From classroom to parliament: Consensus for a unified set of textbooks

(Dan Tri) - Vietnam's education system is facing an important turning point, marked by the policy of building a unified set of textbooks nationwide in the spirit of Resolution 71 of the Politburo.

Resolution 71-NQ/TW dated August 22, 2025 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in education and training development continues to emphasize: "In the process of developing the country, our Party and State always consider education and training, along with science and technology, as the top national policy".

At the National Conference to disseminate the Politburo's Resolutions in September, General Secretary To Lam once again affirmed that investing in education is investing in the nation's future, fostering "national vitality".

One of the breakthrough policies for education and training set out in Resolution 71 is to ensure the provision of a unified set of textbooks nationwide, striving to provide free textbooks to all students by 2030.

The 2018 General Education Program will be implemented according to the roadmap from the 2020-2021 school year, opening the period of "one program - many textbooks". This was initially expected to end the publishing monopoly and encourage socialized compilation.

Three main book series including “Connecting knowledge with life”, “Creative horizon” and “Kite” are widely circulated and used in schools.

According to Resolution 88/2014 of the National Assembly, to proactively implement the new general education program, the Ministry of Education and Training organizes the compilation of a set of textbooks. This set of textbooks is evaluated and approved equally with textbooks compiled by organizations and individuals. However, for many reasons, the Ministry of Education and Training has not compiled a set of State textbooks.

In the process of education and training innovation in recent years, allowing many sets of textbooks to coexist has created competition, encouraged creativity and innovation in teaching methods. However, in practice, many shortcomings have also arisen.

Therefore, Resolution 71 requires reviewing and evaluating the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program and providing a unified set of textbooks nationwide. To do this, the Government will develop an action program in the 2026-2027 school year, students will use a unified set of textbooks nationwide.

Professor Pham Tat Dong - former Deputy Head of the Central Science and Education Committee, former Vice President of the Vietnam Association for Promoting Education, who participated in compiling textbooks in 1979 - said that unifying a set of textbooks is necessary.

At the age of 91, he went through high school and pedagogy without the concept of textbooks. When he became a teacher, from 1953 to 1956, the school he taught at also had no textbooks. Teachers only based on the curriculum to prepare lessons and teach classes.

In 1979, when Vietnam implemented the third educational reform, Professor Pham Tat Dong was one of the members participating in the organization that wrote the textbooks. That set of books was used free of charge.

This veteran expert affirmed that after more than four decades of witnessing the history of textbooks, he believes that the Ministry of Education and Training managing a set of textbooks is the most stable and fair direction.

Observing the actual implementation of the model "one program - many textbooks" in recent times, Professor Pham Tat Dong commented that there are many shortcomings besides some advantages.

He pointed out that not only is printing costly and wasteful, the existence of many sets of textbooks together has created confusion in the direction of use in each locality. Evidence such as the fierce competition between printing and publishing establishments for textbooks in terms of market share, causing the governing ministry to sometimes be passive, having to readjust regulations on the right to choose books at educational institutions.

According to Mr. Dong, implementing a unified set of textbooks will be very convenient for both managers, students and parents.

“A good set of textbooks will limit the need to print and publish too many reference books, avoiding waste. At the same time, the set of textbooks has the meaning of reference materials when implementing the teaching program. Reference materials for lesson preparation are now available on the Internet, libraries, digital libraries…”, he commented.

Therefore, the former Deputy Head of the Central Science and Education Commission supports the compilation of a unified set of textbooks nationwide to overcome the disparity and lack of uniformity in teaching and learning between localities, ensuring that students can study with learning materials of the same quality.

In addition, Mr. Dong also highly appreciated the move towards providing free textbooks for all students, which is a contribution to creating the foundation for an education as President Ho Chi Minh had expected from the early days of establishing the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Mr. Dong believes that with the development of technology, providing free textbooks in the future is completely feasible, when electronic textbooks, smart textbooks integrated with AI and big data appear... along with models of "smart schools", "digital schools", "happy schools".

Sharing the same view, Professor Phan Van Tan - University of Natural Sciences, Vietnam National University, Hanoi - affirmed that the policy of unifying textbooks nationwide is a reasonable and appropriate decision.

He pointed out three clear benefits that this policy brings: economic benefits, unified evaluation standards and better social support.

Professor Tan affirmed that the policy of unifying textbooks will create a clear national standard. However, that does not limit thinking or eliminate creativity, but on the contrary, encourages diversity through a rich source of reference materials.

According to him, the goal is to help students acquire the most standard fundamental knowledge, so that teachers and students can freely expand their world of knowledge.

Experts shared that Resolution 71-NQ/TW does not require a single set of textbooks, but a unified set of textbooks nationwide. This approach inherits the spirit of Resolution 88/2014/QH13 and Resolution 51/2017/QH14 before that.

Previous expectations about the diversity and creativity that the "one program - many textbooks" model brings have "collided" with reality. Therefore, when hearing the news that there will be a unified set of textbooks, teachers, parents and students all expressed their joy.

Ms. Nguyen Mai Hoa (Xuan Phuong Ward, Hanoi) will always remember the times she transferred her children to different schools. While her first child studied the old curriculum, the transfer went smoothly, her second child studied the new curriculum, and when she transferred to the second semester of grade 6, it was very difficult.

This parent said: “The reason is that the two schools have different textbooks. I had to go to three stores to get enough books for my child. After that, it took him a long time to learn the knowledge again.”

Therefore, Ms. Hoa hopes that the policy of unifying a set of textbooks will end the gap in knowledge between schools, making it easier and more convenient for students to transfer levels and schools, and at the same time reducing the burden of buying books and materials for families.

Sharing the same opinion, Nguyen Dan Sa - a student at Con Cuong High School, Nghe An - pointed out that having many sets of textbooks has created unnecessary inconveniences. This female student said that at the beginning of the school year, there is often a lack of "this book or that book", the worst thing is that if a book is lost in the middle of the year, it is very difficult to find and buy it again.

“In the past, relatives often gave us old textbooks from our older siblings. But in recent years, we can no longer use them because each place is different,” Sa said.

The female student expressed her absolute support if the whole country had a unified set of textbooks, because Dan Sa believes this will make taking exams, transferring schools or buying books much easier.

She emphasized: "During the teaching process, teachers and students will expand their research to other sources of documents and references because in reality the content and data in textbooks are very small compared to the huge data source that students need to access and explore."

Ms. Hoang Thi Hoa - chemistry teacher at Ha Dong High School, Hai Duong - also shared that in the past 5 years, teachers have had to work harder when working with many sets of books at the same time.

“Some books have content that is written in a sketchy way, while others are written in detail, and vice versa. So if there is any content that is mentioned in one of the three current textbooks, teachers have to expand on it. The pressure on teachers to review for final exams is huge, and students also have to study more,” Ms. Hoa explained.

Therefore, when she heard that there would be a unified set of textbooks, Ms. Hoa was very happy. According to her, the scope of knowledge would not change, but teachers and students would have less burden.

“A set of books will ensure consistency and uniformity in learning and testing at schools. Students transferring from one school to another do not have to worry about changing books,” said a teacher at Ha Dong High School.

At the macro-management level, this policy has received high consensus from the parliament. During the discussion session on the project to amend 3 laws on education on October 22, National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Huu Thong (Lam Dong Delegation) emphasized that the State's decision to issue a set of textbooks for the whole country is in line with the Party's will and the people's wishes, as well as in line with current reality.

The delegates analyzed that the Party's intention here is to institutionalize Resolution 71 of the Politburo on education and training development and Resolution 88 of the National Assembly on curriculum and textbook innovation; and satisfying the people's wishes is to respond to voters' expectations through National Assembly sessions on textbook issues.

Agreeing with this policy, National Assembly Delegate Ma Thi Thuy (Tuyen Quang Delegation) shared that unifying textbooks will ensure fairness in access to education, especially for remote areas, ethnic minority areas, and mountainous areas - where economic conditions and facilities are limited.

In addition, delegates also agreed with the policy of free textbooks for students, considering this a humane policy. However, in order for the policy to be effectively implemented, delegate Ma Thi Thuy suggested that the Government should clarify the mechanism for managing and reusing textbooks, and at the same time consider a policy to encourage shared textbook libraries in schools to avoid wasting resources.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society, has recognized this policy with profound meaning. When the State guarantees a common set of textbooks for the whole country, it means taking care of each student, so that all students - regardless of region - can access knowledge on the same basis.

According to her, this is a policy that demonstrates the superiority of the regime, is in accordance with the people's wishes, and meets the aspirations of the majority of parents and students.

From a social perspective and from an educational perspective in general, having a unified set of textbooks nationwide has a certain significance.

Specifically, in terms of social significance, the regulation of a unified set of textbooks will help parents no longer worry about textbooks for their children when welcoming the new school year; relieve psychological concerns related to studying, exams, and assessments related to textbooks when their children transfer schools...

“This certainly brings joy to parents, especially those from economically disadvantaged and low-income families,” Ms. Hoa shared.

In terms of general education activities, the regulation of a unified set of textbooks nationwide overcomes the shortcomings in the publishing and use of books due to the book selection process; reduces the pressure in building a high school graduation exam question bank when it is necessary to ensure suitability, objectivity, and fairness for candidates studying different sets of textbooks.

With the above meanings, according to Dr. Nguyen Thi Mai Hoa, the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Society has always maintained the view that there should be a set of State textbooks, used uniformly nationwide. The policy of ensuring the provision of a set of uniform textbooks nationwide affirms the State's responsibility in providing a set of high-quality textbooks, at reasonable costs, and uniformity in teaching and assessing high school graduation results.

Content: Huyen Nguyen, Hoang Hong, My Ha, Hoai Nam, Xuan Hinh

Design: Tuan Huy

October 28, 2025 - 06:00

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/tu-lop-hoc-den-nghi-truong-dong-thuan-cho-mot-bo-sach-giao-khoa-thong-nhat-20251027214929541.htm