Vietnam: Do private kindergartens have a Management Council? Can offical public employees become principals of private kindergartens?

Do private kindergartens have a Management Council?

According to Article 6 of the Organizational and operational regulations of private preschools issued together with Circular 13/2015/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam:

Organizational structure of private preschools and kindergartens

The organizational structure of a private preschool or kindergarten must adhere to regulations on organizational structure prescribed in the Preschool Charter and correspond to its conditions and scale. A private preschool or kindergarten must consist of the following divisions:

1. The Management Council (if any);

2. The Supervisory Board;

3. The Principal and Deputy Principals;

4. Specialized panels;

5. The administrative panel;

6. Organizations or unions;

7. Groups or classes.

According to Article 11 of the Organizational and operational regulations of private preschools issued together with Circular 13/2015/TT-BGDDT:

Private preschools and kindergartens having no Management Council established

1. A private preschool or kindergarten whose construction and operating funds are covered by the only one capital-contributing member (hereinafter referred to as the Investor) shall not establish the Management Council.

2. The Investor shall have duties and rights as those of the Management Council, and be responsible for implementing regulations in Article 9 and Clause 4 Article 10 of these regulations. The Investor may be also the school Principal if he/she satisfies all of the standards mentioned in Clause 1 Article 13 of these regulations.

3. If the Principal is not the Investor, he/she must bear responsibility before the Investor for implementation of rights and duties specified in Clause 4 Article 13 of these regulations.

Thus, if a private kindergarten is funded entirely by one investor, there is no need for a Management Council.

Therefore, the Board of Directors is one of the entities within the organizational structure of private kindergartens. However, it is only required if the private kindergarten has two or more investors.

Do private kindergartens have a Management Council? Can offical public employees become principals of private kindergartens? (Image from the Internet)

Can a public employee in the state payroll become a principal of a private kindergarten?

According to Article 13 of the Organizational and operational regulations of private preschools issued together with Circular 13/2015/TT-BGDDT:

Principal

1. The Principal of a private preschool or kindergarten must satisfy all of the standards of preschool principal as set forth in the Preschool Charter, is under 65 years of age and must not be an official or public employee of a state agency.

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Therefore, the principal of a private kindergarten must meet the criteria stipulated in the Charter of Kindergartens, be nominated at not more than 65 years of age, and not be a state official or public employee under state payroll.

Thus, according to the above regulations, public employees in the state payroll are not eligible to become a principal of a private kindergarten.

Does the investor in a private kindergarten have to personally teach?

According to Article 9 of the Organizational and operational regulations of private preschools issued together with Circular 13/2015/TT-BGDDT, duties and rights of the Management Council are prescribed as follows:

The Management Council shall discharge and exercise the following duties and rights:

(1) Work out and state development strategies and plans for annual operations of the preschool or kindergarten at the meeting sessions of the General Meeting of capital-contributing members.

(2) and state them at the General Meeting of capital-contributing members for approval; request the General Meeting of capital-contributing members to, where necessary, consider and revise or supplement preschool or kindergarten's regulations, or request for addition, resignation or dismissal of members of the Management Council.

(3) Make decisions on approving regulations on policies, standards, payment and collection norms of the preschool or kindergarten; regulations on capital return, withdrawal and transfer in conformity with laws and regulations on financial management policies.

(4) Mobilize capital resources for construction and development of the preschool or kindergarten; approve estimates and annual financial statements submitted by the Principal; supervise the management of finance and assets of the preschool or kindergarten; present preschool or kindergarten’s annual financial reports at the General Meeting of capital-contributing members for approval.

(5) Recommend and request for appointment or dismissal of Principal and Deputy Principals; request the competent authorities to make decision thereof.

(6) Approve plans for organizational structure, payroll and personnel of the preschool or kindergarten on the basis of the Principal’s recommendation.

(7) Make plan and supervise the implementation of regulations on democracy in the preschool or kindergarten’s operations; supervise the implementation of decisions by the Management Council; supervise the Principal and Chief Accountant’s compliance with regulations of the Government, Ministry of Education and Training and higher-level educational authority.

(8) Convene meetings of the General Meeting of capital-contributing members on the periodical basis of every year or extraordinary meetings at the request of the Chairperson of the Management Council.

Additionally, Clause 4 of Article 10 of the Organizational and operational regulations of private preschools issued together with Circular 13/2015/TT-BGDDT states:

Chairperson of the Management Council

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4. Chairperson of the Management Council shall discharge and exercise the following duties and rights:

a) Manage operations of the Management Council; have the right to convene meetings of the Management Council; bear the prime responsibility for decisions of the Management Council, and supervise the implementation of such decisions; chair meetings of the General Meeting of capital-contributing members.

b) Assume responsibility before the higher-level educational authority for all operations of the preschool or kindergarten and supervision of Principal’s management.

c) Invest and manage preschool’s facilities, and provide equipment, devices, toys, teaching and learning materials for meeting demands and quality of child fostering, care and education activities.

d) Pay salaries, bonuses, health insurance, social insurance and unemployment insurance premiums, and other amounts to the Principal, Deputy Principals, teachers and employees with labour contracts.

dd) Sign labour contracts with Principal, Deputy Principals, teachers and employees.

e) Manage personnel and use the seal of the preschool or kindergarten within the ambit of functions and duties of the Management Council, and sign documents and/or decisions made by the Management Council.

g) Make agreement on tuition with children’s parents or sponsors.

h) Exercise other rights and discharge other duties as mentioned in the organizational and operational regulations of the preschool or kindergarten.

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Thus, according to the regulations, the investor in a private kindergarten is not required to personally teach.