Vietnamese Teachers' Day
Next: November 20, 2026
Flowers and thanks for every teacher.
The story
Where it comes from
Vietnamese Teachers' Day (Ngày Nhà giáo Việt Nam) grew out of an international teachers' movement. In August 1957, at a conference in Warsaw attended by 57 countries, the World Federation of Teachers' Unions (FISE), which included Vietnam's education union, chose 20 November as International Teachers' Charter Day. North Vietnam first marked it on 20 November 1958. After reunification, Decision 167-HĐBT of 28 September 1982 made 20 November Vietnamese Teachers' Day. It draws on an old ideal, tôn sư trọng đạo: respect your teachers and value learning.
How it's celebrated
Students bring their teachers flowers, handmade cards and small gifts, and schools hold ceremonies, performances and awards. Former pupils, sometimes many years after leaving school, return for reunions or visit their old teachers at home. The 1982 decision asked officials to visit teachers, and allowed schools to rearrange lessons so that teachers could rest and join in the day.
Did you know
- A favourite saying for the day is Không thầy đố mày làm nên, roughly 'without a teacher, you will never make it'.
- Hanoi's Temple of Literature, founded in 1070, housed Vietnam's first national university, the Imperial Academy, from 1076 to 1779.
- Vietnam keeps its own date for thanking teachers rather than UNESCO's World Teachers' Day on 5 October.
The greeting
Chúc mừng Ngày Nhà giáo Việt Nam
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