On the cusp of a new year, Vietnam’s education and administrative systems are undergoing a sweeping transformation, as government leaders and ministries race against the clock to complete a raft of reforms by the end of December 2025. At the heart of these efforts lies a shared drive: to streamline public institutions, modernize bureaucratic processes, and ensure that every child and citizen—no matter how remote their home—receives effective, equitable services. But as deadlines approach and pressure mounts, questions abound: Can the government deliver on its ambitious promises? And what will these changes mean for the millions who rely on Vietnam’s schools and state agencies every day?
On December 2, 2025, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) issued Document No. 7907/BGDĐT-GDPT to provincial and city People’s Committees, setting out urgent tasks to implement Conclusion 221-KL/TW of the Politburo and Secretariat. According to MOET, the goal is clear: ensure the stability, efficiency, and effectiveness of the preschool, general, and continuing education system nationwide. The directive calls on local governments to move swiftly, advising their Provincial Party Standing Committees to organize and execute Central directives on the arrangement of public educational institutions. This includes adhering to the professional guidelines set out in Document No. 6165/BGDĐT-GDPT from October 2, 2025, which details the reorganization of educational institutions across the country.
The Ministry’s message is unequivocal: provinces and cities must accelerate the pace of restructuring preschools, primary schools, lower secondary schools, and inter-level schools, aiming for completion before December 31, 2025. The emphasis is on creating a streamlined, logical network of public schools that not only supports effective teaching and learning but also reflects the unique needs of each locality. Safety and accessibility are top priorities, especially for children in challenging regions—borderlands, islands, and remote rural areas—where travel to school can be fraught with difficulty and risk.
MOET has underscored the importance of maintaining and expanding models such as ethnic minority boarding schools, semi-boarding schools, and local boarding schools. These institutions, often located in the heart of rural communes or at the intersection of several communities, are seen as essential for enabling disadvantaged students to access education. Intensive inspection and monitoring have been ordered, with the Ministry demanding that local departments of education and related sectors comprehensively evaluate each arrangement plan. The aim is to develop feasible, pragmatic roadmaps that avoid unnecessary disruption to teaching and learning.
According to MOET’s own assessment, many provinces and cities have responded proactively and decisively, implementing the policy of streamlining the public education network in a manner that is scientific, democratic, transparent, and cautious. Yet, not all regions have found the path easy. Some localities still face significant limitations, with potential risks that could affect the organization of teaching and the welfare of students—particularly in difficult areas and densely populated urban districts. The Ministry’s guidance is to keep changes to a minimum, with the Central Steering Committee’s Plan No. 130 emphasizing that existing public schools should largely remain unchanged, and any adjustments should only be made when truly necessary to serve the needs of the people and students.
Meanwhile, the push for reform is not limited to education. On December 4, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra convened a high-stakes meeting at Government headquarters with the Ministry of Home Affairs. The agenda: review the progress of regime-building and address the urgent tasks that must be completed by the end of the year. As reported by Minister of Home Affairs Do Thanh Binh, the past two months have seen the Ministry submit a formidable number of proposals and legal documents to the Politburo, Secretariat, and Government—including six decrees, four resolutions, and five prime ministerial decisions. These span a wide range of issues, from labor contract minimum wages to the classification of administrative units and the organizational structure of ministries.
December 2025 is shaping up to be a make-or-break month. The Ministry of Home Affairs is tasked with submitting a total of 27 documents to the Government. As of the meeting, 13 had already been submitted, eight were under review by the Ministry of Justice, four were in the final stages of preparation, and two—due to their complexity—had been postponed to March 2026. Minister Do Thanh Binh admitted the timeline is daunting, requiring the entire ministry to mobilize every available resource to meet the deadline.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra acknowledged the significant progress made but didn’t mince words about the challenges ahead. She emphasized, “First of all, the working method must be specific, effective, and closely monitored. If the working method does not change, the workload cannot be completed. Political responsibility and determination must be put first.” She called for a “campaign phase” approach from now until year’s end, with high intensity and daily oversight. The government, she assured, would provide all necessary support, but the onus remains on the Ministry to maximize initiative, improve coordination, and keep progress tightly controlled.
The stakes are high. Completing all regime-building tasks in 2025 is, in the Deputy Prime Minister’s words, “the key to ensuring the effectiveness of administrative apparatus operations in the next phase.” She laid out a clear roadmap for the Ministry: accelerate the drafting of decrees on labor registration and the labor market information system—ensuring these systems are open, interconnected, and ready to serve both domestic and international labor needs. The national employment exchange platform must go live with real transactions and be integrated with the national population database, with a possible launch in December if progress continues apace.
Other priorities include finalizing regulations on job positions, so that ministries and localities have a solid legal foundation for workforce planning, and gathering broad public input on decrees for evaluating and ranking civil servants. “Pressure is the driving force for work,” Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra remarked, urging ministry leaders to personally intervene to resolve bottlenecks and ensure that no issue is left unresolved.
The drive for efficiency extends to administrative procedures themselves. The Deputy Prime Minister cited a case in Da Nang, where an agency had to verify the birthplace of 7,000 students—despite the existence of a comprehensive national population database. She stressed, “Agencies, units, and organizations are not allowed to arbitrarily issue additional administrative procedures beyond the regulations.” The message is clear: unnecessary red tape must go.
Importantly, the reforms are interconnected. The Ministry of Home Affairs has been instructed to work closely with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Health to finish the reorganization of public educational institutions and commune-level health stations before the December 31, 2025, deadline. The goal is a streamlined, effective, and locally appropriate system, in line with the Politburo’s directives.
As the final days of 2025 tick away, Vietnam’s government faces a formidable challenge. The reforms underway promise to reshape the country’s educational and administrative landscape—if, and only if, the country’s leaders and civil servants can maintain their current momentum and see these ambitious plans through to completion.
