$153 mln needed for free textbooks scheme

Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training has estimated that nearly VND4.04 trillion ($153 million) from the state budget will be needed to provide free textbooks for all general education students starting from the 2029-2030 academic year.

The proposal was included in a draft decree published by the Ministry of Justice for appraisal. The decree, drafted by the education ministry, sets out policies on free general education textbooks and a roadmap for waiving tuition fees and course materials for national defense and security education at universities and vocational institutions.

Under resolutions issued by the Politburo, Government and National Assembly, the education minister was tasked with selecting a single nationwide general education textbook set to be implemented from the 2026-2027 academic year.

The ministry has since approved a unified national textbook system consisting of four groups: Vietnamese-language textbooks for grades 1-12; English-language textbooks for grades 1-12; foreign-language textbooks other than English, including French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Russian for grades 3-12; and ethnic minority language textbooks for grades 1-5 covering eight languages: Bahnar, Cham, Ede, Jrai, Khmer, Hmong, Mnong and Thai.

The ministry proposed providing free printed textbooks and Braille textbooks, while electronic textbooks are not yet included as standards and criteria for digital textbooks are still under development.

Under the proposal, the free textbook scheme would operate through a shared school library lending model, with the state funding textbook purchases for school libraries.

Schools would lend textbooks to students for a fixed period, either by semester or academic year, and collect them afterward for reuse. All textbooks would be catalogued, labeled and managed under the library system.

The ministry proposed nationwide implementation of free Vietnamese-language and foreign-language textbooks for general education students beginning in the 2029-2030 academic year.

Local governments with sufficient fiscal capacity would be encouraged to implement the policy earlier, particularly in border areas, islands, ethnic minority and mountainous regions, and economically disadvantaged localities.

The draft also noted that primary-level ethnic minority language textbooks in Mnong, Bahnar, Cham, Khmer, Ede, Jrai and Hmong have already been completed and appraised and are being printed and distributed.

Between 2026 and 2030, the ministry plans to continue developing textbooks in Raglai, Muong and Co Tu languages at the primary level, as well as lower secondary textbooks in Khmer, Cham and Ede.

The ministry said local authorities would be responsible for developing annual procurement plans based on student numbers and textbook prices set under the 2023 Price Law.

Provincial governments, education departments and schools would organize textbook procurement in line with bidding regulations and transparency requirements, while educational institutions under ministries, agencies, research institutes and universities would follow similar procedures.

The state budget would also provide annual supplementary funding to replace worn-out books, meet unexpected increases in student numbers, update textbooks under curriculum reforms, and cover losses caused by disasters, fires or other force majeure events.

Based on student and teacher data for the 2025-2026 academic year and textbook prices announced by the Vietnam Education Publishing House for 2026-2027, the ministry estimated the total budget required for the nationwide free textbook policy at nearly VND4.04 trillion ($153 million).

Funding for the policy would come from the state budget under the current fiscal decentralization mechanism and be included in annual education spending plans, according to the draft.

The central government would provide support to localities unable to balance their own budgets, depending on available fiscal resources in each period.

The draft also encourages mobilizing lawful financial contributions from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to supplement textbook supplies for schools.