Freshmen of Hà Nội University of Education attend the opening ceremony of the academic year of 2025-26 in Hà Nội on Friday.—VNA/VNS Photo Lê Đông

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s education system is set for a major take-off with the recent Politburo Resolution 71, which promises a 'dream come true' for the sector by tackling long-standing bottlenecks and laying the groundwork for transformation.

At the heart of the resolution is a bold, unprecedented policy framework aimed squarely at solving the chronic shortage of teachers, who are often called the backbone of education and the engine driving its quality.

Despite their vital role, teachers have faced years of modest salaries that fail to reflect their heavy workloads and responsibilities, contributing to a staffing crisis that remains a pressing challenge.

On the cusp of the 2025–2026 academic year, the public sector nationwide is still short of over 102,000 teachers. This includes more than 30,000 in preschools and upwards of 72,000 in general education, while around 60,000 approved teaching posts remain vacant.

Speaking at a discussion on the draft Teachers’ Law in November 2024, Party General Secretary Tô Lâm highlighted the urgency of the problem: 'Shortages of teachers and classrooms are urgent issues of the day.'

Resolution 71 commits to 'ensuring sufficient teacher numbers as per official standards' and promises to introduce 'exceptional preferential policies for the teaching profession.'

Among the resolution’s striking measures are new minimum preferential allowances set at 70 per cent for teachers and 30 per cent for support staff at preschools and general education institutions. For teachers working in especially disadvantaged areas, border or island regions and ethnic minority communities, allowances will rise 100 per cent.

These figures are described as 'aspirational' since current allowances range only from 30 to 35 per cent for most teachers, 50 per cent for those in difficult areas, and none for support staff.

The new rates also significantly exceed those proposed in a draft government decree released in June, which suggested allowances of 15 to 20 per cent for staff, 30 to 45 per cent for teachers, and 50 to 80 per cent for teachers in disadvantaged areas.

With these ambitious policies, Việt Nam aims to finally bridge the teacher shortage gap and create a stronger foundation for the future of education.

Teacher Nguyễn Thị Dị welcomes students, who go by boat to school, on the opening ceremony of the academic year of 2025-26 on Friday in the northern province of Phú Thọ.— VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đạt

Salary increase

Resolution 71 also paves the way for a significant salary increase.

Minister of Education and Training Nguyễn Kim Sơn said once implemented, all teachers will see their basic pay rise by VNĐ 2–7 million (US$75–264) per month, excluding allowances.

“This is truly a dream come true,” said Nguyễn Thị Hương, a secondary school teacher in Hưng Yên Province.

For vocational education, the resolution stipulates for the first time that teachers and lecturers will be directly contracted and funded by the State, much like general education teachers.

For university lecturers, it calls for stronger support to pursue higher qualifications at home and abroad and introduces the concept of 'dual-affiliated lecturers,' officially allowing academics to hold permanent positions at more than one university, giving institutions greater flexibility to tap into high-quality expertise.

Vice Principal of Huế University of Education Associate Professor Nguyễn Thành Nhân said enhanced benefits are a strong message of encouragement from the Party and the State.

Better incomes and working conditions would enable teachers to focus wholeheartedly on their vocation, make the profession more attractive and draw talented candidates to education, thereby raising overall standards, he said.

This effect was evident in this year’s university admissions season.

Tuition waivers and stipends for pedagogy students, coupled with the promise of higher salaries for teachers, have significantly boosted interest in teacher training.

Admissions scores for pedagogy soared, with four majors reaching the maximum 30 points, outstripping even 'hot' disciplines such as artificial intelligence (AI) or semiconductor technology and standing far above many other fields.

“Pedagogy students today are of far higher calibre than before,” Nhân said.

Modernising schools, universities

Data from the Ministry of Education showed that between 2013 and 2024, State budget allocations for education fell short of the mandated minimum 20 per cent, with most of the funding (83.4 per cent) absorbed by recurrent expenditure.

Capital investment accounted for just 17.6 per cent, less than 4 per cent of the total budget, insufficient to meet demands for renovation and new development.

Investment in higher education has also lagged behind.

Phạm Mạnh Hùng of Việt Nam National University, Hà Nội, said that spending on higher education has hovered around 0.27–0.35 per cent of GDP (1.5–1.8 per cent of the State budget), well below international benchmarks, creating a serious “bottleneck” for university development.

Resolution 71 addresses this head-on.

It requires that at least 20 per cent of the State budget be allocated to education, with a minimum of 5 per cent specifically for capital investment and at least 3 per cent for higher education.

“This is a breakthrough in education financing. Substantial investment is essential if we are to deliver commensurate quality,” Hùng said.

The resolution directs resources towards strengthening and modernising school infrastructure, equipping classrooms to national standards and prioritising facilities such as laboratories, sports grounds and play areas.

It sets targets for modern boarding schools in disadvantaged and border areas by 2030 and expanded pre-university training for ethnic minority students.

In higher education, the focus is on upgrading infrastructure, laboratories and research centres, particularly at teacher training institutions and key universities, while encouraging the development of 'high-tech university towns,' a model already successful in developed countries.

Speaking at a meeting to review the school year of 2024–25, Finance Minister Nguyễn Văn Thắng said that provincial authorities must prioritise educational budgets in line with Resolution 71.

He said education spending in 2026 is projected at around VNĐ630 trillion (US$23.7 billion), up VNĐ134 trillion (US$5.06 billion) from 2025.

“This is only the minimum, the budget may rise further depending on demand, with no fixed ceiling,” he added.

In the meantime, Đức said increasing investment in teachers and education infrastructure shows the Party’s tangible commitment.

“Adequate investment will provide modern equipment to enhance training quality, link teaching with research and connect universities’ innovation with businesses more effectively,” he said.

First graders attend the opening ceremony of the new academic year of 2025-26 at a school in the northern mountainous province of Cao Bằng.— VNA/VNS Photo Chu Hiệu

Mobilising social resources

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính acknowledged that public funds alone cannot meet all educational development needs, making private investment indispensable.

Resolution 71 echoes this view, affirming that the State must play a leading role but that social resources should be mobilised to modernise the national education system.

New mechanisms are set out for attracting talent and capital.

These include policies to bring in experts from outside the teaching profession to train students, mentor vocational skills or lead research activities, as well as schemes to attract outstanding foreign lecturers with generous incentives.

Such measures are expected to address staff shortages across education—from engaging artists to teach cultural subjects in schools, involving master craftsmen and businesses in vocational training, to recruiting high-quality researchers into universities.

On financing, the resolution calls for a legal framework to establish education endowment funds to raise community capital, alongside robust incentives for private investment.

These include access to credit, favourable land-use policies, exemptions from land-use fees and corporate income tax for non-profit private schools and the leasing of unused State-owned facilities.

For the first time, a Politburo resolution explicitly sets out policies for private education, recognising it as an integral part of the national system.

Nguyễn Thị Minh Thúy, Principal of Nguyễn Siêu School in Hà Nội, said land and facilities remain the biggest challenge for private schools, not staffing or management.

Thus, Nguyễn Siêu School had proposed tax and land-use incentives and access to surplus public facilities.

“Resolution 71 has now created the legal basis for this. If implemented firmly, it could be a breakthrough that unleashes the potential of private education,” she said.

“This is a historic shift,” Thúy added, noting that private schools will now have greater scope to invest, innovate and diversify models to meet social demand.

Students before the opening ceremony of the new academic year of 2025-26 at Hoàng Mai Primary School in Hà Nội on Friday.— VNS Photo Nguyễn Hằng

Greater autonomy for schools

The head of a high school in Hà Nội also highlighted the need for greater institutional autonomy alongside increased funding.

The principal described it as essential to 'remove the shackles' and allow schools to manage their own finances, staffing and professional activities.

Agreeing with this view, Chu Thị Xuân Hường, Principal of Hoàng Mai Secondary School in Hà Nội, said autonomy combined with accountability is the 'key' to unlocking schools’ full potential and raising quality.

Resolution 71 promises deeper decentralisation, increased autonomy and accountability, and streamlined management structures, while ensuring that professional oversight is linked to financial and personnel control.

For higher education, it pledges full and comprehensive autonomy, independent of financial self-sufficiency.

Budget allocations will be based on mission, quality and outcomes, with priority funding for three to five elite universities to be developed into world-class research institutions.

Đức praised these policies as both bold and timely.

“University autonomy has already transformed higher education but bottlenecks remain. Full autonomy will remove them,” he said.

He added that the drive to build world-class universities aligns with Resolution 57 on science and technology, creating a core engine for innovation in Việt Nam.

“Resolution 71 represents a fundamental shift in higher education financing and is truly a game-changer for Việt Nam’s universities. It will drive powerful breakthrough development in the years ahead,” he said.— VNS