草榴社区

Hi there!
My family (two adults and two teenagers, 16 and 13 years old) is considering moving to Vietnam, and we're trying to gather some information about how schools work there for expat families.

From what we've gathered, it seems like most expats send their children to private or international schools. Can anyone share their experience with these schools? Specifically, we're curious about:

鈥� What the costs are like for private/ international schools (what would be the cheapest or most commonly known international/English-speaking private schools?)
鈥� The general structure of the school year
鈥� Any recommendations for schools

Any and all insights would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for your time! - @Nuket.Ma

It would be extremely helpful if you could tell us the city where you are intending to live.

Also there are some key questions that should be addressed, instead of being assumed by us or by you, before discussing the issue of education for your children.

What is your Visa status going to be and are you fully informed as to the immigration laws here?

If you have plans to be legally employed and you've already confirmed that your skills would be accepted at the expert level by the government here, then it would be nice for us to know that as we are helping you work through your options (and CONGRATULATIONS!)

if you had been thinking that you could move here and just find some work, that's not going to happen and you could get deported if you got involved in any illegal employment.

If you have significant funds to invest, you can either start a large enough business or invest enough to gain investor status with anywhere from a 1-year business visa to a 10-year resident card.

Legal employment will open up the opportunity for you to get a two or three year temporary resident card.

Your only other option is a tourist visa for 90 days maximum, requiring a mandatory exit of the country before the expiration of the visa.

You can then reenter the country on a new E-visa but that's become a difficult task to achieve without needing to wait outside the country for up to a week.

please don't be offended by my failure to directly deal with your questions.

I have lost count of how many inquiries we've had that started exactly the way yours has.

We talk at length with people about their needs for education for their children, only to discover that the person doesn't fully understand the legal requirements for moving here.

So please consider this an invitation to further chat with you and not an attempt to shut you down.

Looking forward to hearing a little bit more about your story 馃檹

Cheers!

O.B.

@OceanBeach92107

Hey there!

Luckily, we鈥檝e got the legal and documentation side all figured out. I have legal employment and meet all the necessary requirements.

The tricky part, unfortunately, is the schools. Even though I鈥檝e heard Vietnam is popular with expats and that many children attend private schools, I haven鈥檛 been able to find any accessible options online. Am I looking in the wrong places?

Likewise, the city we鈥檙e moving to would depend solely on the school.

Thanks so much for your help and interest鈥擨鈥檓 really looking forward to hearing from you!

Hi

I'm an Aussie married to a special Vietnamese woman.聽 She has two children 8 and 11 yrs old.聽

The 8 year old is in a Vietnamese school, a better one, and the fees are a few million Dong per month.聽 The 11 year old is in another Vietnamese school but up market and we pay about 10 Million VND per month.聽 Their English teaching is OK but of course most subjects are taught in Viet. We also send the 11 year old to piano lessons, 8 hours per month for 3 million VND.聽 Would it be a plus to have the kids educated in Vietnamese?

International schools are VERY expensive, and while I hope they would be quality (I don't actually know), for us they are out of reach.聽 I think you are looking at $25K per year and up per student.聽

Some things in VN are relatively cheap, ( rent, electricity, beer, prescription drugs ) but many things are actually more expensive than in the west.聽 They are imported and then tax is added.

We currently live in Saigon but the air pollution is terrible and we are considering a move to Vung Tau which is a step up in air quality (have to stay somewhat close to Saigon for family reasons) .聽 If you are looking for good air, schools ad hospitals I suspect (from research, not direct experience)聽 聽Da Nang would be hard to beat in Vietnam.聽

Good luck with your journey, travel is a wonderful educational tool!

...and as a former teacher, I would add that the old adage, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" is just as true in a classroom.聽 Be a parent who engages with the kids teachers and your children will get the best that classroom has to offer.

@Nuket.Ma

You may be interested in reading through the posts in this related thread.

Hi
I'm an Aussie married to a special Vietnamese woman. She has two children 8 and 11 yrs old.
The 8 year old is in a Vietnamese school, a better one, and the fees are a few million Dong per month. The 11 year old is in another Vietnamese school but up market and we pay about 10 Million VND per month. Their English teaching is OK but of course most subjects are taught in Viet. We also send the 11 year old to piano lessons, 8 hours per month for 3 million VND. Would it be a plus to have the kids educated in Vietnamese?

International schools are VERY expensive, and while I hope they would be quality (I don't actually know), for us they are out of reach. I think you are looking at $25K per year and up per student.

Some things in VN are relatively cheap, ( rent, electricity, beer, prescription drugs ) but many things are actually more expensive than in the west. They are imported and then tax is added.

We currently live in Saigon but the air pollution is terrible and we are considering a move to Vung Tau which is a step up in air quality (have to stay somewhat close to Saigon for family reasons) . If you are looking for good air, schools ad hospitals I suspect (from research, not direct experience) Da Nang would be hard to beat in Vietnam.

Good luck with your journey, travel is a wonderful educational tool! - @KKK36

If that's a public school, foreigners cannot be enrolled there.

@OceanBeach92107
Hey there!
Luckily, we鈥檝e got the legal and documentation side all figured out. I have legal employment and meet all the necessary requirements.

The tricky part, unfortunately, is the schools. Even though I鈥檝e heard Vietnam is popular with expats and that many children attend private schools, I haven鈥檛 been able to find any accessible options online. Am I looking in the wrong places?

Likewise, the city we鈥檙e moving to would depend solely on the school.

Thanks so much for your help and interest鈥擨鈥檓 really looking forward to hearing from you! - @Nuket.Ma

You are essentially asking us to give you an evaluation of all of the schools in Vietnam.

When you have decided on a city, let's discuss this more.

If you are very, very lucky your salary will cover the school fees for the two kids.聽 Maybe.

If that's a public school, foreigners cannot be enrolled there. - @OceanBeach92107

As I understand it, unless/until the child passes a Vietnamese language proficiency test, and the parent holds a valid TRC. See post #13 and post #18, here.

...The tricky part, unfortunately, is the schools. Even though I鈥檝e heard Vietnam is popular with expats and that many children attend private schools, I haven鈥檛 been able to find any accessible options online. Am I looking in the wrong places?Likewise, the city we鈥檙e moving to would depend solely on the school... - @Nuket.Ma

Here's a link to (as far as I can tell) a non-commercial site listing , as well as the fees charged per student. Forty schools nationwide, 8 cities.

Contact the school you might be interested in to confirm the information provided on that site's page.

There has been a rash of (Link, VN Express Int'l) over the past couple of years. Scroll down on the linked page for some examples. Due diligence in researching a schools standing will be called for prior to making any decision.