Thiếu sách giáo khoa, sáp nhập trường, tuyển sinh 2027: Những câu hỏi chờ Bộ trưởng GD-ĐT trả lời

Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son is set to appear before the Standing Committee of the National Assembly for a high-stakes interpellation session. The parliamentary hearing, organized by the Committee for Culture and Social Affairs, places the education chief in the spotlight to address a multitude of pressing structural, operational, and policy challenges currently confronting Vietnam’s education system. Lawmakers, educators, and millions of parents across the country await detailed explanations and concrete commitments from the ministry regarding systemic issues that have heavily impacted public morale at the start of the current academic year.

High-Expectations Interpellation on Education Reform

Ahead of the parliamentary session, members of the National Assembly have outlined a comprehensive agenda focused on the practical implementation of newly passed laws and resolutions. Lawmakers are particularly keen to scrutinize the execution of National Assembly Resolution 248, which grants special mechanisms and breakthrough policies designed to accelerate educational development nationwide.

Beyond legislative enforcement, the agenda encompasses wide-ranging concerns: teacher remuneration and administrative welfare, the logistical hurdles of the high school graduation examination, the overhaul of university admission frameworks, the cultivation of healthy campus cultures, comprehensive student development, and the prevention of school violence. The urgency of these topics reflects broader societal anxieties over educational equity, quality assurance, and the administrative burdens placed on schools and educators.

Persistent Textbook Shortages and Accountability

Among the most contentious issues slated for discussion is the persistent shortage of textbooks at the beginning of the academic year. Deputy Nguyen Thi Nga, Vice Head of the Hai Phong National Assembly Delegation, highlighted this crisis as a primary concern for voters and local communities. Despite official ministry assurances and commitments that textbooks would be sufficiently supplied prior to the opening of the school year, widespread shortages were reported nationwide, severely disrupting households and heightening public anxiety.

According to official ministry reports compiled through mid-September, the country faced a deficit of nearly 3.9 million copies of textbooks. Deputy Nga has formally requested that the minister clarify the institutional accountability behind these supply chain failures, detail concrete remedies, and outline preventive strategies for future academic cycles. Furthermore, lawmakers are examining the long-term roadmap for standardizing the unified textbook series—which still suffers from minor inconsistencies—and seeking efficient utilization strategies for older editions to prevent the waste of valuable societal resources.

Managing the Complexities of School Mergers

Another critical operational challenge on the table is the ongoing nationwide consolidation and merger of educational facilities, particularly at the secondary level. While structural consolidation aims to optimize public resources and streamline administrative overhead, it has introduced substantial growing pains at the grassroots level.

Many newly merged institutions now operate across multiple campuses spanning different geographic locations, sometimes encompassing multi-level models such as combined primary and lower secondary schools. Administrators accustomed to managing smaller, localized environments are now confronted with expanded scales and intricate logistical demands. Lawmakers are pressing the Ministry of Education and Training for comprehensive evaluations of these mergers, detailed assessments of administrative bottlenecks, and targeted capacity-building programs to support school leaders navigating this transition.

Overhauling University Admission Frameworks

Higher education admissions represent the third major pillar of scrutiny during the parliamentary session. Amid lingering public sensitivities regarding examination integrity and fairness, the ministry’s recent proposals to modify university admission methodologies for 2027 have sparked intense debate among students, parents, and academic institutions.

The proposed transition—which reportedly aims to streamline admission pathways down to a more standardized set of criteria—has generated diverse reactions. During the interpellation, lawmakers intend to seek granular details regarding the rationale behind these regulatory shifts, the feedback gathered from public consultations, and the ministry’s strategy to ensure a seamless transition without disadvantaging candidates from rural or disadvantaged regions.

Anatomy of Textbook Production and Logistics

To contextualize the ongoing logistical failures, education analysts and printing industry experts have shed light on the complex mechanics of textbook publishing, manufacturing, and distribution in Vietnam. Printing millions of copies is not a monolithic process; rather, it is a multi-stage logistical chain highly vulnerable to scheduling bottlenecks and supply chain disruptions.

Industry professionals outline four primary phases in textbook production: pre-press preparation, material and technology selection, mass printing, and post-press finishing. The pre-press stage involves digital file verification, color calibration, resolution checks, pagination alignment, and plate-making. Once approved, publishers must source large quantities of paper and ink, frequently utilizing high-speed rotary presses for large-scale orders to meet tight deadlines.

However, printing a million copies of a single textbook title differs fundamentally from printing a million copies distributed across dozens of distinct titles and grade levels. While single-title runs can be executed rapidly, multi-title distributions require intricate scheduling across various independent printing houses with varying operational capacities. External factors—such as paper quality specifications, binding requirements, and warehousing logistics—further complicate the timeline. Consequently, even minor delays in manuscript finalization or raw material procurement cascade rapidly through the distribution network, resulting in the severe shortages witnessed at the start of the school year.

Broader Implications and Future Outlook

The parliamentary interpellation of Minister Hoang Minh Son underscores a pivotal juncture for Vietnam’s educational governance. As the country aggressively pursues comprehensive systemic reforms to meet the demands of a modern, knowledge-based economy, the friction between high-level policy formulation and grassroots execution remains pronounced.

The outcomes of this legislative oversight session are expected to shape not only the immediate administrative corrections required for textbook distribution and institutional consolidation but also the long-term trajectory of educational modernization, ensuring that systemic policies translate into tangible improvements for students, teachers, and parents nationwide.