Go to school with happiness

Speaking at a recent conference to deploy the direction and tasks for the 2025-2026 school year in the general education sector, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the City Department of Education and Training, requested that 100% of primary, secondary and high schools in the city must implement the happy school model.

When implementing a happy school, facilities are one thing, but relationships within the school are more important. How teachers create trust so that students can confide and exchange is the ideal environment.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu (Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training)

School must be the friendliest

"Depending on specific conditions, each school will implement the happy school model to a certain extent. The goal of the city's education sector is to create the best learning conditions, create the friendliest environment, and bring the best things to students.

When implementing a happy school, facilities are one thing, but relationships within the school are more important. How teachers create trust so that students can confide and exchange is the ideal environment," Mr. Hieu affirmed.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dac, principal of Hoang Hoa Tham Secondary School, Tan Binh Ward, also said: "A happy school not only has happy students but also happy teachers. Therefore, in addition to creating conditions for students to develop their abilities, teachers also need to be supported to transform digitally, to teach effectively, and to complete their tasks well."

During the summer, Hoang Hoa Tham Secondary School quickly repainted many facilities, added more trees and fresh flowers... in the school yard and fence, and organized training classes on artificial intelligence (AI) for teachers.

"Arousing students' interest, desire to explore, learn... is one of the factors that makes them happy to go to school. To do that, teachers must prepare appropriate teaching content. But preparation does not mean teachers give one-way lectures in class.

In the new school year, teachers at Hoang Hoa Tham Secondary School will focus more on guiding students on how to study lessons at home. Through the LMS system, teachers will ask students to study lessons in advance.

When in class, students may present or share what they know. The important thing here is that teachers should not judge students as right or wrong, but only encourage them to express their thoughts and opinions," Mr. Dac shared.

Respect the differences

In addition to regular classes, many schools said they are planning to open clubs for students to register according to their personal wishes in sports, music , etc.

Mr. Le Thanh Hai, principal of Chinh Nghia Primary School, Cho Lon Ward, said that when returning to school, each student will receive a gift prepared by their homeroom teacher. At first, students will go to their old classroom, meet their homeroom teacher from the previous school year, listen to her instructions and congratulate them. Then, the 5th grade teacher will go down to the 4th grade to pick up their students and take them to the 5th grade classroom.

Each block takes turns doing the same. This is to avoid confusion and also to show students that they are respected when the teacher leads them to their new class.

According to Mr. Hai, building a happy school is one of the three key tasks in the new school year. The team at Chinh Nghia Primary School will implement many solutions to create a friendly learning environment, respect differences, and foster love and cooperation between teachers, students and parents.

Meanwhile, Nam Sai Gon Primary - Secondary - High School, Tan My Ward will implement "running classes" for grade 10. Instead of having to choose a combination of 3 - 4 elective subjects, grade 10 students at Nam Sai Gon School can choose each subject according to their interests and abilities.

For compulsory subjects, students will study in fixed classes. For elective subjects of the 2018 General Education Program, students will "run" to classes teaching the subjects they have registered for.

Not only focusing on expertise, Nam Sai Gon School also built a new international standard restroom (with air conditioning and sound system for music) for primary school, and replaced all multi-purpose desks and chairs for first grade students.

"The expected end of school day is 4 p.m. every day, but students have 60 minutes to play in the school yard to make full use of existing facilities such as the soccer field, volleyball court, basketball court, badminton court, etc. Because the school has three levels, we are calculating to schedule each level to be able to play in the sports area after school.

Students from grades 6 to 12 will be able to choose to study art subjects to develop their personal talents such as organ, piano, saxophone, modern dance, vocal music, classical music...

In the 2025-2026 school year, we plan to open a free traditional music class on Saturday mornings for students who love to sing reformed opera, folk songs, and play traditional musical instruments...", Mr. Tran Nghia Nhan, the school's principal, informed.

Week 0, what do teachers and students do?

In Hanoi, many private schools allow students to return to school from the first week of August, while public primary schools gather first graders as early as around August 21.

Students come to school to receive their teachers, receive their classes and prepare mentally and with basic skills for the new school year. The teachers take them to introduce them to the school, the functional rooms in the school, especially the toilets and how to use the toilet.

Students are trained in order such as lining up, getting used to their seats, practicing how to sit and study, how to hold a pen, and how to use school supplies. More importantly, students have 2 weeks to overcome the awkwardness of the new environment before entering the actual study week," said Ms. H., a teacher at Dich Vong A Primary School.

According to the teachers in charge of grade 1 at Kim Lien Primary School and Le Van Tam Primary School, during week 0 of grade 1 students, teachers have a hard time because students still have the habits of kindergarten, many children do not know how to go to the toilet by themselves, or are timid and afraid. Some children come to class and just cry. There are also children who do not want to sit still in class.

Ms. Phuong Thi Thin, principal of Van Yen Primary School, said that she has created a separate timetable for 2 weeks before the new school year to help students "transition from kindergarten to first grade as smoothly as possible."

In some schools, first grade parents take turns attending their child’s class. This is also a way for parents to empathize and gain more experience in supporting their child in the first days of school.

In mountainous provinces, week 0 starts even earlier. In Van Ban, Mu Cang Chai (Lao Cai), many teachers volunteer to come to schools before the school opening to review lessons for students for free. Week 0 is even more important for first graders because it is the time for students to learn more Vietnamese to communicate with teachers and friends.

"Students must be taught how to open and close books and get school supplies. For students in mountainous areas, there is something even more important in week 0: creating excitement for students so that they have a good impression on the first day of school, replacing the mentality of "fear of studying" with liking to go to school," Ms. Hoang Thi Nguyet, a teacher in charge of grade 1 at Khanh Khe Primary and Secondary School (Lang Son), shared.

Week 0 at this school lasts about 120 minutes/session. In addition to the in-class lessons to practice sitting, holding a pen, using books and school supplies, students participate in group activities to bond and thereby improve their Vietnamese listening and speaking skills.

Sharing hearts before the first day of school

In the last days of August, when the school opening drum is approaching, in Da Nang, the atmosphere of preparation for the new school year is not only bustling in every family but also filled with affection from teachers, local people and kind-hearted people.

At Ngoc Lan Kindergarten (Hai Chau Ward), teachers have quietly sent messages to the parent group, quietly learning about each particularly difficult situation. From small amounts of money collected over many months through the form of "raising piggy banks", zero-dong markets organized by the teachers themselves, a charity fund has been built.

Before the first day of school, the school prepares gifts worth several hundred thousand dong to send to orphans or disabled children.

Ms. Nguyen Quoc Thu Tram, the school principal, emotionally said: "Although they are just small gifts, they are a warm sharing. We hope to give more motivation to the children and parents to confidently step into the new school year."

The valuable thing is that this fund is not only for children in the school but also expanded to share with students in the difficult mountainous areas of Tay Giang, like a long thread of love from the city to the far away areas.

In Lien Chieu ward, the local government is also busy implementing the "support to school" plan. Dozens of gifts, each worth from 500,000 VND to 1 million VND, mobilized from socialized funds, will be given to poor students before the new school year.

The warmest and most widespread story is from Hoa Vang commune. After about a month of launching, "Hoa Vang Commune Shared Textbook Shelf" was officially launched, located in school libraries. The result was 551 million VND raised to buy books and more than 6,200 textbooks were donated.

In the 2025-2026 school year, the bookshelf will lend more than 15,000 books to 1,254 students from poor households and families with preferential policies in mountainous areas. According to the leader of Hoa Vang commune, after each year, parents and students will return the books for the next generation to continue using.

From the 2026-2027 school year, the commune strives to mobilize enough resources for the "shared bookshelf" to meet 100% of the needs of disadvantaged students, while also arranging funds to buy new books to replace damaged books.

Da Nang has also announced the schedule for the 2025-2026 school year, according to which students in grades 1, 9 and 12 will return to school on August 25 at the earliest; other grades from August 28. On September 5, the entire city will join together in the opening ceremony, opening a new school year.

Determined not to let any student drop out of school

According to the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, in order to create conditions for officials and civil servants to feel secure in their work at the beginning of the new school year, the department has completed school transfer procedures and registered for nearly 600 preschool children and students of all levels to transfer jobs with their parents.

Currently, schools have basically checked and prepared enough classrooms and schools for students to come to school. However, the problem in the new school year is the lack of teachers according to the assigned staff, about 1,900 teachers are lacking.

The Department of Education and Training is continuing to transfer teachers from areas with surplus to areas with shortage, implementing a new recruitment process and encouraging the transfer of teachers from other areas. For the ethnic language teaching program (Khmer) under the new program, Can Tho is lacking teaching equipment, textbooks and has proposed that the Ministry of Education and Training provide support.

In An Giang, Mr. Dam Thanh Lac, principal of Giong Rieng High School, Giong Rieng Commune, said that teachers at the school also mobilized philanthropists to support gifts and health insurance for disadvantaged students and did not let them miss school for any reason.

In Ca Mau, the province has allocated more than 27 billion VND to repair and upgrade classrooms, add desks and chairs, prevent leaks and flooding. Repair projects are being actively implemented so that the new school year can begin in the best possible conditions with the goal of not having any school or class lacking desks, chairs, or classrooms during the school year.

Mr. Tang Thien Tinh, vice chairman of the People's Committee of Dat Mui commune, added that the commune has directed schools to review student lists, with the determination "not to let any students drop out of school due to poverty or traffic obstructions".