According to Resolution 71 of the Politburo and government policies, students nationwide will receive free textbooks starting from the 2029-2030 academic year. The system will operate on a borrow-and-return basis, allowing books to be reused multiple times. This initiative aims to reduce budget pressure, protect the environment, and minimize waste.

Although the nationwide implementation is still three years away, several localities have proactively allocated budgets to launch the program early.

Quang Ninh was the first province to pass a resolution on free textbooks at a People's Council meeting late last year.

With an estimated budget of about 70 billion dong, all general education students (from grade 1 to grade 12) and continuing education learners will be able to borrow textbooks free of charge. The books are expected to be distributed to teachers and students before 16/8.

Hue City has also planned to allocate approximately 52,8 billion dong from its budget to distribute textbooks through a borrow-and-return model.

Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training announced on 18/7 that it plans to spend 567 billion dong to expand the program. This will provide free textbooks to all students, rather than just for grades 1, 6, and 10 as initially proposed.

In Ca Mau, the Provincial People's Committee (PPC) has submitted a proposal to the People's Council to apply the policy to over 158,000 primary school students, with an estimated cost of about 27 billion dong.

On a smaller scale, Hoa Vang district (Da Nang) and Dong Xoai City, Bu Dang district (Dong Nai) have established shared libraries for students to borrow books free of charge starting next academic year.

For the 2026-2027 academic year, the entire country will use the "Connecting Knowledge to Life" textbook series, priced at approximately 200,000-300,000 dong, excluding English textbooks.

Some grade 4 textbooks from the "Connecting Knowledge to Life" series. Photo: Hoang Giang

Thanh Hang