On October 4, 2025, Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (Bộ GD&ĐT) issued a sweeping directive aimed at reorganizing the country’s network of preschools, general education, and continuing education institutions. The guidance, sent to provincial and municipal People’s Committees in Official Document No. 6165/BGDĐT-GDPT, marks a pivotal step in the nation’s ongoing efforts to streamline its public sector apparatus and optimize the delivery of essential services, particularly education.
The reorganization comes against the backdrop of a broader campaign to restructure and modernize Vietnam’s political and administrative systems. According to Báo Quảng Ngãi, provinces like Quảng Ngãi have already pushed forward decisively and comprehensively, with local officials reporting that their targets and schedules for restructuring are largely on track and comparable to progress in other regions nationwide.
At the heart of the Ministry’s new guidance are several foundational principles. The reorganization must be grounded in the actual functions and duties of each institution, build upon previous achievements, and align with the Party’s overarching directives for a leaner, more effective state apparatus. Crucially, the process must not reduce opportunities for children and students to access education, nor compromise their safety or convenience in attending school. The Ministry makes it clear: “Merging preschools with general education schools or continuing education institutions with general education schools is prohibited.” Instead, the guidance stresses the importance of meeting lifelong learning needs and ensuring transparency and public participation throughout the process.
Specific steps outlined by the Ministry include reviewing the current educational infrastructure, developing reorganization plans, and preparing all necessary conditions for implementation. For preschools and general education institutions, any merging is only permitted within the boundaries of a single commune-level administrative unit. The priority is to retain schools that have favorable conditions—such as solid infrastructure and accessible locations—while dissolving substandard satellite campuses. Where schools are merged, the main campus must be fully equipped to accommodate all students, and the repurposing of vacated land or buildings must comply with legal requirements and serve the community’s needs.
The Ministry’s document mandates that every commune-level administrative unit must have at least one preschool, one primary school, and one lower secondary school. In exceptional cases, especially in sparsely populated or hard-to-reach areas, multi-level general education schools may be organized, but with separate zones for each educational level to maintain quality and order. There’s also a push to consider merging small, substandard preschools and primary schools within the same commune, provided it’s done gradually and with careful planning.
Continuing education and vocational centers are to be reorganized into inter-ward or inter-commune centers, tailored to their specific functions and organizational structures. Community learning centers will also be arranged so that each commune has at least one, ensuring that educational opportunities remain accessible for all age groups and backgrounds.
This educational restructuring is just one piece of a much larger national puzzle. As TTXVN reports, the last three months have seen the new two-level local government model stabilize across provinces and cities. But the process has been anything but simple. As of the end of August 2025, approximately 100,000 officials, civil servants, and public employees have resigned amid the reorganization of administrative units nationwide. The Ministry of Home Affairs is working swiftly to address policy and benefits for those affected, in accordance with Government Decrees 178/2024/NĐ-CP and 67/2025/NĐ-CP.
Local governments are being urged to maintain stable operations under the new model, streamline their internal structures, and quickly resolve administrative procedures for citizens and businesses. A comprehensive review and restructuring of commune-level staff is underway, with the aim of ensuring that the right people are in the right positions and that shortages or surpluses are promptly addressed. The reality on the ground, however, is mixed. In the newly formed An Lạc Ward—created by merging three former wards in Ho Chi Minh City—operations have stabilized, but there remains a shortage of specialized staff in critical areas such as land management, planning, investment, and finance. The ward has requested additional specialized personnel from the city to fill these gaps.
Dr. Vũ Thị Mai Oanh, from the Ho Chi Minh City Cadre Academy, warns of the dangers of “wasting gray matter”—the loss of talented professionals due to inadequate utilization or lack of supportive environments. She emphasizes, “At any time, talented people are needed. But if we don’t value, create mechanisms, and environments to attract and use them properly, and fully unleash their abilities for the country’s development, it is a form of wasting intellectual resources that is deeply concerning.”
Other experts echo this sentiment, highlighting the critical role that public sector human resources play in researching, planning, and implementing policies, as well as in crafting and adjusting laws to fit real-world conditions. Dr. Ngô Tuấn Phương and Dr. Ngô Thị Kim Liên stress that attracting and developing high-quality talent is essential for effective state management and for driving breakthroughs in national development. They argue that reviewing, assessing, and perfecting mechanisms and policies to attract and retain talent in the public sector is an urgent task—one that will help build a lean, strong, and efficient administrative apparatus capable of meeting Vietnam’s economic and social development goals in the new era.
But there’s another challenge lurking in the wings: the management of surplus public assets following the administrative shakeup. According to the Ministry of Finance, by the end of 2024, more than 11,000 public buildings and land parcels across the country remained unaddressed, with many facilities either underutilized or deteriorating. The abolition of district-level units and the merging of wards and communes have only increased the volume of surplus assets. Of the more than 38,000 public offices across 52 provinces and cities that have undergone restructuring, over 4,200 are now surplus.
Localities are being called upon to turn these redundant assets into resources for development. Vĩnh Long province, for example, has instructed its wards and communes to reassess their actual needs and prioritize converting surplus offices into schools, directly benefiting local communities. Đồng Nai province has similarly repurposed surplus offices as new workspaces for local and central agencies, or converted them into healthcare, educational, or other public facilities. In Ho Chi Minh City, the Finance Department has rolled out a plan to manage surplus public assets with the goal of “preventing loss and waste.” Surplus office space is being reassigned or repurposed, with a special focus on education, healthcare, and social services. Idle or unused assets are now under the management of the city’s Land Development Center for better utilization. In one notable proposal, the former administrative center of Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu province could soon become a university campus.
Experts caution, however, that despite strong central directives, the actual conversion of surplus assets remains slow in some areas, hampered by budget constraints, lack of clear guidance, and a reluctance among local leaders to take responsibility. Dr. Nguyễn Thị Tường Duy of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade stresses, “We must avoid situations where public land is left fallow and public assets deteriorate due to improper use. Tight management of resources not only saves costs but also creates conditions for sustainable socio-economic development.”
As Vietnam prepares for its 14th National Party Congress and the 16th National Assembly elections, the drive to reorganize and modernize its administrative and educational systems is reaching a new level of urgency. The coming months will test whether these ambitious reforms can truly deliver a more streamlined, effective, and equitable public sector for all.
