Many Party and State officials on September 3 joined students at various schools across the country to celebrate the beginning of the 2014-2015 new academic year.

Politburo member and Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan beat the school drum to launch the new school year at a high school for gifted students in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang.

On the occasion, the NA Vice Chairwoman presented 5,000 notebooks, 200 school bags and one TV as gifts to the school.

Meanwhile, Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Le Thanh Hai attended a similar event at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai high school.

He said the education and training sector should continue reforming the teaching methods and encouraging students to self-study, while regularly holding extracurricular activities and scientific research.

According to the municipal Department of Education and Training, the city has 2,124 schools in the new school year with more than 1.52 million students.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai beat the drum at a high school for gifted students in northern Thai Binh province, whilst NA Vice Chairman Uong Chu Luu and Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien celebrated the event at a high school in the northern mountainous province of Bac Kan.-VNA