Recently, on February 14, 2025, International School Saigon Pearl (ISSP, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) sent information to parents of students of the school that after the end of the 2024-2025 school year, it will stop accepting new admission applications. According to the announcement from the school, the last day of school for students at the school is expected to be June 19, 2025.
With the existing kindergarten and primary levels at ISSP, students of the school are transferred to study at the International School of Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC). Both schools are part of the Cognita School system (UK), teaching the same International Baccalaureate (IB) program. The school said that parents can also search for other international schools that suit their families' wishes.
Regarding tuition fees at Ho Chi Minh City International School, which are higher than Saigon Pearl International School, if parents agree to transfer their students here, ISSP will maintain the current tuition fees of the school for 2 years, which means not collecting the difference in tuition fees.
According to the school representative, the reason for ceasing operations after the end of the 2024-2025 school year is that the number of students entering the school each year has decreased, and the school cannot maintain the number of students needed to operate. Currently, the total number of students at both preschool and primary levels at the school is more than 200.
According to the tuition fee list for the 2024-2025 school year published on the school's website, the lowest tuition fee (half-day tuition) for preschool children is more than 243 million VND/year, while the highest is the full-day tuition fee for 5th grade students at 572,500,000 VND/year.
In the report dated February 18, 2025 sent to the City People's Committee, the Department of Education and Training requested the City People's Committee to direct the City Police to coordinate with localities to grasp the situation of public opinion to have appropriate handling plans to ensure security and order at Saigon Pearl International School in particular and the city in general from now until the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
Previously, on July 2, 2024, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City announced the decision to suspend the operations of the American International Primary - Middle - High School (AISVN, in Nha Be district, Ho Chi Minh City).
According to the Department of Education and Training, AISVN did not ensure teaching conditions, due to lack of financial resources, teachers and staff, so its operations were suspended. In early June 2024, the Department requested AISVN to report, proving that it had met the conditions to resume operations, but AISVN did not respond. The school had to end the 2023-2024 school year one month earlier than usual.
AISVN was established in 2006, with its headquarters located on Nguyen Van Tao Street, Nha Be District. As of the 2022-2023 school year, AISVN has approximately 1,300 students, most of whom are studying the IB program. The school's tuition ranges from VND280 to VND725 million per school year, depending on the different levels of study.
In early December 2024, Saigon Star International School, including Saigon Star International Kindergarten and Saigon Star International Primary School (Thanh My Loi Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City), also sent an email to parents announcing temporary closure due to forced execution of the judgment, surprising parents.
The school informed parents that the students would be on winter break until January 5, 2025, but then sent a notice that it would extend the break until February 13, 2025. After that, the school would move to a new address on Highway 13, Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward, Thu Duc City, about 15km from the current headquarters. However, at that time, many parents came here to survey and said that the new location had almost nothing, making it difficult to operate in February 2025. The school owner was "missing", and parents could not contact him to request a refund of tuition fees.
Saigon Star International School was granted an establishment license by the People's Committee of the old District 2 (now Thu Duc City) in January 2014 and was permitted to operate by the Department of Education and Training of District 2 from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2020.
After the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the school had a land dispute with a bank, so the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training did not consider granting a decision to allow educational activities according to the provisions of Decree 86/2018/ND-CP on foreign cooperation and investment in the field of education.
Although the Department of Education and Training has not granted an educational license and is not listed in the Department’s management system, Saigon Star School is still operating. It was only when the school sent a letter of notification to parents that they were “shocked” to discover that the school was operating without a license.
In October 2024, the Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City suddenly inspected the school's operations and handled violations. Although the school's legal representative was invited to work many times in November and December 2024, the school representative did not cooperate. Therefore, the Inspectorate of the Department could not draw up a record of administrative violations against the school.
It is known that tuition fees at Saigon Star International School range from 163 to 530 million VND/school year. When this incident occurred, the school had about 300 students studying at preschool and primary levels.
To ensure the rights of children and students studying at the school, on October 24, 2023, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City issued a document allowing the school to continue operating in Thanh My Loi ward, Thu Duc city until July 31, 2025, without recruiting new children and students.
Since November 2024, parents have repeatedly asked the school to refund the tuition fee so that their children can transfer to another school, but the school has made repeated requests.
Source: https://cand.com.vn/giao-duc/vi-sao-3-truong-quoc-te-thong-bao-ngung-hoat-dong--i759815/
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