Almost all educational establishments nationwide have removed the balloons from their traditions in response to the ‘say no to plastic waste’ campaign.

The ceremonies, however, went on as usual with saluting the national flag, singing the national anthem, reading the State President’s letter on the occasion, beating the drum, and a series of musical performances and sport events.

According to estimates from the Ministry of Education and Training, this new academic year welcomes over 5.5 million kindergarteners, more than 17 million primary, secondary, and high school students, as well as over 1.5 million undergraduates.

The education sector will continue applying measures to fulfill its goals set for 2016 – 2020 and address pressing issues that have caused public concern.

Preschools are set to improve the quality and management capacity, and tackle teacher shortages. General education that consists of primary, secondary and high schools focuses on the preparations for implementing new textbooks and curriculums, and on career orientations for students.

Meanwhile, tertiary education concentrates on boosting the quality of human resources to meet requirements from the labour market amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Prior to the nationwide back-to-school day, heavy rains and flooding inflicted damage on several schools, particularly those in the central region.

A total of 173 schools in Quang Tri, where many localities have been flooded and stranded, delayed the new-academic-year celebration on September 5. The similar situation occurred at a number of schools in the mountainous areas of Ha Tinh, Nghe An, and Quang Binh provinces.