Following recent administrative restructuring of HCMC, the 2026-2027 academic year will be the first time that entry-level enrollment in the former Ba Ria - Vung Tau area transitions from residential-based zoning to GIS-based admissions.
Le Thi Thuy, a resident of the newly formed Vung Tau Ward, is preparing her child for first grade next year. In previous years, students from Thang Nhi Ward were assigned to Thang Nhi Primary School, while those in Ward 4 were placed in Bui Thi Xuan Primary School. Given the considerable distance between the two campuses, she is anxious about which school her child will be allocated to this year to ensure convenient pick-ups and drop-offs, especially since the two wards have now merged. This apprehension is a shared sentiment among many parents with children entering new school levels.
According to Principal Truong Van Ho of Vo Truong Toan Junior High School in Tam Thang Ward, the traditional residential zoning approach has revealed numerous inadequacies. Because his school is situated on a bordering area, there were instances where students living right across the street still had to commute three to five kilometers to another school, causing significant frustration for parents. The inconsistent zoning, which fluctuated annually, also forced many students to request school transfers, subsequently disrupting class sizes and administrative management.
For the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year, upon learning that the education sector will implement GIS-based admissions grounded in students’ actual residences, the principal affirmed this system would effectively curb the phenomenon of “school shopping.” It guarantees zoning accuracy while simultaneously cutting down on administrative red tape.
Nevertheless, given the uneven technological infrastructure across different areas, Principal Truong Van Ho expressed concerns regarding how to uniformly deploy the “digitalization” mandate in admissions to ensure comprehensive information reaches every related parent.
In reality, within HCMC’s central areas, the GIS map has been piloted for entry-level admissions since the 2024-2025 academic year. Despite resolving many flaws of the outdated zoning method, there were still scenarios where students were assigned to nearby schools, but parents found transportation highly inconvenient due to complex local traffic patterns, particularly one-way streets.
Deputy Director Nguyen Van Phong of the HCMC Department of Education and Training reported that the department has collaborated with the People’s Committees of 168 wards, communes, and the special zone to redefine the city’s bordering maps post-merger. They have compiled detailed statistics on the number of schools and students within each administrative unit.
Based on this robust data, digital mapping technology is utilized to calculate optimal commuting distances, facilitating students to study closer to home in a way that aligns with the practical traffic conditions of each specific area.
Chief of Office at the HCMC Education and Training Department Ho Tan Minh shared that the 2026-2027 entry-level enrollment will be conducted entirely online via the city’s official admission portal (https://tuyensinhdaucap.hcm.edu.vn). To guarantee that 100 percent of local students secure a spot in public schools amidst limited land resources and school infrastructure, the department is exhaustively applying digital tools for transparent and scientific zoning, ensuring students attend the school nearest to their residence.
Admission data is sourced from the education and training sector’s database, which has been rigorously authenticated against the national population database under the Government’s Project 06 (on developing the application of population data, e-identification, and e-authentication to national digital transformation in the 2022-2025 period, with a vision to 2030). This is then cross-referenced with the “current residence” information declared on the parents’ VNeID application to accurately delineate admission zones.
Should the system’s data fail to accurately reflect reality, local admission steering committees will rely on the student’s physical dossier and legal proof of their current residence to deliberate and resolve the matter, strictly adhering to the principle of ensuring equitable educational rights for all students.
Director Vo Thi Trung Trinh of the HCMC Digital Transformation Center noted that her center is coordinating with relevant agencies to aggregate comprehensive population data, educational statistics, and school scale metrics. This holistic data overview will be used to advise the HCMC People’s Committee leadership on issuing strategic decisions regarding school and classroom construction, ultimately securing adequate learning spaces for all students.
This data is seamlessly displayed on a shared digital map, empowering individual localities to proactively tailor their school construction plans to their practical realities. The entire data ecosystem is projected to be fully finalized before the 2025-2026 academic year concludes.
