legal regulations. At the same time, he will ensure the specificity, autonomy and accountability of special higher education institutions.

He said that in the process of restructuring public service units, the focal point in charge of the two National Universities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is the Ministry of Education and Training. However, considering the long-term development goals of the higher education system, the two national universities have a special mission to become locomotives, training and research centers with national and international influence. Therefore, it is necessary to give the two national universities some specific mechanisms and policies.

Regarding "regional universities", he said that they have been used stably and popularly in the Vietnamese higher education system and have been affirmed in many documents of the Party and State. Currently, besides the two National Universities, the country has a number of regional universities such as Thai Nguyen University, Hue University, Da Nang University...

These are models that have affirmed their important role in allocating resources, improving training quality and promoting the development of higher education by region. Therefore, continuing to maintain and perfect this model in the law is completely reasonable, with clear political, legal and practical bases.

Arranging leadership personnel in educational institutions

Minister Nguyen Kim Son further explained about not organizing school councils and arranging leadership personnel in educational institutions in the draft revised Education Law. He said that integrating the two positions of Party Secretary and head of educational institution (principal or director) is a major content, requiring synchronous direction from both the Party and the government. The Politburo and the General Secretary assigned the Ministry of Education and Training to coordinate with the Central Organizing Committee to develop a project so that when the law comes into effect, the new apparatus can operate immediately, without interruption.

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THANH CHUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ba-du-luat-giao-duc-moi-phat-trien-giao-duc-trong-thoi-ky-moi-20251023094027854.htm