New school year in Ho Chi Minh City: School programs must have at least two options.

Starting from the 2025-2026 school year, the first school year after the merger with the former Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces, Ho Chi Minh City will implement the school program with regulations on content and tuition fees.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has issued regulations on the implementation of school programs in the new academic year.

PHOTO: DAO NGOC THACH

On the afternoon of August 20th, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training issued guidelines to high schools on selecting content for the school curriculum starting from the 2025-2026 academic year.

Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 1,583 schools from primary to high school levels with more than 51,000 classrooms. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training clearly states that public schools directly decide on the content of the school curriculum and must obtain approval from the school board for activities, grade levels, content framework, methods, organizational forms, implementation plans, and coordinating organizations and units in educational activities, ensuring students have an environment to practice and apply knowledge to real-world situations.

Implement the school program on a voluntary basis.

The principal is fully responsible for selecting and implementing the school program, ensuring the necessary conditions for implementation, such as staffing, facilities, and appropriate teaching plans. The content of the school program must be licensed by the competent authority, evaluated by the Department of Education and Training, and must ensure stability and consistent implementation throughout the school level.

The school program aims to diversify teaching and learning methods and educational activities to help students develop and improve the quality of comprehensive education in morality, intellect, physical fitness, and aesthetics, including moral education, values ​​education, life skills education, STEM/STEAM education, reading culture education, school culture education, physical education, art education, and financial education. At the same time, it develops foreign language skills, digital skills, artificial intelligence (AI) skills, and aesthetic abilities, fostering a lifelong learning mindset and habit.

The school develops the content of its curriculum so that students and parents have the right to choose what suits the students' needs.

The plan for implementing educational activities within the school's curriculum must be approved by the school board and must be communicated to and agreed upon by parents on a voluntary basis. Classes and schedules should be arranged appropriately according to each content area of ​​the school's curriculum to meet the aspirations of students and their parents.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training requires schools, when developing curriculum content, to include at least two options so that students and parents can choose what best suits the students' abilities and needs.

The school program aims to diversify teaching and learning methods and educational activities to help students develop and improve the quality of comprehensive education.

Photo: Dao Ngoc Thach

A survey must be organized to gather opinions.

Schools must organize surveys to gather feedback, flexibly choosing survey methods that suit the school's actual conditions and grade level, such as surveys using questionnaires or quick survey software for parents, in order to select the school's program.

The Department of Education and Training emphasizes that in all cases, complete and clear evidence of the survey process and the results of feedback collection must be maintained. Surveys and feedback from students and parents must adhere to the principles of voluntariness, democracy, openness, transparency, and accuracy. The program can only be implemented after all selection stages are completed and the majority of parents have given their consent.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training notes that the costs of implementing the program in schools are determined according to legal regulations on pricing and government regulations on the financial autonomy mechanism of public non-profit organizations, building revenue and expenditure estimates, and setting fee levels that are appropriate to the ability of the majority of parents to pay.

The school program must ensure the principle of collecting sufficient funds, spending sufficient funds, and using all collected funds for their intended purpose; the revenue and expenditure plan for each fee must be publicly disclosed to parents before implementation. The fee level must be commensurate with the quality of educational and training services. Any increase in the fee level (if any) must not exceed 15% compared to the fee level implemented in the immediately preceding school year.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nam-hoc-moi-tai-tphcm-chuong-trinh-nha-truong-phai-co-toi-thieu-2-lua-chon-185250820180022279.htm