Seven international schools agree to accept AISVN students

Seven high schools in Ho Chi Minh City offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) program have agreed to accept students from the American International School Vietnam.

In a document sent by Ho Chi Minh City to the Ministry of Education and Training regarding the operations of the American International School Vietnam (AISVN) on March 27, these seven schools can accept 1,088 students.

They are Australian International School (AIS), European International School (EIS), Ho Chi Minh City International School (ISHCMC), British Vietnamese International School (BVIS), North America (SNA), American International School (TAS) and British International School (BIS). According to information on the website, tuition fees for the schools range from 500-900 million VND per year for the IB system.

The city said the Department of Education and Training will continue to work with these schools and soon have a plan to increase the number of teachers teaching the IB program for students transferred from AISVN.

The incident began on March 18 when more than 1,200 students at the American International School in Vietnam were forced to stay home from school because teachers did not show up due to unpaid wages. The school later reopened but did not have enough teachers. Many parents were stuck because they had paid billions of dong in tuition fees, and transferring schools when the second semester was about to end was not easy.

AISVN students in a learning activity, 2022. Photo: AISVN — AISVN students in a learning activity, 2022. Photo: *AISVN*

According to the Department of Education and Training, on March 21, when working with the Department, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em committed that during the one-week spring break (March 23-31), she would call for investment funds to restructure the school and maintain educational activities.

However, today, more than 100 parents of the school sent a collective petition to the school and the Department with the desire to let their children study online, accepting to pay an additional 10-15 million per month, to complete the school year.

AISVN was established in 2006 and currently has more than 1,210 students studying the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Tuition fees are VND280-350 million per year for preschool, VND450-500 million for primary school and VND600-725 million for secondary school.

The school has 129 foreign teachers, 26 Vietnamese teachers and 103 staff. Currently, the teachers are owed February salaries. Foreign teachers are owed an additional 30% of January salaries.

Last October, AISVN attracted attention when many parents gathered to demand debt. These parents said they lent the school tens of billions of dong without interest, without collateral, through loan and investment contracts. In return, their children received free education, and the school committed to paying them after the students graduated or transferred schools. However, they did not receive their money back.

Le Nguyen - Le Tuyet

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