Universal preschool in Vietnam: from five-year-olds to the three-to-five goal

Vietnam made preschool education universal for five-year-olds through a national programme launched in 2010, with all provinces meeting the national standard by 2017; in 2025 the National Assembly extended the goal to all children aged three to five and decided to exempt children in public preschools from tuition from the 2025–2026 school year, with support for those in private settings. Universal here means that the state guarantees the conditions for every child in the age group to attend and measures each locality against standards, not that attendance is a legal obligation enforced on families.

For anyone working in early childhood in Vietnam, these policies explain a great deal: why public kindergartens are full, why the final year before grade one is treated so seriously, why private settings near industrial parks receive public support, and why quality is now the focus of debate rather than access alone. This article traces the policy from 2010 to 2025, explains what the standards measure, and looks at the questions that remain for schools and teachers.

Why Vietnam started with five-year-olds

By the late 2000s most urban five-year-olds in Vietnam already attended kindergarten, but attendance in rural and mountainous areas was much lower, and children from ethnic minority families often reached grade one with little Vietnamese and no experience of a classroom. The final year before school was seen as the most cost-effective point to intervene: one year of good preschool could reduce the gap children carried into primary school, cut repetition and drop-out in the early grades, and give teachers a common starting point.

In February 2010 the Prime Minister approved a national project on universal preschool education for five-year-olds for the period 2010 to 2015, set out in Decision 239/QĐ-TTg. It combined several strands: building and upgrading classrooms, training and recruiting teachers, supporting poor and disadvantaged children with tuition and lunch, and introducing standards against which each commune, district and province would be assessed. The Ministry also issued developmental standards for five-year-olds in the same year, giving teachers a shared picture of what children at the end of preschool typically know and can do.

The project ran beyond its original end date in many areas, but by 2017 all provinces had been recognised as meeting the national standard for universal preschool education for five-year-olds. It is one of the clearer success stories of Vietnamese education policy in the past two decades, and it changed the expectations of families: the final kindergarten year, the lớp Lá, is now seen as a normal part of every child’s education.

What the universalisation standards measure

Standards for universal education, including preschool, are set by a government decree on universal education and literacy, Decree 20/2014/NĐ-CP, with detailed guidance from the Ministry. Without reproducing every indicator, they look at a combination of access and conditions.

• Attendance: the share of children in the age group who attend preschool, and specifically the share attending the full-day programme.
• Completion: the share of children who complete the programme for their age, measured against the expected outcomes.
• Teachers: whether there are enough teachers for the number of classes, and whether they meet the required qualifications.
• Facilities: classrooms, play areas, toilets and equipment that meet minimum standards.
• Records: accurate data on every child in the age group in each locality, including those not attending, so that local authorities can find and enrol them.

Localities are recognised at different levels against these standards, and recognition is reviewed periodically, so universalisation is a continuing obligation rather than a box ticked once. For schools, the practical effect is regular data collection, close attention to attendance in the final year, and visits from local officials during review periods.

The 2025 decisions: ages three to five and free tuition

In June 2025 the National Assembly passed two resolutions that move the policy forward. The first sets out universal preschool education for children from three to five years old, extending the logic of the 2010 project to the whole kindergarten stage. It asks the government and localities to plan for enough places, teachers and facilities, and it gives priority to disadvantaged areas, ethnic minority communities and industrial zones where demand has outpaced provision.

The second resolution exempts preschool children and general education students in public schools from tuition from the 2025–2026 school year and provides support towards tuition for children in private settings, at levels set by the government. Before this, tuition exemption at preschool level had applied mainly to five-year-olds and to specific groups of disadvantaged children. The change removes a cost barrier for public kindergartens across the country.

Both resolutions will take years to implement fully. Universal access for three- and four-year-olds requires many more classrooms and teachers, particularly in the cities that receive migrant families and in the industrial provinces. Free tuition in public schools may also shift demand between public and private settings. School leaders should expect implementing decrees, local plans and new reporting requirements over the next few years, and should watch for guidance from their provincial education department rather than relying on headlines.

Equity: who universal preschool is meant to reach

Children in mountainous and remote areas. Distance, small populations and difficult terrain make it hard to run full classes. Satellite sites (điểm trường) attached to a main school, mixed-age groups and support for teachers who work in difficult conditions are the usual answers.

Children from ethnic minority families. Many children whose home language is not Vietnamese meet Vietnamese for the first time at preschool. A national project approved in 2016, Decision 1008/QĐ-TTg, focused on strengthening Vietnamese for preschool and primary children in ethnic minority areas, recognising that the preschool years are the best time to build a second language while keeping the first.

Children of workers in industrial zones. Factory workers often live far from family support and work long shifts. Decree 105/2020/NĐ-CP on policies for developing preschool education includes support for children of workers in industrial areas and for teachers in private settings that serve them.

Children with disabilities. Inclusive education is part of the legal framework, and preschools are expected to admit and support children with disabilities, but specialist support remains uneven. Universal access raises the question of how mainstream classes will be resourced to include every child.

Children in poor households. Lunch support and tuition exemptions were early tools of the 2010 project; free tuition in public schools from 2025 broadens that support.

A short timeline of the policy

The milestones below are the ones most often referred to in Vietnamese policy documents and in conversations with education officials. They help explain why the system looks the way it does today.

Read together, the timeline shows a steady pattern: first build access for the most important year, then set standards and measure them, then raise teacher qualifications, and finally extend access downwards to younger children and remove the cost barrier. Each step created new demands on schools, from data reporting to recruitment, and each was followed by guidance that took time to reach classrooms. Anyone planning a new programme or campus in Vietnam should assume the same rhythm for the 2025 decisions: the direction is clear, but the detail arrives in stages.

Questions that remain open

Several questions will shape how the 2025 decisions play out. The first is teacher supply. Vietnam has reported shortages of preschool teachers for years, particularly in industrial provinces and large cities, and universal access for three- and four-year-olds increases the need. Training more teachers takes several years, and keeping them depends on workload and pay as much as on recruitment. How quickly the gap closes will decide whether expansion comes with crowded classes or with reasonable ones.

The second is the balance between public and private provision. In many urban areas private settings have filled the gap left by insufficient public places. If public kindergartens become free and expand, some families will move, while others will stay in private settings for longer hours, location or programme. How tuition support for private settings is designed will affect which private schools can continue, and whether low-cost independent groups near industrial parks survive.

The third is quality measurement. Universalisation standards were built to measure access and basic conditions. As access becomes near-universal, the more important questions are about what children experience each day: the quality of interactions, the richness of play, the protection of children’s home languages and the fairness of the transition to grade one. These are harder to measure, and much of the international literature on early childhood quality favours observation of classroom interactions over counting documents and facilities. Vietnam will need its own tools for this, built around its own programme and languages. Schools that already observe and document children’s learning carefully are well placed for that shift.

What it means for schools and teachers

For public kindergartens in growing districts, universal access means full classes and pressure on space for years to come. For private schools, it means a changing market: as public places expand and become free, private settings will need to be clear about what they add, whether that is smaller groups, longer hours, bilingual programmes or a distinctive curriculum. For teachers, it means continued demand, especially in the three-to-four age band where expansion will be greatest.

It also raises the stakes on quality. International research is consistent that the benefits of preschool depend on what happens inside the classroom: warm, responsive relationships, rich language, purposeful play and sensible group sizes. Reports from UNESCO and the OECD’s Starting Strong series have made the same point about many countries that expanded access quickly. Vietnam’s achievement in access now needs to be matched by investment in teacher training, materials and time for observation and planning.

For bilingual and international programmes, there is a particular responsibility. Universal preschool exists to give every child a fair start in Vietnamese primary school. A programme that adds English must protect Vietnamese language development and the national expected outcomes, especially in the final year, so that children move into grade one confident in the language of instruction. Frameworks such as Global Nexus treat Vietnamese as the anchor language for exactly this reason.

Câu hỏi thường gặp

When did Vietnam achieve universal preschool education for five-year-olds?

The national project began in 2010 under Decision 239/QĐ-TTg, and by 2017 all provinces had been recognised as meeting the national standard for universal preschool education for five-year-olds. Recognition is reviewed periodically, so localities must keep meeting the standard.

Is preschool free in Vietnam?

From the 2025–2026 school year, children in public preschools are exempt from tuition under a 2025 National Assembly resolution, and children in private settings receive tuition support at levels set by the government. Other costs, such as meals and some services, may still be charged.

What does universal preschool mean in Vietnam?

It means the state guarantees the conditions for every child in the age group to attend preschool and assesses each locality against standards on attendance, completion, teachers and facilities. It is a duty on the state and local authorities rather than a legal obligation on families.

Will universal preschool cover three- and four-year-olds?

Yes. In 2025 the National Assembly adopted a resolution on universal preschool education for children aged three to five. Implementation will take several years and depends on building enough classrooms and recruiting enough teachers, especially in fast-growing urban and industrial areas.

How does universal preschool help ethnic minority children?

It brings children into a classroom before grade one and gives them time to build Vietnamese, the language of instruction in primary school, while keeping their home language. National projects since 2016 have focused on strengthening Vietnamese for preschool and primary children in ethnic minority areas.

What does universal preschool mean for private schools?

As public places expand and become free, private schools need to be clear about what they add, such as smaller groups, longer hours, bilingual programmes or a distinctive curriculum. They still follow the national programme and the charter, and may receive support when they serve children of industrial workers.