When a school expands following a merger, attendance checking is just one of many operational changes. Previously, during peak administrative periods, printed lesson plans would pile up on the desks of subject-group leaders awaiting review and approval. Records, logbooks, and academic transcripts had to be printed, signed, categorized, and stored physically. When information needed to be checked, administrators had to locate specific paper files and cross-reference multiple documents.
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The opening ceremony of the 2026-2027 academic year at Nha Trang Secondary School |
After nearly two years of pilot implementation, many records, lesson plans, logbooks, and academic transcripts have been migrated to digital platforms. According to the school, this transition has reduced the volume of manual processing by 80-90 percent across various administrative procedures.
Principal of Nha Trang Secondary School Pham Thi Thanh Hai noted that checking records previously required administrators to search through and cross-reference individual document sets. She added that with just a few clicks, administrators can now access information and statistics and monitor the status of school records and logbooks.
Academic transcripts are digitally signed and uploaded to the national digital transcript database under the Ministry of Education and Training. Electronic records reduce printing and storage costs while shortening the time needed to retrieve information. Parents can track class schedules, academic results, and attendance records through a mobile application instead of waiting for periodic paper notices.
The school currently uses several platforms for different purposes. eDoc supports document management, records tracking, and digital signing; SMAS manages student, teacher, and class information; and Edu.One serves as a communication channel connecting the school with students and parents. Provided by Viettel, these platforms facilitate the transition from paper-based administrative procedures to electronic processes.
In the 2026-2027 academic year, the system faces a new operational test. Nha Trang Secondary School was reorganized through the merger of Nha Trang Secondary School and Tuc Duyen Secondary School. Following the restructuring, the school operates 63 classes with 2,841 students and 104 teachers, staff members, and administrators across one main campus and one satellite campus.
School administration reports indicate that members of the management board still have to monitor three to four separate applications covering education, personnel, finance, and operational management. The primary challenge does not lie in the number of software applications, as each system serves a distinct function, but in ensuring that data entered once can serve multiple operational requirements without requiring manual re-entry, verification, and cross-checking across different applications.
As of August 20, 2026, Thai Nguyen Province had completed the reorganization of its public education network, streamlining 505 administrative focal points and reducing the total number of facilities from 929 to 424. Of these, 366 schools operate under commune- and ward-level People's Committees, while 58 schools and centers report directly to the Department of Education and Training.
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Principal of Nha Trang Secondary School Pham Thi Thanh Hai |
However, reducing 505 administrative focal points on organizational charts does not mean closing an equivalent number of physical teaching locations. Following the restructuring, the province retains 523 satellite campuses and 578 outlying school sites to accommodate population distribution, geographical conditions, and students' travel needs.
Consequently, centralized data management has become a critical factor in the consolidation process. When two or more schools merge, software systems must be able to track student class placements, teacher assignments, asset locations across physical sites, and the transfer of historical records. Duplicate data, delayed updates, or inconsistencies between applications can create administrative bottlenecks when schools compile reports and allocate resources.
Deputy Director of the Thai Nguyen Provincial Department of Education and Training, Dr. Nguyen Van Hung emphasized that analytical reports and data insights enable management agencies to identify imbalances in teacher allocation, shifts in student populations, and facility requirements at an early stage, providing a solid basis for operational decision-making.
However, having a centralized database does not automatically integrate all school operations. Because academic, personnel, financial, and asset data originate from different specialized systems, post-merger requirements call for unified data standards, updating protocols, and data-sharing mechanisms across platforms rather than forcing all workflows into a single application.
When data structures are unified, a single data entry at the source can feed multiple operational workflows. As a result, administrative backlogs on office desks are no longer replaced by repetitive logins, manual data entry, and cross-screen comparisons.
In Thai Nguyen, Viettel has addressed this challenge through systematic assessments of existing systems. Since early 2026, Viettel's Thai Nguyen branch has worked with provincial authorities to survey 139 databases across 21 departments and agencies, assessing their levels of digitization, data quality, and system connectivity. The findings serve as a baseline for developing specialized and shared databases for the 2026-2027 period. The company has also provided advisory support for piloting the provincial data center, including shared data repositories and intelligent operations centers.
For the 2026-2027 academic year, Viettel has upgraded its SMAS software to support post-merger school operating models. Data from merged institutions were migrated to the newly established units and reorganized according to main-campus, satellite-campus, and outlying-site hierarchies. As a result, educational institutions can continue using existing historical data without manually re-entering information, helping ensure uninterrupted administrative operations throughout the organizational restructuring.
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Deputy Director of the Thai Nguyen Provincial Department of Education and Training, Dr. Nguyen Van Hung |
Building on this foundation, Viettel continues to refine its digital education ecosystem by promoting continuous data connectivity and synchronization across school administration, teaching activities, and parent engagement channels. While individual platforms retain their specialized functions, data sharing and integrated use provide a foundation for more synchronized and effective education management.
Director of Viettel's Thai Nguyen branch Sr. Col. Vu Hong Quan said digital transformation creates a meaningful impact only when data across systems becomes a shared operational resource, enabling sectors to identify issues early, manage operations transparently, and provide more effective services to end-users.
Digitization has helped schools reduce manual administrative workloads and maintain operations following mergers. The next phase of aligning data systems with reorganized administrative structures will require seamless data connectivity extending from the classroom level to senior management.
Translated by Hai Son