Schools nationwide joined the ceremony online from 7.30 am to 8.30 am, while the event was broadcast live on national television and radio.
The main ceremony was held at Muong Khuong Primary and Secondary Boarding School in the northern province of Lao Cai Province, where Prime Minister Le Minh Hung attended.
Education and Training Minister Hoang Minh Son and other central and local officials also attended the event.
At the main ceremony in Lao Cai, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung said the first day of school was a special occasion for students and teachers and a reminder of society's responsibility to care for younger generations.
According to the government leader, a strong country needed well-educated people, which in turn required a good education system. Education should not only impart knowledge and develop thinking skills but also foster students' moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic development, respect for national culture and willingness to contribute to society.
National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended the opening ceremony at Le Quy Don High School in Hung Yen Province, where 1,893 students took part.
In Hue, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra attended the opening ceremony and inauguration of the new A Luoi 3 Primary and Secondary Boarding School. The school, built at a cost of VND 178 billion, was completed in time for the new academic year.
Deputy Prime Minister Le Tien Chau attended the ceremony at Tay Giang Primary and Secondary Boarding School in Danang City, where more than 1,000 students gathered for the new school year.
In Tay Ninh Province, General Nguyen Trong Nghia, a Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, attended the opening ceremony at Tran Van Giau High School for the Gifted.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha attended the ceremony at Tran Quoc Hoan School in Nghe An Province, which has nearly 2,000 students. The ceremony was the school's first since its conversion from a private to a public institution under the provincial Department of Education and Training.
In Ho Chi Minh City, municipal Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang attended the opening ceremony at Tran Khai Nguyen High School, while city People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Van Duoc also took part in the city's new-school-year events.
The new academic year brings a series of major changes to Vietnam's education system, including a nationwide restructuring of schools and the introduction of a single textbook series for school students.
For the first time, students nationwide will use the "Connecting Knowledge with Life" textbook series, replacing the previous system under which schools could choose from several approved textbook sets.
The school year also marks the opening of new boarding schools in border areas as part of a national programme aimed at improving access to education for children in ethnic minority, mountainous and remote communities.
More than 100 boarding schools were completed in the first phase of the programme, adding thousands of classrooms and improving learning and living conditions for nearly 113,000 students.
Across the country, students marked the start of the academic year in sharply different settings, from major cities to mountainous, border and remote communities.
More than 302,000 students, trainees and preschool children began the new school year in Danang, while more than 734,000 students returned to school in Gia Lai and more than 830,000 in Lam Dong.
In several border areas, newly built boarding schools offered students classrooms, accommodation, kitchens and recreational facilities, reducing long daily journeys to and from school.
Education authorities have said the changes are aimed not only at improving infrastructure and access but also at raising teaching quality and encouraging more practical, independent and creative learning.
