Continue to innovate extensively, complete the glorious mission in the new school year

The biggest challenge is how to develop and surpass yourself.

Speaking at the 2025 Conference of Directors of Departments of Education and Training, the Minister congratulated the Departments of Education and Training for successfully carrying out important political tasks in the past school year; congratulated the teachers holding the position of Director of the Department of Education and Training or assigned to be in charge. The Minister hoped that the trusted leadership team of the Department would continue to promote their experience and excellently complete their tasks in the requirements of the new period. The newly assigned Directors of the Department of Education and Training would quickly integrate and reintegrate, leading the local education sector to continue to develop; the Directors of the Department of Education and Training who have now become Deputy Directors will continue to promote and contribute to the development of the sector...

The Minister emphasized: Never before has education and training received such attention as it does today, with so many great tasks and expectations and entrustments as at this time.

The country is facing the requirement of breakthrough development to join the developed countries. The more thinking and calculating, the more all paths of thinking lead to the inevitable development of education.

Therefore, our biggest challenge in the coming school year and the following years is not to deal with difficulties and poverty, but the challenge of development, how to surpass ourselves and meet expectations, and relieve pressure.

“We seize opportunities and limit negative things, risks will appear. This conference must exchange both experiences and mindsets to grasp opportunities, fulfill the mission and responsibility to the country safely and gloriously,” the Minister shared.

Looking back at the past school year, the Minister affirmed that we have done a lot of work, including many big and difficult tasks. That is, implementing the remaining tasks to complete a cycle of implementing the 2018 General Education Program; The high school graduation exam with many new points, falling right at the time of implementing the 2-level local government, but we have completed it well; the local education sector has carried out the rearrangement according to the 2-level government...

In the results achieved, the Minister also emphasized the "declaration of war" against negativity in extra teaching and learning with the issuance of Circular 29. This Circular received a great deal of attention from society because it touched on old things that have existed for a long time, touched on the interests, thinking, habits, and psychology of many people in society - but we have shown determination, gone all the way, without hesitation. From there, it has contributed significantly to adjusting the way of thinking and teaching methods in general education. "Teachers have responded to this, but it needs to be done regularly, not half-heartedly", the Minister said.

In addition to many things that have been done, the Minister also expressed his concerns about the lack of proper sharing and attention for the district-level education civil servants after this level ended its role.

Must do good change management

At this time, when the new school year is about to start, according to the Minister, the most important thing to do well is to manage change. If we do not respond well and do well, the merger of provinces, departments, headquarters changes, unit rearrangements, new people, new apparatus, new ways of doing things, etc. can greatly affect the already heavy work that we need to do ahead.

The first thing the Minister noted was to operate the Department-level apparatus well. With the spirit of an educator, a role model for the whole society, the Minister hoped that the Departments of Education and Training would promote the spirit of solidarity, sharing, and sincerely sharing to carry out the common task well. An important solution is the principle of working, doing it right - that is a very important rational basis.

Along with that is the operation of the commune-level education system, the commune-level education officials are initially inevitably confused; if the problems are not fully identified and fully supported, the implementation will be difficult. This is also a challenge that needs to be noted in the coming time.

Regarding specific work before the new school year, the Minister said: In August and September - when preparing for the new school year and opening the school year, it is also the time when the whole sector celebrates its 80th anniversary. Localities need to have commemorative activities that are commensurate with the spirit of thrift, simplicity, but meaningful and substantial. On this occasion, the Ministry of Education and Training organizes an exhibition with the theme "80 years of education and training for national development"; the slogans in the 80th anniversary of the Departments of Education and Training also need to be consistent with that spirit.

The policy of the Politburo and the General Secretary is to organize the opening ceremony of the 2025-2026 school year in a meaningful way, demonstrating depth, in line with the 80th anniversary and the beginning of a new regime, opening an education system entering a new era. The initial plan on how to organize the opening ceremony was also shared by the Minister.

School year 2025-2026: Continuing extensive innovation, fulfilling the golden mission

Regarding the spirit of the new school year, the Minister said that it will be implemented with the spirit of continuing to innovate extensively, completing the glorious mission. The key words for implementation are "implementation" and "implementation". One point to note is to try to limit confusion and inadequacies, clear up obstacles; anticipate risks that may arise in the process of implementing the two-level local government and new models.

“But I believe that the new school year will still be smooth; although busy and full of work, it will be in a positive direction,” the Minister shared.

Specifically, the work that needs to be implemented, the Minister first mentioned the new laws. Along with the Law on Teachers that has been passed are the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education, the revised Law on Higher Education, and the revised Law on Vocational Education. If there are no abnormalities, these three laws will be passed in the National Assembly session next October and will all take effect in January 2026. Along with the new law are a series of decrees and circulars - meaning the entire institution operating the education system is completely new; a lot of pressure will be placed on the shoulders of the Directors of the Department of Education and Training. If we wait for the law and new documents to be promulgated, we will be passive; so we need to proactively grasp them by participating deeply in the drafting of legal documents - that is the way to grasp in advance, proactively and deeply grasp the new institutions.

The 2025-2026 school year will also implement a very important document, the Politburo Resolution on modernization and breakthrough development of education and training. The Ministry of Education and Training will issue the Ministry's action plan. Many contents will have to be implemented; including an important content, the National Target Program on modernization and improvement of education and training quality.

Some other important implementation contents are the policy of exempting tuition fees; organizing lunch for some subjects; building some schools in border areas; implementing school solidification.

We also conduct an assessment of the first cycle of implementing the 2018 General Education Program; from there, we go back to solve problems in depth, quality issues, paying special attention to teaching methods, testing, evaluation, teaching staff... It is necessary to pay attention to implementing 2-session teaching per day; try to have enough teachers to implement new subjects, arts, foreign languages, information technology... If these things cannot be done, the quality goals of the new program will lose their meaning.

The Minister delved into the content of the 2018 General Education Program and said: We talk a lot about education shifting from equipping knowledge to developing capacity. But how to make this not just a catchphrase, but how to actually do this is important. At the same time, we need to avoid extremes, because students still need to grasp basic knowledge, then self-study, self-search for knowledge, and respond to change.

The next school year will also strongly deploy AI applications, making an AI transformation - part of the implementation of the 2018 General Education Program in a new phase, a phase towards quality. At the same time, strengthening STEM education with the correct understanding that students must apply knowledge from subjects to solve problems they face in practice. "We often make the mistake of spending a lot of money on modern technology toys for children, but without education on applied thinking, it will be costly and meaningless. So we need to understand correctly to use the right teaching tools," the Minister added when talking about STEM education.

The new school year also begins to implement the Resolution on universalizing preschool education for children aged 3-5 and the new preschool education program (if the program is signed and promulgated in time) with great demands on teachers, facilities, teaching aids, etc.

Along with that, review the model of continuing education centers - vocational education, issue instructions to unify the operating model of these centers.

An important political task that requires a very fast pace is to build 248 schools for border communes. The Minister asked the Directors of the Departments of Education and Training to advise provincial and municipal leaders on the implementation, in order to have the best boarding schools.

Trying to achieve equity in education

At the conference, the Minister also discussed a number of issues that local authorities are concerned about. In particular, regarding issues related to staff, up to this point, it has been agreed that the appointment of principals and vice principals of educational institutions in communes/wards is the authority of the commune/ward level; the recruitment, transfer and dispatch of teachers is the responsibility of the education sector, in compliance with the Law on Teachers.

Regarding general education, the Minister emphasized the effort to implement fairness in education. According to the Minister, when we put too much investment into some schools, wanting high quality, wanting that school to be special; that can bring many awards, many good students, meeting the high-quality learning needs of some parents; but this also creates great pressure in the 10th grade entrance exam and does not ensure the thinking about fairness in education. The Minister shared the view that we should not put good teachers and preferential treatment into some schools to ensure a general education that is both "public", "equal", and "universal"; the public system needs to be "equal", not leveling but implemented fairly. Specialized high schools must still develop, but they need to be the right place to train and develop talents and talents need special investment.

To the team, especially the Directors of the Department of Education and Training, the Minister hopes for quick, synchronous participation and innovation in the same vein to be the driving force for development.

“We often say that education is planting a tree for a hundred years, so vision is very important. Vision to build a school, vision to solve a problem, vision to solve policies… If the vision is short, it is impossible to plant a big tree for a hundred years. There are many difficult tasks ahead. Going may or may not reach the destination, but not going will never reach the destination. I hope we will soon get to work, preparing the best mindset for a new school year that is very important for the education sector,” the Minister said.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/tiep-tuc-doi-moi-sau-rong-hoan-thanh-su-menh-ve-vang-trong-nam-hoc-moi-post741940.html