Parents demand international school owe tens of billions of dong

Many parents said they lent tens of billions of dong to the American International School Vietnam without interest so their children could study for free. Now that their children have graduated, they have not received any repayment.

Mr. Van Phuong, residing in District 7, said that in 2018, he signed a loan contract with Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the American International School Vietnam (AISVN), for more than 5 billion VND. This is an interest-free loan, in return for which his two children can study for free until grade 12 or transfer schools.

According to the contract, when the student completes the transfer procedures or graduates from grade 12, the school will return the loan after 90 days.

"My child transferred in 2022 but the school has not yet paid back the loan," said Mr. Phuong. According to this parent, the school promised to pay back the debt twice in January and May but did not do so.

"When I signed the contract, I thought that by lending money, my two children would have access to free internationaleducation , which would be a long-term benefit. I never expected the school to lose its reputation like this," he said.

Many parents came to the gate of the American International School Vietnam, Nha Be district, holding banners demanding money, on the afternoon of September 21. Photo: Provided by parents — Many parents came to the gate of the American International School Vietnam, Nha Be district, demanding money on the afternoon of September 21. Photo: *Provided by parents*

Similarly, Ms. Thanh Phung said she lent the American International School Vietnam $420,000 (more than VND10 billion) when she registered her four children at the school. In early 2022, Ms. Phung announced that she would transfer her children to another school in June and would liquidate three contracts, equivalent to $300,000. But to date, Ms. Phung has only received 10% of this amount.

"I consider this as an educational insurance for my child. If the family unfortunately falls into sudden difficulties, my child's education will not be affected," Ms. Phung shared, adding that she had previously signed a similar contract with another international school.

Two parents said they were satisfied with the quality of education at the school, but disappointed with the way the school handled financial matters with parents.

"I know that there are about 50-60 parents in the same situation as me. Each person lent about 2-10 billion VND," said Mr. Phuong. Out of frustration, on the afternoon of September 21, many parents came to the school gate, demanding that Ms. Ut Em return the money.

In a press release, the school said the tuition debt that parents are demanding is actually investment money. The school and parents signed an educational investment contract, and the money will be refunded after 5-15 years of the student studying at the school. The school refused to say how much money is due to parents at present.

AISVN said it was severely affected during the Covid-19 pandemic, when it had to pay salaries and benefits to domestic and foreign workers. The school admitted that it had shortcomings in financial management, so it had to face difficulties and challenges in recent times.

According to the school, the survey and capture of financial data has been completed and is awaiting an independent third-party audit assessment report to serve as a basis for negotiations with appropriate financial institutions to restructure the entire debt.

"The restructuring is expected to be completed no later than the first quarter of 2024. After that, the school will develop plans and debt settlement mechanisms to ensure fairness and full implementation of financial obligations, completing the repayment of the education investment package to parents with the installment payment method," the school informed.

On the afternoon of September 24, responding to VnExpress , the leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that the Department's inspectorate had received a number of complaints from parents, many of whom came directly to the Department to present the case.

"The Department will have an official working group with the American International School Vietnam on September 27 to learn about the financial situation, operations and solutions with parents," said the Department leader.

The American International School Vietnam is a multi-level school from kindergarten to high school, currently has more than 1,400 students, 200 foreign teachers, and 300 domestic staff. Tuition fees here range from 280-350 million VND per year for kindergarten, 450-500 million VND for primary school and the highest is 600-725 million VND for high school. The school teaches the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

Le Nguyen

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