Chairing a meeting on textbook supply on the morning of 21/9, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung instructed the Minister of Education and Training to conduct a review, clarify accountability, and strictly address organizations and individuals involved in the insufficient supply of textbooks for the 2026-2027 school year. The findings must be reported to the Prime Minister by 10/10.

The textbook shortage must be completely resolved by 25/9. If necessary, the Minister of Education and Training is authorized to mobilize additional publishing houses and printing facilities to meet urgent demands, rather than solely depending on Vietnam Education Publishing House.

"The requirements must be met as soon as possible, as quickly as possible," the Prime Minister stated, urging the Ministry to work directly with each locality and school to determine demand and ensure sufficient textbooks for students.

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung chaired a meeting on textbook supply on the morning of 18/9. Photo: VGP

According to the meeting report, despite repeated government directives, many students and schools still lacked sufficient textbooks as the new school year began. The country is currently short of approximately 776,000 copies, with shortages concentrated in Lam Dong, Dong Nai, Ninh Binh, Phu Tho, Khanh Hoa, Can Tho, Dak Lak, and several other localities.

The Prime Minister assessed this as an urgent issue of significant public concern. The textbook shortage stems from inadequacies in demand aggregation, forecasting, ordering, publishing, stocking, coordination, and distribution, with subjective causes being the primary factor.

He stated that the leadership and management of the Ministry of Education and Training had not been decisive, timely, or effective. The Ministry and the entire sector must seriously learn from this experience, promptly rectify the situation, and prevent its recurrence in future school years.

Regarding long-term solutions, the Prime Minister called for diversifying textbook printing and distribution activities, avoiding reliance on a single entity. The Ministry of Education and Training needs to establish standards for capacity, conditions, and quality to enable various publishing houses and printing facilities to participate, while ensuring unified control over textbook production and supply.

Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son spoke at the meeting with the Prime Minister on the morning of 21/9. Photo: VGP

Explaining to the National Assembly's Culture and Social Affairs Committee on 20/9, Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son stated that at the end of 2025, the Ministry approved the selection of a textbook set, subsequently directing Vietnam Education Publishing House and localities to develop production and supply plans.

According to the Minister, some localities implementing free textbook policies led a segment of parents to wait and not purchase books before the school year. Meanwhile, demand forecasts from localities and publishers were inaccurate, and the quantity of reserve printed books was insufficient, resulting in localized surpluses and shortages.

"We are seriously learning from this experience, will monitor more closely, and create accurate forecast plans to prevent this from happening in the next school year," Mr. Son stated.

Three days prior, the Secretariat established a supervisory delegation led by Trinh Van Quyet, Head of the Central Propaganda Department, to comprehensively assess general education, textbook content, as well as the management, organization, apparatus, staff, and teachers of general education schools.

On 9/9, Deputy Prime Minister Le Tien Chau requested that textbook supply be managed as an essential, specialized commodity, without prioritizing profit.

The 2026-2027 school year witnessed an unprecedented textbook scarcity. In many provinces and cities such as Hue, Da Nang, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, An Giang, and especially Ho Chi Minh City, parents had to rush, queue, and "hunt" for individual books both before and after the school opening day.

In May, at a government press conference, Deputy Minister of Education and Training Pham Ngoc Thuong had affirmed that all textbooks would be fully supplied to schools at least 20 days before the start of the 2026-2027 school year.

Vu Tuan