Preschools in Vietnam fall into three ownership types under the 2019 Education Law: public (công lập), people-founded (dân lập) and private (tư thục), with foreign-invested schools forming a separate category licensed under the rules on foreign investment in education. All Vietnamese schools, whatever their ownership, work within the national preschool programme and the preschool charter, and all are subject to the same rules on child safety, school health and food hygiene; they differ in funding, governance, fees, staffing and the supplementary programmes they offer.
The labels matter to anyone joining or partnering with a school, because they determine who appoints the principal, who approves the budget, which authority licenses changes, and what the school may say about its programme. They matter less than outsiders expect as a guide to quality. This article sets out the types, how each is established and overseen, how quality accreditation works, and what to check when you are assessing a school as a teacher, a curriculum partner or an investor-minded founder.
The main types at a glance
The table summarises the ownership types you will meet. Details of licensing and conditions change from time to time, so treat it as a map rather than a legal checklist.
| Type | Who establishes it | Funding | Typical features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public (công lập) | The state, through local authorities | State budget for salaries and infrastructure; tuition now exempt from 2025–2026 | Large classes in growing areas, staff on public contracts, strong ties to local education office |
| People-founded (dân lập) | A local community, often at commune level | Contributions and fees, with some local support | Mostly in rural areas; fewer in number than in the past |
| Private (tư thục) | Individuals, groups or Vietnamese companies | Fees and the owner’s investment; tuition support for eligible children | Wide range from small neighbourhood schools to premium bilingual chains |
| Foreign-invested | Foreign investors, alone or in joint ventures | Fees and foreign capital | Often teach international or foreign programmes; licensed under separate rules |
| Independent groups and classes | Individuals, usually in residential or industrial areas | Fees, sometimes with public support near industrial zones | Small, limited in number of groups, licensed by local authorities |
Within private provision, you will hear schools describe themselves as bilingual, international or integrated. These are marketing categories, not legal ones. A Vietnamese private preschool can run an extensive English programme and call itself bilingual; whether it may call itself international depends on its licence and on how it uses the word. Teachers and partners should look at the licence and the actual programme rather than the name on the gate.
How private preschools are established
Opening a private preschool in Vietnam is a two-stage process in most cases. The founders first obtain permission to establish the school, showing that the planned site, facilities, finances and organisational plan meet the conditions set by government decree. The school must then obtain permission to begin educational activities, which requires the facilities to be ready, the principal and teachers to be in place with the required qualifications, and the programme, food service and safety arrangements to meet the rules. Only then may it admit children.
Independent nursery groups and kindergarten classes follow a simpler path through local authorities, reflecting their smaller size, but they too must meet conditions on space, qualified staff, equipment, food hygiene and safety. Following the 2025 reorganisation of local government into provinces and communes, the offices responsible for these approvals have changed in many places, so anyone setting up or expanding a setting should confirm the current responsible authority before preparing documents.
Several conditions shape what a private preschool looks like. Minimum space per child, outdoor play areas, toilets suitable for small children, kitchen arrangements that separate raw and cooked food, and fire safety all affect the choice of building. Founders who start from an attractive villa and adapt it later often discover that the kitchen or the stairs do not meet the rules. The national figures are less demanding than the standards many international schools set for themselves, but they are enforced, and a school that cannot meet them will not be licensed.
Foreign-invested preschools
Foreign investment in education is governed by a separate decree, Decree 86/2018/NĐ-CP, which sets conditions for foreign-invested schools and for educational cooperation with foreign partners. It covers matters such as minimum investment, facilities, the qualifications of managers and teachers, the programmes that may be taught and the enrolment of Vietnamese children. Foreign-invested preschools may teach foreign programmes, but their licence defines what they may offer and to whom.
For international teachers this matters mainly in two ways. First, the programme you teach in a foreign-invested school may be an overseas curriculum, such as one based on England’s Early Years Foundation Stage or the IB Primary Years Programme, rather than the Vietnamese national programme, and your planning and reporting will follow that curriculum. Second, schools that enrol Vietnamese children need to check what the rules require at their level on Vietnamese language and culture, and many international preschools include it by choice, so even an international school is rarely wholly separate from the national system.
Many of the bilingual schools that serve Vietnamese families are not foreign-invested at all. They are Vietnamese private schools that implement the national programme and add an English or international layer as a supplementary programme. This is the model Global Star School follows with the Global Nexus framework: the national programme provides the base and the expected outcomes, and the six Global Nexus dimensions, bilingual practice and project-based methods are layered on top.
What every school must follow, whatever its type
Ownership changes a school’s funding and governance, but the core rules that protect children apply across the board. These are the ones teachers meet in daily practice.
- The national preschool programme, for Vietnamese schools, as the base of the curriculum, with any supplementary programme added on top.
- The preschool charter: age groups, maximum group sizes, the duties of principals and teachers, and relations with families.
- School health rules, issued jointly by the health and education sectors, covering health checks, first aid and the prevention of common illnesses.
- Food safety rules for kitchens, menus, food sourcing and the keeping of food samples after each meal.
- Rules on safe schools and the prevention of accidents and injuries, including requirements on buildings, play equipment and supervision.
- Child protection under the Law on Children, which prohibits violence and abuse and requires schools to act on concerns.
- Professional standards and qualification requirements for principals and teachers.
A useful test of a school’s culture is how its leadership talks about these rules. In good schools, safety, hygiene and child protection are treated as part of caring well for children, not as paperwork for inspectors. Teachers are trained in them, records are kept honestly, and concerns are raised rather than hidden.
Quality accreditation and national standard schools
Vietnam has two related systems for recognising preschool quality. The first is quality accreditation (kiểm định chất lượng giáo dục), in which a school evaluates itself against a set of standards and is then assessed by an external team. The second is recognition as a national standard school (trường đạt chuẩn quốc gia), which looks at organisation, staff, facilities, programme quality and relations with families and the community. Both are regulated by the Ministry through a circular issued in 2018, Circular 19/2018/TT-BGDĐT, and both are awarded at levels.
Public schools are expected to work towards these recognitions, and local authorities report the share of schools that achieve them. Private schools may also seek them, and some use recognition as evidence of quality for families. For a teacher or partner, an accredited or national standard school has at least gone through a structured self-evaluation and external review, which usually means its documents, facilities and basic processes are in order.
Accreditation does not, however, tell you everything about children’s daily experience. The standards look at many things that can be documented, and less at the quality of interactions between teachers and children, which is harder to measure. The best way to judge that is still to spend time in classrooms: watch how teachers speak to children, how much children talk, how long they wait, how conflicts are handled and whether children have real choices in their play.
Why ownership labels are a poor guide to quality
Families and newcomers often assume a ranking: international above private, private above public. Daily experience in Vietnamese classrooms does not support such a simple order. Public kindergartens benefit from stable funding for salaries, experienced teachers who have often stayed in the same school for many years, and close supervision by the local education office. Their weaknesses are usually class size and, in older buildings, space. Private schools can offer smaller groups, longer opening hours and more materials, but they depend on fees, and in a competitive market some cut costs in the places families see least, such as teacher pay, training and staff stability.
Foreign-invested and premium bilingual schools often have the best facilities and the most resources, but they too vary. A beautiful campus with high staff turnover can give children a less secure experience than a modest public kindergarten where the same two teachers greet them every morning for three years. Research on early childhood quality, summarised in reports such as the OECD’s Starting Strong series, consistently points to the stability and skill of the adults, and the quality of their interactions with children, as the strongest predictors of good outcomes, more than buildings, equipment or the price of a place. Those qualities can be found, or missed, in any ownership type.
For international teachers deciding where to work, the same logic applies. The ownership type will shape your contract, your hours and the curriculum you teach. Whether you can grow as a professional depends far more on the leadership, the team you join and how seriously the school takes planning, observation and professional development.
What to check when you assess a school
The licence and the programme. Ask which licence the school holds, which programme it implements and how any supplementary programme is mapped onto it. A clear answer suggests a well-run school; a vague one is a warning sign.
The leadership and the professional team. Who is the principal, what is their background, and how do teachers plan and learn together? Stable leadership and regular professional development matter more than facilities.
Group sizes and staffing at different times of day. Look beyond the official class list to how many adults are present during the main activity, lunch, nap and pick-up.
Staff turnover. High turnover disrupts children’s relationships with their teachers. Ask how long teachers have stayed, and why people leave.
How the school talks about children. Listen for observation, individual progress and respect for each child’s pace. Talk of rankings, competitions between children or early academic drilling suggests a mismatch with both the national programme and good practice.
Safety and care in practice. Watch hand-washing, meal times, nap arrangements and supervision outdoors. These routines reveal how seriously a school takes its first duty.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
What is the difference between public and private preschools in Vietnam?
Public preschools are established and funded by the state, and from the 2025–2026 school year children attend them without tuition. Private preschools are established by individuals or companies and funded mainly by fees. Both implement the national programme and follow the preschool charter.
What does dan lap mean for a Vietnamese preschool?
Dan lap means people-founded: a school established by a local community, often at commune level, and funded by contributions and fees with some local support. It is one of the three ownership types in the Education Law and is now less common than public or private schools.
Do international preschools in Vietnam follow the Vietnamese programme?
It depends on their licence. Foreign-invested schools licensed to teach a foreign programme follow that programme, with Vietnamese language and culture content where they enrol Vietnamese children. Vietnamese private bilingual schools implement the national programme and add supplementary programmes.
What is a national standard preschool in Vietnam?
It is a school recognised by the education authorities as meeting national standards on organisation, staff, facilities, programme quality and relations with families and the community. Recognition is awarded at levels and reviewed, alongside a separate system of quality accreditation.
Which law governs foreign-invested preschools in Vietnam?
Foreign investment and cooperation in education are governed mainly by Decree 86/2018/ND-CP, alongside the Education Law and the Law on Investment. The decree sets conditions on investment, facilities, staff qualifications, programmes and enrolment.
How can a teacher judge the quality of a Vietnamese preschool?
By looking beyond labels to the licence and programme, the stability of leadership and staff, group sizes at different times of day, and above all the quality of daily interactions: how teachers talk with children, how much choice children have and how care routines are handled.