Non-public schools are not allowed to collect cumulative tuition fees for multiple school years.

On January 15, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City issued a document to rectify the educational activities at non-public educational institutions in the city.

An international school was reported by parents for not refunding tuition fees as promised.

Accordingly, through an inspection of the actual educational activities of non-public institutions in the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City requested units to proactively inspect, review, and rectify the organization of activities.

Specifically, schools must clearly separate the powers and duties of the School Council, the Board of Supervisors, the Principal, and the Vice Principal in accordance with the provisions of Circular 40/2021.

At the same time, non-public schools must strictly manage work permits of foreign workers.

When a foreign worker quits his job or his work permit expires, the educational institution shall return the work permit within the prescribed time. When a foreign worker is granted a work permit, the school shall sign a labor contract.

The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City requires non-public educational institutions to hang school name boards with the correct name stated in the Decision permitting the establishment of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee according to the provisions of Circular 32/2020, and at the same time build a website with the school name correct as stated in the decision permitting the establishment.

The collection, management and use of tuition fees must comply with the provisions of Decree No. 81/2021 of the Government , which means that tuition fees can only be collected for a maximum of 9 months/school year and cannot be collected for many years or the entire school level. Education service prices must be declared according to instructions.

Units must publicly disclose tuition fees and other fees by month, semester, school year and for the entire school level. All of the above information must be fully disclosed on the unit's website and publicly posted at the unit.

According to regulations of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, high schools and general schools with many levels of education, with the highest level being a private high school (with domestic capital), must ensure a ratio of at least 40% of permanent teachers compared to the total number of teachers in the whole school according to regulations.

When developing an education plan, schools must distinguish between the 2006 General Education Program and the 2018 General Education Program depending on the grade level.

During the enrollment process, the school must ensure that it has 3 decisions including: decision to allow educational activities, decision to assign enrollment quota 10 and decision to establish Admission Council 10 issued by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City (not allowed to enroll more than the annual quota).

Particularly for foreign-invested general schools, the principal and vice principal must have a work permit as prescribed in Decree No. 70/2023. In case the principal and vice principal are seconded from other countries, they must have complete legal documents as prescribed in current regulations on work permit exemption.

The educational institution shall fully implement the compulsory educational content for students who are Vietnamese citizens studying at foreign-invested general educational institutions as prescribed. The school shall have an enrollment plan that does not exceed the number of students in the school establishment project or in the investment registration certificate.

Admission of Vietnamese students must comply with the ratio of Vietnamese students studying foreign educational programs being lower than 50% of the total number of students studying foreign educational programs at the educational institution.

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