Preschool teachers in Vietnam are trained in early childhood teacher education, and since the 2019 Education Law the standard qualification for the profession is a college diploma in preschool teaching. Their work is shaped by national professional standards issued in 2018, a continuous professional development programme set by the Ministry of Education and Training, and, from 2026, the Law on Teachers, which brings all teachers under one legal framework. Most are women, many have worked in the same school for years, and their job combines teaching with a large share of physical care.
International teachers and school leaders who work alongside Vietnamese colleagues often know surprisingly little about this background. That gap causes misunderstandings in both directions: about what colleagues have been trained to do, why they plan and record work as they do, and what their professional obligations are. This article sets out the training routes, the standards, the legal framework and the realities of the job, and suggests how bilingual schools can build on the expertise their Vietnamese teachers already have.
How preschool teachers are trained
Early childhood teacher education in Vietnam is offered by pedagogical colleges and by universities of education, many of which have a dedicated faculty of early childhood education. Programmes combine child development and psychology, the national preschool programme and how to plan for it, methods for each area of development, children’s literature, music, movement and visual arts, nutrition and health care, and practical placements in schools. Music and art carry more weight than in many teacher education programmes abroad: Vietnamese preschool teachers are expected to sing, play simple instruments, dance with children and make materials by hand, and most do so with real skill.
Before 2019 the minimum qualification for a preschool teacher was an intermediate pedagogical certificate, below college level. The 2019 Education Law raised the standard to a college diploma in early childhood teacher education, and a government decree issued in 2020 set out a roadmap for serving teachers who did not yet meet the new standard to upgrade their qualifications through in-service study. As a result, many experienced teachers have spent recent years studying part-time while working full-time, and a staffroom may include teachers with a range of qualification histories.
Teacher education in Vietnam has traditionally emphasised the national programme and the methods for each subject area. Approaches such as Reggio Emilia, Montessori or project-based learning are increasingly discussed in universities and in professional development, but a newly qualified teacher may have met them only in theory. That is not a weakness to correct so much as a starting point to build from.
The professional standards for preschool teachers
The Ministry of Education and Training issued professional standards for preschool teachers in Circular 26/2018/TT-BGDĐT. They describe five standards, broken down into fifteen criteria, and teachers are evaluated against them at three levels: meeting the standard, good and excellent.
| Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1. Professional ethics and character | Ethics, the conduct and manner of a teacher, care and respect for children |
| 2. Professional development | Planning, organising care and education, evaluating children’s development, and continuous learning |
| 3. Building the educational environment | Safe, healthy and friendly physical and social environments, and democratic practice in school |
| 4. Relationships between school, family and community | Working with parents and the community in caring for and educating children |
| 5. Languages, technology and the arts | Using a foreign language or an ethnic minority language, using information technology, and artistic skills in teaching |
A companion circular sets standards for preschool principals. Teachers carry out a self-evaluation against the standards each year, which is reviewed by colleagues and the leadership team. For international staff, the fifth standard is worth noticing: the national framework already expects Vietnamese teachers to develop a foreign language or a minority language, along with technology and artistic skills, which gives bilingual schools a shared reference point when they plan professional development.
The legal framework around the profession
The Education Law of 2019. It sets the standard qualifications for teachers at each level of education, including the college diploma for preschool teachers, and defines teachers’ duties and rights in general terms.
The Law on Teachers. Passed by the National Assembly in June 2025 and in force from the beginning of 2026, it gathers rules on teachers’ titles, standards, recruitment, professional development, working conditions and protection into one law covering public and private schools. Implementing regulations will shape how it works in practice, so school leaders should follow the guidance as it appears.
Rules on working time. Separate regulations set the working regime for preschool teachers, including their hours of direct work with children, which in full-day schools are long. Shift arrangements in which two teachers share a class, one opening and one closing, follow from this.
Continuous professional development. The Ministry sets a regular professional development programme for preschool teachers, with required content and self-chosen modules each year. Schools and local education offices organise much of it, and private schools often add their own.
Teachers’ Day. Vietnamese Teachers’ Day on 20 November is a significant occasion in every school, marked by events and gestures of thanks from families and former students. It reflects the respect the profession still enjoys, even where pay and conditions are a concern.
The realities of the job
A full-day preschool class in Vietnam is a long and physical day. Teachers welcome children early, lead exercise and activities, supervise play, serve and support lunch, settle a room of children to sleep, manage the afternoon and hand children back to families. In public schools, groups are often large, which makes individual attention difficult. Paperwork has historically been heavy: weekly and monthly plans, evaluation records, health tracking and reports to the school and the education authorities.
Public discussion in Vietnam has for years highlighted shortages of preschool teachers in many localities, as enrolment has grown faster than recruitment and as some trained teachers leave for other work. The 2025 decisions to extend universal preschool to ages three to five and to make public preschool free add to the demand. This context explains why experienced teachers are valued, why schools compete to keep them, and why staff turnover is a serious quality issue for every type of school.
It also explains some of the habits international colleagues notice. Teachers who have worked with forty children in a room develop extraordinary skill in whole-group management, singing and routines that hold a group together. They may be less used to long periods of small-group work or to following a single child’s interest for days, simply because the conditions they have worked in did not allow it. Given smaller groups and support, many take to these practices quickly.
Career paths, titles and recognition
Teachers in public preschools hold a professional title (chức danh nghề nghiệp) in one of three grades, set out in a 2021 circular, with requirements on qualifications, experience and professional contribution for moving from one grade to the next. The grade affects pay scales and responsibilities, and moving up usually means demonstrating contributions beyond one’s own class, such as mentoring colleagues, leading a professional team or developing teaching materials. Private schools are not bound by the same title system for their own staff, but many use similar ladders so that teachers can see a path ahead.
Inside a school the typical path runs from class teacher to team leader for an age stage, then to vice-principal for professional matters, and for some to principal. Alongside this, the education sector designates experienced teachers as core teachers (giáo viên cốt cán) who support colleagues in their area during national professional development, for example when a new programme or circular is introduced.
Recognition also comes through teaching contests. Schools and local education offices regularly hold competitions for good teachers, in which candidates plan and lead activities observed by a panel. Newcomers sometimes find these events formal, with carefully rehearsed lessons, but for Vietnamese colleagues they carry real professional weight and are often a route to promotion. Understanding that helps international staff respond with respect, and perhaps suggest, gently and over time, ways the format could showcase play and children’s initiative as well as teacher performance.
Working well with Vietnamese colleagues
The most successful bilingual schools treat their Vietnamese teachers as the backbone of the programme rather than as assistants to an imported curriculum. They are the ones who know the national programme, the children’s families, the language every child speaks at home and the cultural texture of the school year. An international teacher who sets out to learn from them, as well as to share what they bring, earns trust far faster than one who arrives to correct practice.
Practical habits help. Planning together rather than in parallel keeps the two languages and the two professional traditions in one plan. Observing each other’s practice, with simple agreed focuses, builds shared language about quality. Joint professional development, in which Vietnamese and international teachers learn a new approach at the same time, avoids the impression that one group trains the other. And recognising the skills Vietnamese teachers bring, in music, art, care routines and family relationships, makes the partnership visible to children and parents alike.
Global Nexus is designed around this kind of partnership: Vietnamese remains the anchor language, Vietnamese teachers lead the national programme and family relationships, and international colleagues add English and methods drawn from international approaches within the same themes. The articles in the section on teaching in a Vietnamese bilingual preschool look at co-teaching, classroom culture and family communication in more practical detail.
What school leaders can do
For principals and curriculum leads, the professional framework offers useful levers. The annual evaluation against the standards can become a genuine conversation about growth rather than a form to complete, if leaders use observations and documentation as evidence and agree a small number of goals with each teacher. The required professional development hours can be filled with content that serves the school’s curriculum, such as observation and documentation, bilingual pedagogy or project work, provided it is organised in a way that meets the official requirements.
Induction deserves the same attention. A new Vietnamese teacher joining a bilingual school may be meeting a second language in the classroom, a named curriculum framework and new documentation practices all at once, while an international teacher is meeting the national programme, the daily regime and the expectations of Vietnamese families for the first time. Pairing each newcomer with an experienced colleague from the other tradition, and giving both a few protected hours in the first weeks to observe and plan together, prevents many of the small conflicts that otherwise harden into lasting divisions inside a team.
Leaders can also reduce the burden that drives good teachers away. Simplifying planning templates, avoiding duplicate records, protecting planning time during the nap, keeping group sizes reasonable and giving teachers a real voice in curriculum decisions all improve retention more reliably than one-off incentives. A stable, respected teaching team is the single strongest predictor of what children experience every day, whatever curriculum a school adopts.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
What qualification do preschool teachers need in Vietnam?
Under the 2019 Education Law, the standard qualification for a preschool teacher is a college diploma in early childhood teacher education. A government decree set out a roadmap for serving teachers with lower qualifications to upgrade through in-service study.
What are the professional standards for preschool teachers in Vietnam?
Circular 26/2018/TT-BGDĐT sets five standards with fifteen criteria: professional ethics, professional development, building the educational environment, relationships with families and the community, and the use of a foreign or ethnic minority language, technology and the arts. Teachers are evaluated at three levels.
What does the 2025 Law on Teachers change?
It brings rules on teachers’ titles, standards, recruitment, professional development, working conditions and protection into a single law for public and private schools, in force from the beginning of 2026. Detailed effects depend on implementing regulations issued by the government and the Ministry.
Are Vietnamese preschool teachers trained in play-based learning?
Yes. The national programme is play-based and theme-based, and teacher education covers learning through play, corner play and integrated themes. Specific international approaches such as Reggio Emilia or Montessori are less often studied in depth, so schools usually build them through professional development.
How can international teachers work well with Vietnamese colleagues?
Plan together rather than in parallel, learn the national programme and its vocabulary, observe each other with agreed focuses, take part in joint professional development, and recognise the skills Vietnamese colleagues bring in music, art, care routines and relationships with families.
Why is teacher turnover a concern in Vietnamese preschools?
Demand for preschool places has grown quickly and many localities report shortages of teachers, while the work is long and physically demanding. Experienced teachers are therefore in demand, and stable teams are hard to maintain, which directly affects the quality children experience.