VietNamNet Bridge – There are now 30 operational international schools in HCM City alone, each with different governing bodies, from limited companies, joint ventures to foreign-invested enterprises, and even foreign individuals.

Anh said that there are three types of international schools: 100% foreign-owned schools which teach foreigners with foreign curriculums; schools with capital contributions from both Vietnamese and foreign investors, which enroll both Vietnamese and foreigners; and 100% Vietnamese-owned schools, in which students have more hours in English and informatics.

Anh added that a fourth type of international school is going to be born. This will be a 100% foreign-owned school, but it will teach students in accordance with curriculum stipulated by the Ministry of Education and Training. A Turkish investor has applied for the establishment of a school under this mode.

The diversity of international schools has made parents and students puzzled about the quality of the schools. Director of the HCM City Education and Training Department Huynh Cong Minh said that a lot of schools exaggerate in advertisements, inflating the quality of their educational services, thus misinforming students’ parents.

Minh said that the local education and training department has asked schools to go through the department before placing advertisements. However, only some schools have obeyed the instruction, making it difficult for the department to monitor advertising activities.

The curricula of international schools remain problematic. According to Minh, the schools all say they follow ‘international curricula’, but there is no agency that checks the quality of the curricula.

Minh said that ‘foreign curriculum’ does not necessarily mean ‘good curriculum’. Sometimes, this is just curricula applied by some provinces in foreign countries, not prestigious institutions. Some schools advertise that they use curriculums designed by famous institutions; however, they cannot show copyrights for their use of the curricula.

Meanwhile, Anh has expressed worries about international schools’ tuition levels. International schools in Vietnam now can set tuition levels themselves. Meanwhile, a lot of parents complain that they have to pay very high tuition fees, but they are uncertain about education quality. Anh said that in order to settle the problem, it is necessary to classify international schools, rank them based on detailed standards.

The accreditation of the schools needs to be carried out in a transparent way, and as soon as possible, he added.

(Source: NLD)