Hanoi students will have an eight-day school break in the upcoming Tet holiday, according to the Hanoi Department of Education and Training.

Accordingly, the school break in Hanoi will begin on January 22 (the 28th day of the last lunar month) and last until January 29 (the fifth day of the first lunar month).

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The schools are asked to instruct the students to have proper behavior during the long school break and ensure social order and traffic safety. In particular, students are instructed not to engage in illegal racing, gambling or social evils.

Meanwhile, government offices, state-owned companies and schools across the country will close for seven days. This is one of the two seven-day holiday options proposed by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in August.

Under the second option, the holiday would start on January 24, a day before Tet, and run until January 30, the sixth day of the new lunar year.

After considering the two options, the ministry considered the first more suitable as people working away from home will have two days off to travel and prepare for the most significant holiday of the year.

Vietnam had a nine-day break for the last Tet festival that fell in February this year.

There has been a long-lasting debate on whether Vietnam should merge the celebration of Lunar New Year holiday with the Gregorian New Year, or the Tet holiday should be shortened.

Tet is the biggest and most important festival in Vietnam. Millions of migrant workers in major cities return to their homes before Lunar New Year's Eve. It is celebrated by Vietnamese and Chinese communities around the world. It is also a prolific season for the retail and travel businesses as the consumption and excursion demand is high during this time of the year.