The Decree 86 which took effect in early August lifted the limit on the number of Vietnamese students in foreign-invested education establishments from 10-20 percent to 50 percent.
This Decree replaces the old Decree No.73 issued in 2012 in which the number of Vietnamese pupils at foreign-invested primary and secondary schools must not be higher than 10% and 20% at high schools.
Foreign-invested schools are still required to provide compulsory lessons such as Vietnam history, geography and Vietnamese language, but can embed this knowledge in the curriculum in a flexible way.
Regarding procedures to establish a school, foreign investors are still required to obtain three licences: an investment, an establishment and an operation licence. This often took a lot of time as foreign investors had to deal with many management bodies to get the procedure done.
Despite of that, the newly released Decree is believed to lead to a boom of international schools in Vietnam. “Vietnamese people, with improved income, tend to send their children to international schools which they believe can provide higher-quality education than state-owned schools”, said a high-school teacher in Hanoi.
Sources:
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/education/206642/new-decree-paves-way-…
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/education/206642/new-decree-paves-way-…
Comment from Lien Ta, British Council Vietnam:
The boom of foreign-invested schools in Vietnam in the near future will make the market for UK school sector become much more competitive, as it provides more options for Vietnamese students to get a UK qualification in country. Currently most international schools provide A-level or IB programme. Besides, in the context of increasing uncertainty and unsafety in the world, Vietnamese parents tend to keep their children at home as long as possible, at least until they have high-school graduation. The increasing number of international schools, in the other hand, is a driver for student mobility to the UK at higher education level.