AI in Education AI Minute Newsroom 2026-08-22

Vietnam has written down exactly how a student may and may not use AI — and it is not a ban

Circular 49/2026, issued by Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training on 30 June, came into force on 15 August. It is the first time the ministry has regulated the use of AI in higher and vocational education, and the notable thing is what it does not do: it does not prohibit students from using these tools. Instead it names the behaviour that counts as academic dishonesty — using AI to cheat in study, testing, assessment or research; passing off AI output as your own writing; falsifying research data; having the work done by someone or something else; and failing to disclose AI use where disclosure is required, plus whatever each institution adds to the list. On the other side, institutions are explicitly permitted to deploy AI for personalised learning, academic guidance, analysis of learning data and support for teaching. Each university and college must now write its own internal rules under three stated principles: transparency, accountability and academic integrity. The same ministry has separately moved to require AI and digital skills in university programmes for all graduates.

Why it mattersMost education systems have spent two years oscillating between blanket bans they cannot enforce and silence they cannot defend. Vietnam has picked the third option and written it into a circular: the tool is allowed, the deception is not, and the line between them is disclosure. That is a rule a marker can actually apply, and it puts the burden where it belongs — on declaring what you used rather than on proving you did not use anything. Whether it works depends entirely on what the individual institutions write next, since the circular hands them the detail. But for teachers, students and parents arguing about the same question in every country, this is a concrete national answer worth reading rather than another guidance document that says be careful.

✓ Verified · 4 sources

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Vietnam has written down exactly how a student may and may not use AI — and it is not a ban

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