Vietnam: Do kindergartens accept children from 2 years of age?

Do kindergartens in Vietnam accept children from 2 years of age?

According to Article 26 of the Law on Education 2019, regulations regarding preschool educational institutions are as follows:

Institutions of preschool education

Institutions of preschool education include:

1. Nursery centers and classes for children aged 03 – 36 months;

2. Kindergartens and independent kindergarten classes for children aged 03 – 06 years;

3. Combined kindergartens and independent preschool classes for children aged 03 months – 06 years.

Thus, according to the regulations, preschools accept children from 03 months old to 06 years of age. Therefore, children from 2 years of age do not meet the age requirement to be accepted into kindergartens in Vietnam.

Can kindergartens in Vietnam operate without a playground?

Under Article 5 of Decree 46/2017/ND-CP (amended by Clause 2, Article 1 of Decree 135/2018/ND-CP), the licensing requirements for educational operations of a kindergarten, preschool and nursery school are stipulated as follows:

Licensing requirements for educational operations of a kindergarten, preschool and nursery school

1. Obtain the decision on establishment or the decision on approval of establishment, issued by the President of district-level People’s Committee.

2. Own land, school head office, facilities and equipment that meet requirements, help maintain and develop educational operations as well as satisfy the following specific requirements:

a) The kindergarten, preschool or nursery school must be located within the precincts of a residential zone in compliance with regulations on safety and environmental sanitation;

b) The total area of project site is divided into multiple spaces used for building infrastructural facilities, playgrounds, roads and growing landscaping plants. The average area of project site must be at least 12 m2 per a child in lowland, delta and midland regions (except municipal and urban regions); 08 m2 per a child in municipal, urban, mountainous and island regions;

c) The kindergarten, preschool or nursery school must build walls to separate its space from the outside;

d) The construction project is divided into the following blocks:

- Block of child care and nursery education classrooms, e.g. general activity gathering classrooms, sleeping classrooms, toilets and play grounds, which must ensure conformity with the specified regulations;

- Block of learning classrooms, e.g. physical education classrooms, art education classrooms or multifunctional classrooms;

- Block of dining rooms, e.g. kitchen spaces and warehouses;

- Block of administrative rooms, e.g. school offices, rector’s offices, vice rector’s offices, administrative management offices, healthcare rooms, security rooms, staff rooms, toilets intended for teachers, officers, employees, and parking lots for teachers, officers and employees;

- Play grounds, e.g. play grounds for child groups or classes; commonly-shared play spaces.

dd) Equipment, toys, supplies, instructional materials on child care and education must be available in accordance with regulations laid down by the Ministry of Education and Training.

3. Employ an adequate staff of administrative officers, teachers and employees that are structured in a proper manner and meet stipulated standards for provision of early childhood education programs and organization of educational operations. 

4. Maintain an sufficient amount of financial resources as required by laws in order to ensure continued operation and development of educational operations.

5. Have the statutes of organization and operations of the kindergarten, preschool or nursery school.

Under the above regulations, the licensing requirements for educational operations of a kindergarten are:

+ Obtain the decision on establishment or the decision on approval of establishment, issued by the President of district-level People’s Committee.

+ Own land, school head office, facilities and equipment that meet requirements, help maintain and develop educational operations 

+ Employ an adequate staff of administrative officers, teachers and employees that are structured in a proper manner and meet stipulated standards for provision of early childhood education programs and organization of educational operations

+ Maintain an sufficient amount of financial resources as required by laws in order to ensure continued operation and development of educational operations.

+ Have the statutes of organization and operations of the kindergarten, preschool or nursery school.

Thus, according to the above regulations, a kindergarten without a playground does not meet the requirement on owning land, school head office, facilities and equipment that meet requirements, help maintain and develop educational operations.

Do kindergartens in Vietnam accept children from 2 years of age? (Image from the Internet)

What are the procedures for issuing a license to conduct educational operations to a preschool in Vietnam?

Under Article 6 of Decree 46/2017/ND-CP (amended by Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree 135/2018/ND-CP), to conduct educational operations, the preschool must go through the procedures to apply for a license to conduct educational operations as follows:

* Document Requirements:

- The request form for the license to conduct educational operations;

+ The duplicate copy derived from the original register, the certified duplicate copy derived from the original copy or the duplicate copy with the original copy for verification purposes of the decision on establishment or the decision on approval for the establishment of the kindergarten;

+ The list of officers holding important positions, such as the rector, vice rectors, heads of specialized groups, with their professional qualifications; the list of teachers with their professional qualifications; employment contracts signed between a kindergarten, preschool or nursery school and each managerial officer or each teacher;

+ Early childhood education curriculum and syllabus for offer of early childhood education program;

+ The inventory of classrooms, working rooms, facilities and equipment items meeting stipulated requirements;

+ The legal confirmation document on the title to land or the agreement on rental of a kindergarten, preschool or nursery school of which the minimum term is 05 years; legal confirmation document on the available amount of money currently managed by a kindergarten, preschool or nursery school to ensure legitimacy and compliance with the commitment that such amount is only used for paying construction and other recurrent costs incurred by the kindergarten, preschool or nursery school upon receipt of permission for educational operations; the plan for capital mobilization and allocation which assures stable operations of the kindergarten, preschool or nursery school for the next period of 05 years that starts from the date of receipt of permission for enrolment;

+ The statutes of organization and operation of the kindergarten, preschool or nursery school.

* Procedures:

Step 1: The kindergarten submits directly or by postal mail 01 application as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 6 of Decree 46/2017/ND-CP (amended by Clause 3, Article 1 of Decree 135/2018/ND-CP) to the Division of Education and Training;

Step 2: The Division of Education and Training receives and organizes the review of applications. If the application is unsatisfactory, a written notification of required modifications and supplements is sent to the kindergarten within 05 working days from the date of receipt; if the application is satisfactory, the review schedule is announced;

Step 3: Within 15 working days from the date of the review schedule notification, the Division of Education and Training, in collaboration with related departments, organizes an on-site review;

Step 4: Within 05 working days, if the kindergarten meets the stipulated conditions, the Head of the Division of Education and Training issues a decision permitting educational operations; if the conditions are not met, a written notification stating the reasons is sent to the kindergarten.