Vietnam’s preschool charter, issued by the Ministry of Education and Training as Circular 52/2020/TT-BGDĐT, is the regulation that sets out how preschools are organised: children are placed in nursery groups by age in months and in kindergarten classes by year of age, each with a legal maximum size, and staffing is calculated per group or class under separate norms rather than as a fixed adult-to-child ratio. The best-known limits are 15 children for babies of three to twelve months, rising to 35 children for the five-to-six-year-old class.
Those numbers often surprise teachers who come from systems built around small ratios, and they shape almost everything about daily practice: how long transitions take, why whole-class activities remain common, and why skilled teachers in Vietnam are so good at managing large groups. This article explains what the charter says, how staffing norms work, how mixed-age and independent settings fit in, and how a bilingual programme can design small-group learning inside the legal frame rather than wishing it away.
What the charter is and why it matters
Every Vietnamese preschool, public or private, operates under a charter (điều lệ) issued by the Ministry. The current version came with Circular 52/2020 at the end of 2020 and replaced the earlier charter that had been amended several times. It is the document that defines what a preschool is, what its tasks are, how it is organised internally, the rights and duties of principals, teachers and children, and the relationship between the school, families and local authorities.
For curriculum leads and school founders, the charter is the practical companion to the national programme. The programme says what children should experience and achieve; the charter says how the school must be arranged to make that possible. Inspectors check both. A school that has an excellent curriculum but places 40 five-year-olds in one class, or mixes infants with toddlers beyond what the rules allow, will have a compliance problem regardless of its pedagogy.
The charter also sets the tone for how schools are governed. It describes the principal as responsible for implementing the programme and protecting children’s safety, gives a role to the professional teams of teachers and to a school council, and requires schools to work with families through parents’ representative committees. Many of the expectations new staff meet, from planning sign-off to how parent concerns are handled, trace back to this document.
Age groups and maximum sizes
The charter groups nursery children by age in months and kindergarten children by year of age. The figures below are the maximum number of children per group or class when all children are of the same age band.
| Stage | Age band | Maximum children |
|---|---|---|
| Nursery group | 3–12 months | 15 |
| Nursery group | 13–24 months | 20 |
| Nursery group | 25–36 months | 25 |
| Kindergarten class | 3–4 years | 25 |
| Kindergarten class | 4–5 years | 30 |
| Kindergarten class | 5–6 years | 35 |
These are ceilings, not targets. Many private schools, and some public schools in less crowded areas, run classes well below them. In fast-growing urban districts, by contrast, public kindergartens often sit at or near the limit because demand exceeds places. When you compare class sizes between schools, ask about the number of children actually enrolled and the number of adults present at different times of day, not just the official maximum.
The charter also allows groups and classes to combine ages where numbers are small, for example in rural communes or small independent settings, and it sets separate, lower limits for these mixed-age groups. The rule of thumb is that the wider the age range, the smaller the group should be, because the teacher must plan for very different developmental needs at once.
How staffing norms work
Vietnam does not express staffing as a simple adult-to-child ratio in the way many English-speaking systems do. Instead, separate regulations set the number of teachers and other staff per group or class for public preschools, depending on whether children attend for a full day with lunch and nap or for half a day. In the norms used for public schools, a full-day kindergarten class is allocated a little over two teachers on average, and a nursery group a little more, with the extra fraction allowing for cover, part-time arrangements and the longer care day of the youngest children.
In practice, this usually means two teachers per class who work overlapping shifts. One arrives early to welcome children and leaves in the afternoon; the other arrives later and stays until the last child is collected. Both are present for the busiest part of the day, from the main learning activity through lunch and the start of nap. Private schools set their own staffing, often adding a care assistant in nursery groups or an English-speaking teacher for part of the day, but they still have to meet the charter’s group size limits.
For an international teacher, the important point is that the Vietnamese teacher in the room is not an assistant. Both class teachers hold the same professional responsibility for the children, and in a bilingual school the Vietnamese teacher is usually the one who knows the families best, keeps the official records and leads the care routines. Co-teaching works when roles are agreed explicitly rather than assumed from the staffing chart.
What large groups mean for daily practice
Transitions take planning. Moving 30 children from the classroom to the yard, or from lunch to nap, takes time and attention. Experienced Vietnamese teachers use songs, routines and clear signals to manage these moments; new staff should learn them before trying to change them.
Whole-class activities have a reason. The short, guided learning activity done with the whole class is partly a habit and partly a response to numbers. With two adults and 30 children, it can be the safest way to introduce something new. The question is not whether to abolish it but how to keep it short and lively and follow it with small-group work.
Corners do a lot of the work. Play corners, each with materials for a few children at a time, are how large classes get small-group experiences. Well-stocked, regularly refreshed corners are the single biggest lever for quality in a large class.
Observation must be focused. No teacher can observe 30 children in depth every day. A rota that focuses on a handful of children each day, rotating through the class over a week or two, is realistic and fair.
Families notice the numbers. Parents compare class sizes when choosing schools and often equate small classes with quality. Teachers who can explain how the day gives each child close attention, through corners, rotations and focused observation, build trust far more effectively than a ratio on a brochure.
Care routines eat time. Lunch, hygiene and nap for a large group take a substantial part of the day. Treating these routines as learning time, for language, independence and social skills, turns a constraint into an asset.
Designing small-group learning within the rules
Bilingual and international programmes in Vietnam often want more small-group and individual work than a large class seems to allow. The answer is usually not a smaller class, which may be impossible, but a smarter day. One common design is the rotation: after a brief whole-class introduction, children move in three or four groups between a teacher-led table, two or three self-directed corners and, if staffing allows, an English activity with the second teacher. Each child gets ten or fifteen minutes of close adult attention while the others play purposefully.
Outdoor time can be organised the same way, with one teacher leading a small project in the garden while the other supervises open play. Afternoons are often quieter and suit small-group reading, conversation or project work. Over a week, a well-planned rotation can give every child several short sessions of genuine small-group teaching, which is enough to make a visible difference to language and thinking.
Space and materials matter as much as staffing. The charter and related facility standards require minimum space and equipment for each group, and schools that invest in open shelving, accessible materials and clearly defined areas make small-group work far easier. A classroom where children can find and return materials on their own frees both teachers to teach rather than to distribute.
Putting the numbers in international context
Comparisons with other systems are useful as long as they compare like with like. England’s Early Years Foundation Stage, which many international teachers know, sets adult-to-child ratios rather than group sizes: one adult to three children under two, one to five for two-year-olds since 2023, and one to eight for children aged three and over, or one to thirteen when a qualified teacher leads the group. On paper, a Vietnamese class of 30 five-year-olds with two teachers works out at one to fifteen, which is close to the English figure for a teacher-led reception-age group, while the gap is much wider for babies and toddlers.
Ratios alone, however, do not describe the experience of a child. What matters is how many children an adult is responsible for at a given moment, how the day is structured, how much time children spend waiting, and how well adults know each child. Research summarised by the OECD in its Starting Strong reports suggests that smaller groups and better ratios help mainly when they allow more frequent, richer interactions between adults and individual children. A Vietnamese class that uses corners and rotations well can offer more of those interactions than a smaller class that keeps children in a single group all morning.
For school leaders the practical lesson is to measure what you want to improve. Rather than reporting only class size, some schools track how many minutes of small-group or one-to-one time each child receives in a week, and adjust the timetable until that number is good enough. It is a more honest indicator of quality than the size of the class list, and it gives teachers a target they can actually influence.
Independent groups and mixed-age settings
Alongside schools, the charter recognises small independent nursery groups and kindergarten classes, often opened by individuals in residential neighbourhoods or near industrial zones where working parents need places close to home or work. They are licensed by local authorities, limited in the number of groups they can run, and must meet basic conditions on space, staff qualifications, safety and food hygiene. Their quality varies widely; the best are warm and well organised, while the weakest struggle with space and trained staff.
Mixed-age groups, whether in small settings or by choice in larger schools, follow lower size limits and demand careful planning. They can work very well: older children practise explaining and helping, younger children are pulled forward by watching, and the group feels more like a family. They also demand more of the teacher, who must plan activities with different entry points and keep the youngest children safe. Schools that use mixed-age moments deliberately, for example in shared outdoor play or project work while keeping single-age classes for the main routine, often get the benefits without the strain.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
What is the maximum class size in a Vietnamese kindergarten?
Under the preschool charter, a single-age kindergarten class may have up to 25 children aged three to four, 30 aged four to five and 35 aged five to six. Nursery groups are smaller, from 15 for babies to 25 for children aged two to three.
Which regulation contains the preschool charter in Vietnam?
The current charter was issued with Circular 52/2020/TT-BGDĐT of the Ministry of Education and Training at the end of 2020. It applies to public and private preschools, kindergartens and nursery schools, alongside separate rules for small independent groups.
How many teachers are there in a Vietnamese preschool class?
Most classes have two teachers working overlapping shifts so that both are present at the busiest times. Staffing norms for public schools allocate a little over two teachers per full-day class, and private schools often add assistants or a second-language teacher.
Does Vietnam use adult-to-child ratios in preschool?
Not in the way many English-speaking systems do. The charter sets maximum group and class sizes, and separate staffing norms set the number of teachers per group or class in public settings, depending on the age of children and whether they attend for a full day.
Are mixed-age classes allowed in Vietnamese preschools?
Yes. The charter allows age groups to be combined where needed, for example in small or rural settings, and sets lower maximum sizes for mixed-age groups. Some schools also use mixed-age moments deliberately for play and project work.
How can a teacher run small-group activities with 30 children?
By combining a short whole-class introduction with rotations between a teacher-led table, well-stocked play corners and a second adult’s activity. Over a week, this gives every child several short sessions of close adult attention.