VietNamNet Bridge – Studying at international schools used to be popular among well-off families. However, nowadays, Vietnamese students no longer dream of international schools,   and many have called for each other to leave the schools.

In early December 2010, headmaster of a primary school in district 1 in HCM City said “no” to student, who wanted to enroll in the school. Previously, the boy studied at an international school. The headmaster said that she had to refuse many students in similar cases.

More and more students leave international schools

“Fleeing” or “running away” are the words people use referring to students leaving international schools. The number of students leaving international schools is so high that recently, the Hanoi Education and Training Department had to release a new legal document which says that students are not allowed to leave people founded schools for state owned schools.

The headmaster of a primary school in District 5 in HCM City related that her school has a fourth grader who once studied at an international school. The student is the worst one in school. Especially, she doesn’t do well in literature and has bad handwriting.

The headmaster of another school in HCM City also said that the English skills of a student, who once studied at an international school were not really good, despite what student’s parents said.

Thu Trang, whose daughter is studying at an international school, now feels worried because she has found out that the girl’s knowledge has many gaps, even though the girl still gets high marks. Besides, the girl’s English skills are not as good as she hoped. Trang said that she is considering moving the girl to a Vietnamese school.

Leaders of the districts’ education sub-departments in HCM City said that in the past two years, more and more students from  international schools want to move to state owned schools. In the 2010-2011 academic year, the schools in district 1 in HCM City received 79 students from international schools. Meanwhile, district 5 reportedly received 85 students.

Tuoi tre newspaper in early October 2010 quoted a parent as saying that she is satisfied with the student care offered at international schools. However, she doubts the education quality.

Many parents say they cannot estimate ahead the tuitions they have to pay for an academic year, because the tuitions have been increasing frequently. Besides, they also complain that teachers change all the time. “The names of new teachers are announced every two or three weeks,” a parent said.

International school was once the top choice of well-off families, because of their modern teaching methods. Students are not put under pressure, because their curriculums are not as heavy as those of state owned schools. However, many parents found that their children’s knowledge is lacking. The parents share their views on webtretho, a well known education forum, saying that they found international schools not as ideal as they had previously thought.

Pham Duyen