“Vinschool initiates international collaboration to strive for excellence”

At the beginning of the new school year, Ms. Phan Ha Thuy, CEO of the Vinschool Education System, recently shared Vinschool’s strategy to become a world-class organization.

The first Vietnamese education system to achieve CIS accreditation

Interviewer: In the exciting atmosphere of the first few days of the school year, can you share with parents and students any updates from Vinschool, ma’am?

In the last academic year, students had to study online most of the time, yet Vinschool teachers and students have made outstanding achievements. Vinschool has always been leading in national and international student talent competitions, with nearly 1,000 awards in various fields, especially in the sciences, information technology, and STEM.

Forty percent of 12th-grade students received admission to top universities in Vietnam by direct recruitment, talent recruitment or admission via international certificates such as IELTS, SAT, and AP. Fifty percent of students won scholarships from prestigious international universities. Forty percent of Vinschool students scored  4/5 and 5/5 (excellent grade) on AP exams to earn university course credits.

In June 2022, Vinschool was honoured as the first Vietnamese education system on CIS’s global education map (out of 530 schools accredited by CIS). This is a commitment by Vinschool Education System to building a Vietnamese school system with leading international standards of the entire.

Can you share more about the transformation that Vinschool is undertaking after this rigorous CIS accreditation process?

Our entire system underwent a process of change and continuous self-improvement over the last five years to be able to pass the rigorous CIS accreditation process. To achieve CIS accreditation, factors such as school operation, student safety, and teaching and learning quality must comply with the highest international standards.

One significant transformation Vinschool Education System is currently undertaking is shifting a traditional educational approach to outcome-based teaching and learning, also known as competency-based teaching and learning. This is not merely an educational innovation, it’s an educational revolution.

More specifically, what is outcome-based teaching and learning at Vinschool about and what are the benefits for students?

In short, a traditional educational approach is based on knowledge, content, and textbooks while outcome-based education focuses on developing students’ self-study, critical thinking, analytical and creative skills. This improves cognitive abilities and intellect instead of filling the brain with textbook knowledge.

In addition to having useful knowledge, Vinschool students are purposefully trained to develop higher-level thinking competencies such as analysis, assessment, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and lifelong self-study skills.

Collaboration for development, not for sale

If the Vinschool system is already superior, why does Vingroup make the collaboration to bring Brighton College into Vietnam, with much more expensive tuition fees?

Brighton College is a top-ranked boarding school in the UK with nearly 200 years of history and an international model of education. The opening of Brighton College in Vietnam aims to meet the demands of expatriate children living in Vietnam, as well as provide open access to the world’s quintessential education for Vietnamese parents who do not wish to send their children abroad at an early age.

In addition to the partnership with Brighton College, Vinschool recently sold some of its shares to a partner in Singapore. Many parents are worried that Vinschool will soon be taken over by a foreign business. Do you have any comments on this, ma’am?

There’s absolutely no selling off Vinschool. We allowed our Singaporean partner Varsity Scholastic Asia Holdings II Pte. Ltd to contribute capital investment with the desire to further expand our network of educational institutions. After 8 years in operation, Vinschool is now the largest K-12 educational system in Vietnam.

Our goal is to become a world-class educational system by the age of 10. That’s why we decided to bring along our major international partners who have extensive experience and an extensive international network. This partnership will help accelerate Vinschool’s path to becoming a world-class education system and is also a major goal of Vinschool from its inception.

However, this still raises concerns about the increase in tuition fees as well as the change in the educational environment when Vinschool might no longer operate as a not-for-profit organization?

Vinschool maintains its commitment to being a not-for-profit organization. Vinschool’s tuition fees will always be kept at below-average rates compared to the quality of education and accompanying services as we are one of Vingroup’s social enterprises.

Although you claim the partnership to be merely cooperative, can parents and students rest assured that Vinschool will not be sold off in the future, ma’am?

There will be no selling of Vinschool. There have been various businesses that made generous offers to acquire Vinschool, but we have no intention to sell. We are steadfast in our commitment to bring best values by bringing along partners who are highly experienced in K-12 education from around the world. We invest in the improvement of educational quality, the development of the system, breakthrough changes, meeting our students’ needs in a timely manner, and preparing the students with solid foundations be successful in today’s world with constant fluctuations.

In addition, Vingroup considers Vinschool not just as a value-added service for its ecosystem but more importantly, it is the social contribution in accordance with the company’s desire for sustainable development, so there will be no sale to anyone.

References: Zing News