Procedures for establishment of non-public nursery schools in Vietnam

Procedures for establishment of non-public nursery schools

The procedures for permitting the establishment of non-public nursery schools are specified in Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree 46/2017/ND-CP of Vietnam's Government, amended and superseded by Article 1 and Article 2 of Decree 135/2018/ND-CP, specifically as follows:

*Application dossier includes:

(1) The application form for approval of establishment of a public kindergarten, preschool and nursery school prepared by a host entity, or permission for establishment of a non-public or private kindergarten, preschool and nursery school prepared by an organization or individual in which necessity for establishment, proposed name and location intended for construction of the premises for child care, parenting and education activities must be clearly specified;

(2) The proposal for establishment of a kindergarten, preschool or nursery school;

*Implementation procedures:

Step 1: Organization or individual (in case of application for approval of establishment of a non-public or private kindergarten, preschool or nursery school) shall submit an application package specified in Clause 2 Article 4 of Decree 46/2017/ND-CP, whether directly or by post, to the district-level People’s Committee;

Step 2: Within the duration of 05 business days from the receipt of all required valid documents, the district-level People’s Committee shall be responsible for commanding the Subdepartment of Education and Training to organize the assessment of realistic conditions concerning establishment of a kindergarten, preschool or nursery school; within the duration of 15 business days, the Subdepartment of Education and Training shall take charge and cooperate with relevant specialized divisions to give their assessment opinions to the President of the district-level People’s Committee;

Step 3: Within the duration of 05 business days from the receipt of written assessment opinions from the Subdepartment of Education and Training and other relevant specialized divisions, if all regulatory requirements have been met, the President of district-level People’s Committee shall issue a decision on establishment or approval of establishment; in case of failure to meet stated requirements, the President of the district-level People’s Committee shall send a written response in which reasons for refusal to issue the decision on establishment or approval of establishment should be clearly specified.

*Note: Within the duration of 02 years after the date of entry into force of the decision on establishment or approval of establishment, if the requesting kindergarten, preschool or nursery school fails to obtain permission to perform its educational activities, that decision shall be annulled. 

Procedures for establishment of non-public nursery schools (Image from the Internet)

Who has the authority to permit the establishment of a non-public nursery school?

According to Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree 46/2017/ND-CP:

Procedures and documentation requirements for establishment of public kindergartens, preschools and nursery schools; permission for establishment of non-public or private kindergartens, preschools and nursery schools

1. The President of the People’s Committee of an urban/rural district or provincially-controlled town (hereinafter referred to as district-level People’s Committee) shall be accorded authority to grant the decision on establishment of a public kindergarten, preschool and nursery school, or permission for establishment of a non-public or private kindergarten, preschool and nursery school.

...

Thus, according to the regulations, the Chairman of the district-level People’s Committee has the authority to permit the establishment of a private childcare center.

What is the administrative penalty for establishing a non-public nursery school without a permit?

According to Point b, Clause 3, Article 5 of Decree 04/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam's Government, amended by Points a and b, Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree 127/2021/ND-CP, the administrative penalties in the field of education are as follows:

Violations against regulations on establishment, licensing for establishment; merger, split-off, slit-up, dissolution of educational institutions or educational service providers; conversion of types of educational institutions

...

3. The following fines shall be imposed for establishing or licensing establishment, merger, split-off, slit-up, dissolution or conversion of types of an educational institution before obtaining permission from a competent authority:

a) A fine ranging from VND 7.000.000 to VND 10.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves a daycare group or independent kindergarten class;

b) A fine ranging from VND 10.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves junior and/or senior kindergartens;

c) A fine ranging from VND 20.000.000 to VND 40.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves a general education institution or continuing education institution;

d) A fine ranging from VND 40.000.000 to VND 60.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves a professional secondary school providing teacher training programs;

dd) A fine ranging from VND 60.000.000 to VND 90.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves a college providing teacher training programs;

e) A fine ranging from VND 100.000.000 to VND 130.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves a higher education institution.

4. Additional penalties:

a) The exhibit, which is the erased, altered or falsified establishment decision, decision on establishment licensing, decision on merger, split-off, slit-up, dissolution or conversion of types of an educational institution, establishment decision, decision on establishment licensing, or decision on merger, split-off, slit-up, or dissolution of an education accreditation organization, of the violation in Clause 1 of this Article shall be confiscated;

b) Foreigners who commit the violation in Clause 3 of this Article shall be deported from Vietnam.

5. Remedial measures: The entity committing any of the violations in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article is compelled to transfer matriculated learners to other eligible educational institutions or cancel matriculation decisions and return collected amounts to learners in case of failed transfer.

Thus, the act of establishing a private nursery school without a permit will result in a fine of between 10,000,000 VND and 20,000,000 VND.

Additionally, besides the fines, the act of establishing a private nursery school without permission from the competent authority will face additional penalties: Confiscation of the establishment decision; and if the violator is a foreigner, deportation will be enforced.

Moreover, remedial measures include transferring qualified enrolled students to other legal educational institutions or canceling the admission decision and refunding the fees collected if the transfer cannot be made.

Note: The above fine applies to administrative violations committed by organizations. For the same administrative violation, the fine for individuals is half of that for organizations.