Nearly 22.5 million pupils and students start new school year

Ha Noi, Sept. 5 (VNA) -- Almost 22.5 million pupils and students throughout the country start their new academic year on Sept. 5.

This year's enrolment includes 3 million pre-school pupils, 9.7 million primary education students, 6.2 million junior secondary education students, 2.32 million senior secondary education students, 271,600 vocational trainees and almost 1 million college and university students.

Pupils and students in some parts of the Mekong delta began the 2001-02 school year a month ago to avoid floods.

The 2001-02 academic year is the first year of implementing the 9th Party Congress Resolution, which requires the education and training sector to continue raising its education quality and reforming the educational curriculum, methodology and administration.

A new set of textbooks is scheduled to be taught nationwide from the 2002-03 school year. Therefore, this year the education sector should make an overall assessment of the revised textbooks, organise refresher courses for primary education teachers and prepare facilities for the next school year.

The focus of the sector is to universalise primary education and promote the study of information technology, engineering and biology.--VNA