The Government’s Decree 86/CP, which took effect on August 1, is expected to stimulate investment in education with a new regulation allowing foreign-funded schools to enroll more Vietnamese students.

Pupils at the British International School Ha Noi (Photo: nordangliaeducation.com)

The decree raised the ceiling for the rate of Vietnamese students at kindergartens, primary, secondary and high schools to 50% from the previous quotas of 10% for the primary level and 20% for secondary and high schools.

Troy Griffiths, Deputy Managing Director at real estate company Savills Vietnam, said with a young population of over 94 million, Viet Nam has advantages to develop the education sector.

He said Ho Chi Minh City is amongst 27 cities worldwide which house more than 50 international schools, adding that it reflects the big appeal of the local education market.

The limit on Vietnamese student enrollment was once a barrier to overseas capital flow into the sector, he said, hailing the new decree as opening up big opportunity for investors who want to build international schools in Vietnam. 

The education-training sector saw 46 foreign-funded projects worth 51 million USD licensed in the first nine months of 2019, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. To date, the country has attracted 437 projects of this kind, with total registered capital amounting to 4.3 billion USD.

Most of the investments have been channeled into the area of foreign language education, particularly English. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City now have about 450 English language centres.

Reports from Savills Vietnam showed a number of merger and acquisition (M&A) activities taking place in the field. The UK-based Cognita group acquired the International School Ho Chi Minh City and International School Saigon Pearl, while Hong Kong-based provider of international schools Nord Anglia Education bought up the British International School (BIS), among others.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)