General Secretary: Primary and secondary schools will teach 2 sessions/day, tuition free from next year

The Central Party Office has just announced the conclusion of General Secretary To Lam at the working session with representatives of the Government Party Committee and central ministries and branches on the implementation of the Central Committee's resolutions on education and training; preparation of the Politburo's Resolution on educational and training breakthroughs and a number of policies to support teaching and learning.

General Secretary To Lam. Photo: VNA.

The conclusion stated that on April 18, General Secretary To Lam had a working session with representatives of the Government Party Committee and central ministries and branches on the implementation of the Central Committee's resolutions on education and training, preparing a new Resolution of the Politburo on breakthroughs in education and training development; on organizing 2 sessions/day but reducing study pressure, no fees; lunch for primary and secondary school students in mountainous areas.

The General Secretary concluded that the new context of the country is posing the requirement of training a new generation of people with comprehensive development, with sufficient courage, intelligence, and health (both physical and mental) commensurate with the implementation of the country's two 100-year goals, including training human resources with high qualifications and skills, a key factor for making breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation. Economic growth ensures the promotion of social progress, expanding opportunities for all people to access quality education, lifelong learning and maximize individual potential.

Faced with these urgent requirements, it is necessary to have strong institutional and policy decisions to remove bottlenecks, focus investment resources to quickly modernize and improve the quality of education and training with the goal of comprehensively developing learners and creating high-quality human resources to meet the requirements of the country's breakthrough development in the new period.

The General Secretary agreed to assign the Government Party Committee to direct the Ministry of Education and Training to preside over and coordinate with the Central Policy and Strategy Committee and relevant agencies to research and develop a Project to submit to the Politburo for promulgation of a Resolution on breakthroughs in education and training development (similar to Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on science and technology). This Resolution does not replace existing resolutions, but selects the most critical issues and current major bottlenecks to focus on directing, creating clear and specific changes in the field of education and training. Submit to the Politburo for approval of the National Target Program on modernization and improvement of education and training quality; the deadline for completion is this May.

The General Secretary also agreed on the policy that primary and secondary schools should organize two sessions per day depending on the conditions of each locality in terms of facilities, finance and teachers; there should be a roadmap to gradually implement this policy, in which it is necessary to combine State investment with social incentives. Teaching two sessions per day ensures no fees and reduces pressure on students, and increasing the teaching of culture and arts ensures students' comprehensive development.

The General Secretary assigned the Government Party Committee to direct the Ministry of Education and Training, ministries, branches and localities to fully prepare conditions in terms of facilities, teachers, teaching programs and educational activities so that primary and secondary schools can teach two sessions per day to ensure improving the quality of education. Implementation time is from the 2025-2026 school year.

The General Secretary also concluded: Agree on the policy of the State supporting lunch for primary and secondary school students in border communes, with priority given to mountainous border communes (including ethnic minority students and Kinh students living in border communes). Localities need to focus on building and completing boarding and semi-boarding schools for border communes, creating favorable conditions for students' study and living. Note that schools must have enough classrooms, labs, water, kitchens, bathrooms, toilets, playgrounds, and accommodations for teachers; border communes bordering a country need to teach the language of that country to students so that in the future there will be conditions to increase people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Implement this policy according to a roadmap, in accordance with the country's economic situation. During the implementation process, it is necessary to strengthen inspection and supervision, and strictly prohibit the reduction of students' food standards. Initially, it will be implemented in land border communes, starting from the 2025-2026 school year (September 2025); based on the implementation results, a preliminary review will be conducted to gradually expand nationwide. Localities that can balance the budget are encouraged to immediately implement this policy in their management areas.

Truong Phong

Source: https://tienphong.vn/tong-bi-thu-tieu-hoc-va-thcs-day-2-buoingay-mien-hoc-phi-tu-nam-toi-post1739999.tpo