The educational landscape in Vietnam’s remote border areas is set to improve significantly, with efforts underway to complete and expand boarding school facilities to better serve disadvantaged communities. Vietnamese Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng has mandated the Ministry of Education and Training to finalize infrastructure at 108 newly opened multi-level boarding schools and accelerate the construction of 121 additional schools, aiming for an August 30, 2027 completion date.
This initiative is a crucial part of the government’s strategy under Politburo Resolution 71-NQ/TW, which seeks to address regional disparities in education by enhancing access to quality schooling in underserved regions. The broader program targets 248 boarding schools situated in border communes, focusing on providing better resources and educational quality.
In a meeting held in Hà Nội, Prime Minister Hưng emphasized the importance of not only completing these educational facilities but also assessing their effectiveness. He called for ensuring that the schools possess adequate classrooms, teaching staff, and necessary resources. Additionally, he urged officials to leverage enrolment data for future educational planning and facility development.
Simultaneously, the Prime Minister tackled an urgent nationwide issue—a shortage of approximately 776,000 textbook sets. He attributed this shortfall to significant lapses in demand forecasting, ordering, publishing, and distribution processes. To address the problem, Hưng instructed the education ministry to resolve the textbook shortages by September 25 and to report on accountability by October 10.
Moreover, Hưng highlighted the need for diversification in textbook production and distribution while calling for stringent quality controls to ensure that students receive the required learning materials. As the government prepares for a review of Resolution 71’s implementation, he urged the ministry to document the progress and challenges, proposing solutions for identified shortcomings.