80th anniversary of education sector and special opening ceremony of 2025-2026 school year held

On the morning of September 5, at the My Dinh National Convention Center, Hanoi, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) solemnly held a ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the National Ministry of Education, now the MOET, combined with the opening ceremony of the 2025-2026 academic year.

Leaders of the Ministry of Education and Training and students happily welcome Party General Secretary To Lam to attend the ceremony marking 80th anniversary of the education sector and the opening of the new 2025-2026 academic year. Photo: MOET

Attending the ceremony were Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Do Van Chien; along with Politburo members, Secretaries of the Party Central Committee, members of the Party Central Committee, representatives of central and local departments, ministries, and sectors; representatives of international organizations in Vietnam, and outstanding teachers, students, and learners nationwide.

A special opening ceremony in the history of education

The ceremony was broadcast live on Vietnam Television and connected to more than 52,000 educational institutions nationwide, including more than 1,300 educational institutions from preschool to university levels in Dong Nai.

Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son speaks at the ceremony reviewing the 80-year tradition of the National Ministry of Education and the opening of the new academic year. Photo: MOET

Right after the opening ceremony concluded, educational institutions in Dong Nai organized for teachers, students, learners, and parents to enter classrooms and halls to watch the live broadcast of the ceremony.

In his opening speech at the ceremony, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of MOET Nguyen Kim Son reviewed the history of the National Ministry of Education, now the MOET. The National Ministry of Education was established on August 28, 1945, just a few days after the success of the August Revolution, demonstrating President Ho Chi Minh's vision on the role of education in the development of the country.

Speaking about the development of the national education and training sector after 80 years of foundation and development, Minister of MOET Nguyen Kim Son emphasized: "Over the past 80 years, like a miracle, from a country where 95% of the population was illiterate, with a sparse intellectual class like autumn leaves, and a handful of higher education institutions, having gone through decades of war, with countless hardships and difficulties... to this day, the whole country has completed universal preschool  education  coverage for 5-year-old children to those at high school education."

Delegates attend the anniversary ceremony and the opening of the new academic year 2025-2026 at the My Dinh National Convention Center. Photo: MOET

Minister Nguyen Kim Son also highlighted many outstanding achievements of the country in educational development, such as the gradual improvement of general education quality, with Vietnam being internationally recognized as one of the countries with a good general education system in the world. For many consecutive years, Vietnam has been among the top 10 countries with the best results in Olympic competitions worldwide. Currently, the country has over 52,000 educational institutions, of which 65% of general schools meet standards, and many schools are spacious and modern.

Proceeding with the achievements of the national education sector after 80 years of establishment and development, on the first day of the new academic year 2025-2026, Minister Nguyen Kim Son emphasized that the country is embracing a historic opportunity for breakthrough development, successfully realizing the aspiration of two 100-year goals, and the urgent requirements for human development and high-quality human resource development, which demand strong development in education and training. The Minister hopes that all teachers, students, and trainees will continue to strive, innovate, and act quickly and strongly to overcome their own limitations, seize every opportunity and condition, and fulfill the nation's glorious new mission.

Education is the future of the nation

At this special ceremony, Party General Secretary To Lam delivered a particularly meaningful speech, not only for the Ministry of Education and Training in its new journey, but also for the entire education sector nationwide, especially for over 1,700 teachers and millions of students and trainees across the country who watched General Secretary To Lam's speech on national television.

General Secretary To Lam delivers a particularly important speech at the ceremony. Photo: Ministry of Education and Training

Party General Secretary To Lam emphasized that the 80th anniversary of the National Ministry of Education is an occasion to review the glorious tradition, express gratitude for the contributions of generations of teachers and education managers, and at the same time affirm the determination to strongly innovate education, so that education truly becomes a top national policy, a key driving force for national development, and the future of the nation.

General Secretary To Lam assessed that for the past 80 years, Vietnamese revolutionary education has always been at the forefront of human resource development and talent cultivation, contributing decisively to the victory of the national liberation revolution, national reunification, and development. Given the nation's new goals and opportunities, especially the goal for Vietnam to become a modern industrialized country by 2030 and a developed, high-income country by 2045, the Politburo recently issued Resolution No. 71 on breakthrough development in education and training, continuing to consider education as a top national policy.

To quickly bring Resolution 71 into practice, Party General Secretary To Lam proposed: The entire Party must strongly innovate its leadership thinking towards education, not imposing old standards on a modern education system, but rather providing close, practical guidance, and organizing resolute, effective, and consistent implementation, considering education as a top national policy. The National Assembly needs to continue to improve the legal system, creating a smooth, stable, and advanced legal framework for the cause of education and training reform. The Government should increase investment, ensuring financial resources, facilities, and personnel; and at the same time resolutely remove bottlenecks in mechanisms and policies to unblock and mobilize all social resources for education to the maximum extent. The Vietnam Fatherland Front and social organizations need to promote the strength of great national unity, encourage and spread the movement of the entire population caring for the cause of nurturing people.

Party General Secretary To Lam presents the First-Class Labor Order to the Ministry of Education and Training. Photo: Ministry of Education and Training

As for the education sector, Party General Secretary To Lam requested: It is necessary to be a pioneer in innovating thinking, methods, and governance; building a team of teachers who are knowledgeable, ethical, and have a desire to contribute. Teachers must be bright examples and sources of inspiration for students. Students must cultivate great ambitions and aspirations, study and train to become global citizens, gradually integrate with international standards but always maintain Vietnamese identity and soul.

Stating some major orientations and educational development in the new period, the Party General Secretary requested that it is necessary to strongly innovate thinking and actions, shifting from "corrective" reform to creative thinking - leading national development through education. Quality - equity - integration - efficiency should be the yardstick; and enforcement discipline should be tightened.

Students of Bui Thi Xuan Primary - Secondary - High School, Tam Hiep Ward, Dong Nai Province, attentively listen to Party General Secretary To Lam's speech. Photo: Cong Nghia

The Party General Secretary requested to ensure equal access to education, raise the general intellectual level. No child should be left behind, prioritizing remote, mountainous, border, island, and difficult areas. Increase investment in schools,"school nutrition, the team of teachers, and digital infrastructure;  innovate general education towards a comprehensive approach, where education not only imparts knowledge but also nurtures character - trains physical fitness - cultivates the soul, awakens civic spirit, discipline, and social responsibility, forming a generation that is "both talented, compassionate, and resilient."

The Party General Secretary To Lam emphasized: It is necessary to create breakthroughs in higher education and vocational education. Universities must become centers for generating knowledge and technology, serving as the core of innovation - entrepreneurship, closely linking training - research - transfer with the country's development needs. It is necessary to form large universities of regional and international stature, and modern vocational training institutions, to train high-quality human resources, contributing to the country's breakthrough in science - technology, industrialization, and digital transformation.

The Party General Secretary also mentioned the task of promoting international integration in education, caring for the development of teachers and educational administrators, promoting digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) in education, prioritizing investment in education, and accelerating the building of a learning society and lifelong learning.

Dong Nai students happily enter the new school year 2025-2026. Photo: Cong Nghia

On the first day of the 2025-2026 school year, the Party General Secretary To Lam also profoundly advised 26 million students and learners nationwide with these words: "Our ancestors achieved victory with their blood and bones. Today, in peace, integration, and the aspiration to rise, the responsibility of your generation is to achieve new victories with knowledge - courage - creativity."

As for the teaching staff nationwide, the Party General Secretary To Lam highly praised their immense sacrifices and contributions to the cause of "nurturing people," and expressed deep gratitude and sincere appreciation to generations of teachers. He hoped that teachers would continue to set examples, innovate methods, and guide students on the path of knowledge and character. Teachers should pioneer digital transformation, guiding students to use technology, especially artificial intelligence, in a creative, effective, safe, and humane way.

On this occasion, the Party General Secretary To Lam presented the noble First-Class Labor Order to the Ministry of Education and Training.

By: Cong Nghia

Translated by: Mai Nga – Thu Ha