On the afternoon of October 22, the National Assembly discussed three projects: the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education ; the draft Law on Higher Education (amended); and the draft Law on Vocational Education (amended).
The draft law amends and supplements a number of articles of the Law on Education in the direction of stipulating that the State provides a set of textbooks for uniform use nationwide. At the same time, the Government stipulates that textbooks are free for students.
Delegate Nguyen Anh Tri ( Hanoi delegation) emphasized that unifying a set of textbooks must be done. However, he raised the issue of which set of books is expected to be used and the timeframe for implementation.
According to the plan, a unified set of textbooks will be used from the 2026-2027 school year. He said that this is "too urgent" because 2025 is almost over. Mr. Tri asked: This is a big problem, but why is there no regulation in the draft law? He suggested considering and adding it to the draft law so that the Ministry of Education and Training can easily implement it.
Delegate Nguyen Tuan Thinh (Hanoi delegation) also acknowledged that implementing a unified set of textbooks from September 2026 would be "challenging and very difficult". However, he emphasized that it must be implemented to institutionalize Resolution No. 71 of the Politburo.
He said that when providing free textbooks with a unified set of textbooks, the drafting agency needs to conduct research to guide the implementation of the feasibility. He suggested printing textbooks to give to schools for students to borrow. This would be both free and economical. In case the books are damaged, students who lose them will have to pay compensation and buy replacements. Then, the implementation of the free textbook policy will be easier.
Regarding the regulation on the National Council for Appraisal and the Minister of Education and Training approving textbooks, Mr. Thinh proposed merging them and assigning the Government to regulate in detail.
Delegate Tran Van Sau (Dong Thap delegation) also supported the unified textbook set, when in reality there were many complaints about textbooks.
"There is a paradox that the price of any item that is socialized decreases, but the price of textbooks increases when socialized. Therefore, when selecting a unified set of textbooks for the whole country, it is necessary to clearly define which stages are socialized and which stages are done by the State," the delegate asked.
He said that the State should play a leading role in building and uniformly applying a set of textbooks nationwide.
Regarding textbook appraisal, delegate Ma Thi Thuy (Tuyen Quang delegation) commented that it is "completely appropriate", but there should be regulations to ensure independence and transparency in the appraisal process, avoiding the situation of both managing and appraising.
“There should be clear standards for council members and priority should be given to experts and experienced teachers who have no interests related to publishers,” Ms. Thuy stated her opinion.
Speaking to clarify later, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that delegate Nguyen Anh Tri should not worry, because the Ministry is building a project.
Minister Nguyen Kim Son said that the project has a plan and will ask for the leaders' opinions. "We will try to have a plan by November at the earliest," the Minister said and affirmed that it will be implemented in time for the 2026-2027 school year.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/bo-truong-gd-dt-nhanh-nhat-thang-11-se-co-phuong-an-mot-bo-sgk-thong-nhat-2455400.html
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