To judge preschool teachers, look at four things: their training in early childhood, how long they have stayed, how the adults in the room share the work, and how they talk with children when nobody is performing for visitors. Nationality and accent come a distant fifth. A warm, trained, long-serving Vietnamese homeroom teacher paired with a skilled English-speaking co-teacher will usually give your child more than a rotating cast of foreign staff with no early years background.
This matters because young children learn through relationships. Large studies of early childhood settings, including the NICHD Study of Early Child Care in the United States and the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education project in England, consistently found that the quality of adult–child interaction is one of the strongest predictors of good outcomes. The sections below explain what to check and how to ask without putting anyone on the defensive.
What qualifications mean in Vietnam
Vietnam’s Law on Education 2019 sets a college-level qualification in preschool pedagogy as the standard for preschool teachers, and the Ministry of Education and Training has issued professional standards for preschool teachers covering ethics, professional practice, relationships with families and self-development. In practice, Vietnamese homeroom teachers in licensed preschools have studied child development, nutrition, health care, early literacy and activity planning for children from infancy to six. That training is specific to young children, and it is a real asset.
When you ask about qualifications, you are not asking for certificates on the table. You are asking whether the person responsible for your child’s group has trained to work with children of that age. A useful phrasing is: what training in early childhood does the homeroom teacher for this group have, and how does the school support teachers who are still completing their studies? Schools in fast-growing areas sometimes employ assistants who are still studying, which can be fine if they work under a qualified lead. The answer tells you how the school builds its team.
It is also worth asking about ongoing training. Good preschools run regular in-house sessions, observe teachers in class and give feedback, and send staff to outside courses. A school that can describe how a new teacher is supported in their first term, who mentors them and how often a senior teacher watches them work, usually has a team that improves year on year rather than one that depends on a few experienced individuals.
Foreign teachers: what the label does and does not tell you
Many Saigon preschools employ foreign teachers, and parents often ask first about nationality. That tells you something about the English your child will hear, but very little about how the teacher works with toddlers. Foreign teachers in the city come with a wide range of backgrounds: some hold degrees in early childhood education and have taught young children for years; others hold a general teaching certificate designed for adults, such as CELTA or a TEFL course, and have mainly taught older learners. Both can be kind and capable, but the second group may need support to work with two-year-olds.
Ask what experience the foreign or bilingual teacher has with your child’s age group specifically, and how the school trains them in early years practice. Ask, too, whether the teacher has been with the school for a full year, because foreign staff move on more often than local staff. Legally, foreign teachers need the right to work in Vietnam; the details of work permits and residence are covered on a separate site, and the school is responsible for them. Your concern as a parent is simpler: is this person trained for little children, and will they still be here in six months?
Reading the team in the room
Who leads. In many bilingual schools the Vietnamese homeroom teacher leads and the foreign teacher co-teaches. In many international schools the reverse is true. Either works if roles are clear. Ask who plans activities, who writes reports and who speaks to parents.
Who stays all day. A co-teacher who is in the room for meals, toileting and transitions gives children far more natural language than one who arrives for a forty-minute lesson. Ask how many hours the English-speaking adult is in the room with your child’s group.
Who comforts. Watch who a crying child runs to. In a healthy team, children go to whichever adult is nearest, which shows they trust both.
Who covers. Ask who steps in when a teacher is ill or on leave and whether children already know that person. Unfamiliar substitutes are hard on toddlers.
Who knows your child. The EYFS framework in England requires each child to have a key person, one adult who knows them closely. Whatever framework a school uses, ask whether such a person exists for your child.
Assistants, nannies and the rest of the team
Teachers are not the only adults in your child’s day. Many preschools in Vietnam employ care assistants, often called nannies in English, who help with meals, toileting, dressing and nap time, especially in groups under three. Kitchen staff cook lunch and snacks, a school nurse or health officer handles minor injuries and illness, security staff manage the gate, and cleaners keep rooms and bathrooms in order. In a toddler’s life, the assistant who changes clothes after a spill and the guard who greets them every morning are part of the relationships that make school feel safe.
Ask who these adults are for your child’s group and how they are trained. Care assistants should know the school’s rules on hygiene, comfort and gentle handling, and should speak to children kindly in whichever language they use. Ask whether assistants stay with the same group all year, as children often bond with them as strongly as with teachers. Ask who is on site with health training throughout the day. On your visit, watch how assistants interact with children during routines. A team where everyone, from the homeroom teacher to the cleaner, speaks warmly to children is a sign of a school culture rather than a few good individuals.
Turnover: the question schools find hardest
Staff turnover is one of the most telling signs of a preschool’s health, and one of the hardest for families to see. When teachers stay for years, children form secure attachments, routines stay stable and the team builds shared knowledge about each child. When teachers leave every few months, children grieve and restart, and the school spends its energy on recruitment rather than teaching. In early childhood research, lower turnover and better working conditions are consistently associated with higher-quality care.
Ask directly but warmly: how long have the teachers in this age group been at the school, and how many teachers left last year? A confident school answers with rough numbers and may explain what it does to keep staff, such as training, fair pay or manageable group sizes. Mid-year changes do happen for good reasons, from maternity leave to a family move, so one departure is not a warning sign. A pattern is. Parents already at the school, if you meet them at the gate, are often the best source on this question, because they remember the faces that have come and gone.
What to watch for ten minutes in a classroom
Qualifications and tenure can be described; how teachers talk with children has to be seen. Researchers who rate classroom quality, for example with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System or the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, look at features any parent can notice.
- Adults get down to the children’s level when they speak, rather than talking from above.
- Teachers ask open questions, such as “what do you think will happen?”, and wait for answers.
- Children’s attempts to speak, in any language, are welcomed rather than corrected harshly.
- Adults notice a child who is upset or left out and respond calmly and quickly.
- Instructions are short and clear, and children seem to know the routine without constant reminders.
- There is laughter, and adults seem to enjoy the children rather than simply supervising them.
- Teachers talk to each other respectfully in front of the children.
Ten minutes is not enough to judge a whole school, and every teacher has hard days. But if you see most of these, you are looking at adults who know how to work with young children. If you see few, ask to come back at another time.
How to ask without making staff defensive
Teachers are often present on tours, and questions about qualifications or turnover can feel like criticism if asked bluntly. Framing helps. Rather than “are your teachers qualified?”, try “what training do teachers here have for working with two-year-olds?” Rather than “do teachers leave often?”, try “how long has this team been working together?” Questions phrased around the child and the team invite pride rather than defence.
Direct the sharper questions to the head of school or admissions officer rather than to the teacher in the room. It is fair to ask the head how the school recruits, trains and retains staff, and what happens if a family is unhappy with a teacher. Good leaders welcome these questions, because they show you understand what makes a preschool work. Finally, notice how the teachers treat you. A teacher who greets you, explains what the children are doing and then returns attention to the children is showing exactly the balance you want: friendly to parents, focused on children.
If you cannot speak Vietnamese and the homeroom teacher does not speak English, ask how the two of you will communicate once your child starts. Some schools route messages through the co-teacher or an office staff member; others use translation in the parent app. Knowing this in advance prevents frustration later, when you need to understand a note about a fever or a change in routine.
Putting it together
When you compare schools, try a simple summary for each one. Who is the lead adult for my child’s group, and what is their training? Who else is in the room, for how many hours, and in which language? How long has this team been together? What did I see in ten minutes of watching? Four lines per school are enough to make the comparison concrete.
If two schools look similar on facilities and approach, the teacher summary usually decides it. A slightly smaller building with a stable, warm, trained team is a better place for a toddler than a larger one with constant staff changes. The same is true of bilingual provision: a foreign co-teacher who stays all day for two years gives more English than a rotating series of visiting teachers. Keep coming back to the question that matters most for children under six: who will my child spend the day with, and will they still be there next year?
Once your child has started, keep watching the same things. Notice which adults your child mentions at home, who greets them at the gate and whether those names stay the same across the year. Children’s own stories about their day are often the clearest report on a teaching team you will ever get, and they arrive without anyone preparing them for a visitor.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Are foreign preschool teachers in Vietnam required to have teaching qualifications?
Foreign teachers need the right to work in Vietnam, and work permit rules include requirements on qualifications and experience. These rules change, so check the current regulations if this matters to you. For your child, the more useful question is whether the teacher has training and experience specifically with young children.
Is a native English speaker always better for my child?
Not necessarily. A fluent, trained bilingual teacher who uses rich, natural English all day can give children as much as a native speaker, and sometimes more if they understand early childhood well. Accent matters less than the amount, warmth and quality of conversation children experience.
How many teachers should be in a preschool classroom?
It depends on age and group size. Vietnam’s rules set maximum group sizes and staffing norms, and many private schools staff more generously. Ask how many adults are in the room at each part of the day, not only the headline ratio, since numbers often drop at nap or lunch.
What if the teacher my child loves leaves mid-year?
Ask the school how it handles changes: whether the new teacher overlaps with the old one, whether the co-teacher stays, and how children are told. Children usually adjust when the rest of the routine stays steady and the remaining adults are familiar. Tell the new teacher about your child’s habits early.
Can I ask to meet my child’s teacher before enrolling?
Yes, and many schools arrange it during a visit or trial period. Meeting the teacher lets you see how they talk with children and with you. If the teacher for next year has not been assigned yet, ask who is likely to lead the group and whether you can meet them later.