In June 2002, the mẫu chữ thảo tiếng việt, or the Vietnamese official cursive script, was adopted through Decision 31/2002/QĐ-BGD&ĐT of the Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo, or Ministry of Education and Training. It has been mandatory since 2002–03. The creator of the writing samples is not credited, and no official digital typeface for the model exists.
Print script or pre-cursive letters are not taught, and students only learn cursive writing. They start with uppercase letters of medium size in Grade 1, moving to smaller sized letters in Grade 2, and in Grade 3, they are expected to write fluently in both cases.




Samples of monolinear letters in the Mẫu chữ thảo tiếng việt, or Vietnamese official cursive script,in both upright and sloped styles.
The model shows four versions of a continuous cursive style — (a) upright, monolinear (b) upright with contrast, i.e. with a marked difference between thick and thin strokes (c) 15° sloped, monolinear (d) 15° sloped with contrast. Of these, the upright versions are prioritised for teaching, and the rest may be introduced if the situation is conducive.




Samples of constrasted letters in the Mẫu chữ thảo tiếng việt, or Vietnamese official cursive script,in both upright and sloped styles.
In all four styles, lowercase letters are joined and have tall extenders and round foundational forms. Uppercase letters are decorative and not all of them join with succeeding lowercase letters. It is also specified that in fluent handwriting, diacritics, as well as strokes such as the bar of the “t”, should be written after all the letters that make up a word.