'City education has never placed too much emphasis on studying and taking exams'

That is the affirmation of Director of Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Van Hieu about the educational development orientation of Ho Chi Minh City.

With the orientation of comprehensive education for students, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training continues to implement key tasks in digital transformation, building digital schools and happy schools.

Phone-free recess for high school students in Ho Chi Minh City

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

Ho Chi Minh City Education has never set a target of ranking in exams, and has not put pressure on teachers and students in teaching. The goal is to aim for comprehensive education for students.

Dr. NGUYEN VAN HIEU (Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City)

GOAL OF ACHIEVEMENT OF 1,000 DIGITAL SCHOOLS BY 2030

In the 2025-2026 school year, Ho Chi Minh City identified digital transformation as a key and top priority task in teaching and school administration.

With a scale of more than 3,500 public schools after merging with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces, Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the education and training sector set a target of having 1,000 digital schools by the end of 2030, accounting for 1/3 of the total number of schools in the city.

As for students, the Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City said that it is necessary to ensure that 100% of students in the city can study in a digital environment. At the same time, 100% of teachers must know how to use digital learning materials and shared databases across the industry to organize teaching for students.

Dr. Hieu said that digital devices are not a barrier today because they have entered daily life, in every activity in all fields. Therefore, if digital skills are not promptly equipped for students, they may be overwhelmed, unable to adapt, use, and promote positivity in the digital society. "The responsibility of schools is to equip students with digital skills, not to prevent students from accessing digital devices," Mr. Hieu emphasized.

For example, after finishing primary school, students must be proficient in using and know the benefits and harms of using smart devices. From secondary school and above, students have the skills to exploit data and information, communicate and cooperate in the digital environment, protect digital health, etc.

The Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City acknowledged that the education sector currently has many advantages in terms of legal bases and foundations with policies from the Central Government in science and technology innovation and digital transformation. Accordingly, Resolution 57 of the Politburo specifically requested to spend at least 3% of the local regular expenditure on science and technology development activities and digital transformation. Particularly for the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Hieu said that he has requested specialized departments, especially the Department of Planning and Finance to advise on equipping digital skill classrooms, smart classrooms and having a specific spending ratio for digitalization activities in education.

Through that, the head of the Ho Chi Minh City education sector sent a message to teachers that equipping digital classrooms with many modern devices for teaching is a condition for each school to show determination and effort in the digital transformation process.

92.3% of schools in Ho Chi Minh City have sports clubs with 68.7% of students regularly participating in extracurricular sports activities.

Photo: Nhat Thinh

EACH STUDENT PLAYS AT LEAST 1 SPORT

According to statistics from the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, up to now, 92.3% of schools have sports clubs with 68.7% of students regularly participating in extracurricular sports activities. Of which, nearly 60% of schools have organized swimming lessons for students, 77% of kindergartens have playgrounds, 100% of primary, secondary and high schools have training grounds, many schools have been equipped with multi-purpose halls with basic equipment meeting the prescribed standards.

Ms. Cao Thi Thien Phuc, Head of the Student Affairs Department, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, said that in this school year, the city's education sector has identified 10 key tasks in student affairs. These are political education, ethics, lifestyle, school culture; happy school; skills education; school counseling and social work; education on entrepreneurship, traffic safety; fire prevention and fighting, school health; protection and care of children and students; school sports; Vovinam martial arts performance program; popularization of safe swimming and drowning prevention; club activities. At the same time, the city continues to set a goal that each student knows how to play at least one sport.

Referring to the key tasks in student education, Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu affirmed: "The city's education has never placed too much emphasis on studying and taking exams, has never set a goal of ranking in exams, and has not put pressure on teachers and students in teaching. The goal is to aim for comprehensive education for students."

The Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City added that the 2018 General Education Program aims to educate students on ethics, personality, aesthetics, and responsibility. During the teaching and learning process, the Department of Education and Training of the city always creates conditions and requires schools to develop plans to help students balance between studying and practicing their talents and skills to form comprehensive development for them.

Mr. Hieu said that in the target of the first term of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Congress after the merger, the city set a goal that each student must know how to play at least one sport. This will be set out as specific requirements and implemented in each school, contributing to creating conditions and encouraging students to promote their strengths, abilities and passions. Schools need to build a variety of sports clubs, creating conditions for students to participate according to their abilities and needs. For students, when they go to school, studying is important, but training and comprehensive development cannot be overlooked.

For the past three years, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented the happy school model.

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

HAPPY SCHOOL MODEL

In the 2025-2026 school year, the leaders of the Department of Education and Training requested the Student Affairs Department and school principals to focus more deeply on two models: happy schools and Ho Chi Minh cultural spaces.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu said that a happy school includes all the contents in building a safe, friendly, healthy educational environment, and participating in solving the problem of school violence. Creating an environment of sharing and trust so that students have a place to express themselves, so that they are not alone in cyberspace, in their own learning environment.

Also in the 2025-2026 school year, Ho Chi Minh City will restrict students from using phones and mobile devices during recess, aiming to build a healthy, safe, and friendly school environment in the spirit of "happy school", increasing physical activities, communication, and entertainment of students during recess, contributing to improving the quality of comprehensive education.

To implement effectively, the Department of Education and Training requires each school to have at least 3 diverse alternative activities during recess (sports, arts, folk games, reading, life skills club). Students participate in at least one collective activity during recess every day; Increase students' physical activity time compared to before implementation.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu said that in the 2024-2025 school year, many schools have implemented a policy of not allowing students to use cell phones in school, but it has not been implemented in a uniform manner and has not received full support from parents. This school year, Ho Chi Minh City will implement this regulation in a uniform manner. Cell phones can only be used during class hours when teachers allow it according to regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. If students need to use cell phones, the school must ensure a free communication channel for students.

Mr. Hieu added: "HCMC has implemented the Happy School program for the third year, but during recess, each student has a corner and uses their phone, which will "break" the relationship between students and teachers. I hope that during recess, students will be comfortable and have fun to recharge their positive energy for the new lesson, not that each student is in a separate world. The habit of using the phone is a big obstacle for students to interact with relatives, teachers, and friends."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giao-duc-thanh-pho-chua-bao-gio-dat-nang-van-de-hoc-va-thi-cu-185251028192026378.htm