How many days off can students in Ho Chi Minh City have for New Year's Eve?

Students in Ho Chi Minh City may have 4 consecutive days off for the 2026 New Year instead of just 1 day as prescribed. School principals will decide the number of days off.

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that schools can proactively arrange the 2026 New Year holiday.

PHOTO: BICH THANH

On December 9, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training held a general education professional meeting for the first semester of the 2025-2026 school year. The meeting discussed the upcoming New Year holiday schedule for students and teachers.

At the conference, some school leaders asked the Department of Education and Training about whether schools can give students an extra day off on Friday (January 2) since New Year's Day (January 1, 2026) falls on Thursday?

Answering this question, Mr. Nguyen Ha Nguyen, Deputy Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the department has given the initiative to schools, and principals can decide whether to let students take an extra day off on January 2 or not.

Mr. Nguyen said that according to regulations, the New Year holiday is only one day, January 1, 2026. However, due to the characteristics of the education sector, schools can flexibly arrange for students to have a day off on January 2, 2026, which means a 4-day holiday, from Thursday (January 1, 2026) to Sunday (January 4, 2026).

According to Mr. Nguyen, schools can organize Friday classes online to ensure the program.

In addition, previously, regarding the 2025-2026 school year schedule, Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the department will submit a proposal to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on the 2026 Lunar New Year holiday, expected to be about 2 weeks.

Mr. Ho Tan Minh, Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that the timetable for the 2025-2026 school year in Ho Chi Minh City is implemented according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. Specifically, the school year starts from September 5 and ends on May 31, ensuring 35 weeks of actual teaching.

During this time, schools can proactively arrange teaching and learning plans to ensure enough actual weeks of study. The Lunar New Year holiday schedule will be arranged appropriately, as long as the required number of teaching weeks are ensured.

"The Department will propose a holiday schedule for the whole week, meaning a holiday on the weekend and returning to school at the beginning of the week. The official Lunar New Year holiday plan needs to wait for the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to issue. It is expected that the Department will propose to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to let students have a two-week Lunar New Year holiday," the Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training informed.

In the 2025-2026 school year schedule issued by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee at the end of August, semester 1 begins on September 5, ensuring 18 weeks of actual study, the remaining time is for other activities. Semester 2 begins on January 19, 2026, ensuring 17 weeks of actual study. The school year ends before May 31, 2026.

Thus, based on the school year schedule as well as the proposed Tet holiday schedule of the Department of Education and Training, the 2026 Lunar New Year holiday schedule for students in Ho Chi Minh City will be from February 9, 2026 to February 22, 2026 (ie from December 22 to the 6th day of the Lunar New Year). In fact, counting weekends, the Tet holiday for students in Ho Chi Minh City will be about 16 days.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoc-sinh-tphcm-co-the-nghi-tet-duong-lich-may-ngay-185251209171704255.htm