First graders and seniors in Ho Chi Minh City return to school on August 20

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued a framework plan for the school year, which clearly stipulates the school start date schedule for each level of education from kindergarten to high school.

Accordingly, students in grades 1, 9 and 12 (also known as senior students) will return to school on August 20. The remaining grades will return to school on August 25.

Schools will simultaneously start the new school year on September 5 and ensure 18 weeks of actual study in the first semester, and 17 weeks of actual study in the second semester. Thus, students in Ho Chi Minh City will return to school 2 days earlier than the general schedule of the whole country.

Students in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Pham Nguyen

Schools will end the school year before May 31. The recognition of completion of primary school and graduation from secondary school will be completed by June 30, 2026 at the latest; admission to the first level (grades 1, 6, 10) will be completed before July 31.

After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City is an educational super city with more than 2.5 million students and more than 3,500 public educational institutions. The city's education and training sector is divided into 3 areas: Area I, Area II and Area III.

According to the school year schedule issued by the Ministry of Education and Training , the opening ceremony will still be held on September 5th as every year. The Ministry requires schools to organize the school opening ceremony at least 1 week before the opening ceremony date. Particularly for grades 1, 9, and 12, the school opening ceremony must be at least 2 weeks before the opening ceremony date.

Semester I ends before January 18, 2026, completing the program and ending the school year before May 31, 2026. Admission to the first grade classes must be completed before July 31, 2026. The 2026 high school graduation exam is scheduled to take place on June 11 and 12.