Actually, the most anxious time for parents regarding their children’s education is when they start entering high school.
The high school phase is an extremely important period in a young person’s life. But for many public school students, they are submerged in rote learning and textbooks, studying incessantly. Studying at private schools brings either the worry of being overly stuffed with lessons, or the fear that it is too light, making it impossible to get into a Vietnamese university. Studying at international schools brings the fear that the child will lose their roots, and it is overly expensive, costing a whole apartment every year. Then, whether at public or private schools, parents do not know if their child can handle studying abroad if they are not truly outstanding academically.
And after that, we have to stand before extremely difficult choices: orienting our children to study at domestic universities or study abroad. If letting children study domestically, they must attend decent high schools, cramming hard to get into major universities with acceptance ratios of one against dozens. Because if entering an average school, the training quality is feared to be worthless, and upon graduation, the child will just be like everyone else.
But even major domestic universities currently do not truly meet the requirements of a global citizen in terms of training quality. As for self-funded study abroad, it is terribly expensive. Not everyone can set aside 2 to 4 billion VND for their child to study in the US, Australia, Canada, or the UK. Moreover, going abroad to study without thorough preparation leads to stumbling, because the way of studying at universities abroad, especially in the US, is very different from the current traditional way of studying in Vietnam.
Every time my wife’s friend meets us, she expresses her gloom: “I am so worried. My daughter is entering middle school and high school soon, yet I don’t know where to prepare her to go. Entering Dinh Thien Ly is too hard to get in, requiring an average grade of 9.0 or above just to be considered. Entering public schools means being crowded like ants with an outdated curriculum, ruining my child. Entering a school like Vietnam Australia, where would I get several hundred million VND a year? Later on, how could I have enough money to send my child to the US as you advised? It’s such a deadlock, brother.”
My friend, a famous journalist, called one day complaining: “Hey, what do you think about the high school issue? My son is entering next year, and I don’t know what to do. Entering High School for the Gifted or Tran Dai Nghia, I both dislike because of studying too much, and I’m not sure he can get in due to heavy competition. Entering an average public school means studying many useless things, like force-feeding ducks. Entering a private or international school, where would I get the money on my clean journalist salary, my brother? Then there are all kinds of extra classes… Do you think there is any solution? I’m going to die.”
It turns out that a non-negligible segment of parents are trapped in a deadlock within a vicious cycle. Being educated, they understand that entering public schools with the current curriculum will not fully equip their children with knowledge in the global game, but they are also not truly confident in private schools with their current teaching methods. At the same time, not many of them have enough money to pay over 15 million VND/month for their children’s tuition. The majority can only afford under 10 million VND/month.
Another deadlock is that no matter what they study, they still have to take extra classes, whether private or public. Every month, parents also have to spend at least an additional 5 to 7 million VND/month for their children to take extra English classes, TOEFL and SAT certifications, and extracurricular activities to prepare them to apply abroad. Public or private schools do not resolve this test preparation issue either. The kids still have to run around constantly. And so everything gets scrambled up, not knowing what is right? Studying domestically or abroad, where is the money, can they handle studying, what about later, what if they can’t handle it… going crazy from calculating and planning…
The above obsession with secondary education is the inspiration for IAE to deploy the K12 IvyPrep solution in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City: let your children study at public schools, but study moderately without needing to study day and night. Instead of going to extra classes everywhere, invite the children to IvyPrep centers to study international high school courses from the University of Missouri. Throughout those years, they prepare for the SAT, IELTS, TOEFL, AP exams, and extracurricular activities within an entire community of over 3,000 IvyPrep students and 5,000 high school students of the Education Corporation of America.
Unlike some heavily advertised programs that are unaccredited, the international high school program of the University of Missouri is accredited by two top prestigious academic organizations in the US, AdvancED and NCAC.
Graduating from high school, students receive two diplomas: the Vietnamese High School Diploma and a very high-quality US High School Diploma. With these two diplomas, plus TOEFL/IELTS and SAT certificates, as well as extracurricular activities, young people are very thoroughly prepared to study at domestic or international universities, and applying for scholarships to go abroad becomes much more favorable.
The entire cost is only 1/5 of studying at a private or international school. According to estimates, the total cost is just over $350/month with very optimal time allocation. (Currently, studying at Saigon South International School costs over 500 million VND/year, while Vietnam Australia costs nearly 300 million VND/year.)
(Personally, I am very confident in the effectiveness, breakthrough cost, and efficacy of this solution. I am planning for my son to study IvyPrep K12 in the morning next year and play basketball, swim, or learn coding in the afternoon. As for my daughter, she will study IvyPrep K12 in the morning and do extracurriculars and professional sports in the afternoon. The money saved will go toward their studies in the US and traveling.)
Nguyen Quoc Toan
