VietNamNet Bridge - Many Vietnamese parents want to send their children to international schools, but fear that the children would become ‘westernized’ and lose the ‘Vietnamese nature’.

Ngo Binh An, a parent in Hanoi, sends both children to international schools. When asked why she doesn’t let them go to Vietnamese schools, An said she prefers foreign education models.

“Vietnamese schools all attach much importance to providing knowledge and assessing students’ abilities through tests and exams. Meanwhile, at international schools, students’ abilities are assessed throughout a whole process,” she commented.

“Teachers not only consider students’ exam scores, but also their efforts and attitude, and try to discover their abilities,” she said. 

An also highly appreciated the extracurricular activities which are regularly organized at international schools, while these are rarely seen at Vietnamese schools.

An is not alone. Many other parents also prefer sending their children to international schools to Vietnamese schools despite the high tuition. 

Bui Thi Minh Nga, a senior official of the Hanoi Education and Training Department, noted that many parents in urban areas tend to send children to international schools in Hanoi instead of overseas schools because international schools can provide foreign education at reasonable costs.

Many Vietnamese parents want to send their children to international schools, but fear that the children would become ‘westernized’ and lose the ‘Vietnamese nature’.

They would have to pay $30,000-40,000 a year to fund a student who studies in the US and Australia. Meanwhile, the tuition required by international schools in Vietnam is $12,000-15,000 a year.

However, they fear that the children may get westernized if they study at international schools, especially because the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) still has not set up a Vietnamese education curriculum for the schools.

A high ranking official of the Hanoi Education Department admitted that while MOT forces international schools to provide Vietnamese language and Vietnamese study lessons, it still has not released documents for the programs.

Meanwhile, most schools said they are incapable of compiling textbooks and curriculum on Vietnamese language and studies for Vietnamese students.

“Only two international schools have compiled curricula. However, the curricula still have not been examined by the education department because of the lack of a standard curriculum,” he said, explaining that it is MOET which needs to set up the standard curriculum.

Tran Ngoc Nga, a parent in Hanoi, said though she wants her son to follow foreign education, she does not want the child to become westernized.

“He must remember that he is a Vietnamese and he needs to uphold the Vietnamese tradition,” Nga said.

The senior official from the Hanoi Education and Training Department said he personally highly appreciates the curriculum on Vietnamese studies designed by the international schools. 

“The content is good, while the teaching method is creative and attractive,” he said. “Themes are designed in a reasonable way with the integration of literature, history and geography. "


ANTD