(Photo sources: Hanoi-Amsterdam High School online archives)
Reading the draft plan to elevate Hanoi – Amsterdam High School (Ams) to international standards brings me both joy and regret.
I am joyful because our state leaders genuinely care about developing and sharpening the competitiveness of a prestigious high school, and they dare to back it with major investments. This represents a breakthrough in mindset. I want to thank the Hanoi City Leadership for making such a monumental decision.
However, I feel regret because the Plan’s vision remains far too modest. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) outlined in the document are actually benchmarks from 15 to 20 years ago. In reality, the school has already met—and significantly exceeded—the targets currently being set by the City.
The reputation of Hanoi-Amsterdam has already reached major global universities, and admissions boards hold it in very high regard. The caliber of our students is already on par with top-tier high schools worldwide, let alone standard international schools. (Standard international schools simply cannot compete with Ams. Lumping Ams together with generic international schools is a painful downgrade, not a grand target or source of inspiration).
Therefore, if we are going to invest in and develop Hanoi-Amsterdam, we must adopt an entirely different vision. One that is bolder, more aggressive, and more worthwhile—mirroring the grand ambition of our nation’s current development trajectory.
Over the next 20 to 30 years, national competitiveness will be defined by the competition for talent. Vietnam will advance much further if we possess truly world-class institutions to train our next generation of exceptional leaders. A school like Ams, if granted the right autonomy and driven by the right ambition, can absolutely become that institution.
If I were consulted, I would propose the following 25-year vision and OKRs for Hanoi-Amsterdam High School:
1. Benchmarking for excellence
- Public School Benchmarks: Brooklyn Technical High School and The Bronx High School of Science in New York, USA.
- Private School Benchmarks: Phillips Andover Academy or Phillips Exeter Academy in the USA.
- Admissions Model: Target an acceptance rate of approximately 8%, with 3% selected via holistic portfolio reviews and 5% via competitive examinations.
The Rationale: Ams must measure itself against the most prestigious public and private academies in the United States, not just generic international brands. Furthermore, the school must move away from relying solely on exam scores for admissions. We need diversity: athletes, artists, and children from families with strong traditions in politics, business, academia, or the arts.
Holistic portfolio review does not mean privilege; it is a mechanism to recruit students who excel exceptionally in sports, arts, research, civic leadership, or extraordinary achievements outside the exam hall. These are the individuals who will drive massive social impact and eventually give back to the school over the long term.
2. OKRs for faculty
- Advanced Degrees: 100% of full-time faculty must hold a Master’s degree or higher.
- Doctoral Target: 80% must hold a Ph.D., with 80% of those doctorates earned from global Top 100 universities or Top 50 US universities.
- Specialist Faculty: The remaining 20% of faculty should consist of national-level athletes or recognized meritorious artists.
- Target Elite Institutions: Explicitly target Ph.D. graduates from institutions such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, NYU, Caltech, the University of Chicago, Oxford, Cambridge, Tsinghua, and Peking University.
- Competitive Compensation: Faculty salaries at Ams must be three times higher than the market average. For example, if the average teacher’s salary is 30 million VND, an Ams teacher should earn approximately 90 million VND.
- Guest Lecturers: The adjunct and guest faculty must include exceptional entrepreneurs, renowned artists, and elite athletes.
The Rationale: Exceptional students require exceptional teachers. We cannot expect world-class high school educators unless we offer compensation that competes directly with universities and the corporate sector. Salaries must be high enough to convince individuals to pass up university professorships to teach high school instead. Higher pay also eliminates the need for teachers to run private tutoring sessions to supplement their income, allowing them to focus entirely on mentoring their students.
3. OKRs for school leadership
- Leadership Credentials: 100% of leadership from the Vice Principal level up must hold a Ph.D. and have completed overseas professional training.
- Strategic Influence: Leaders must possess a national and regional reputation for bold vision and decisive execution. Furthermore, the Principal must possess sufficient institutional standing and political influence to protect the school’s long-term strategic direction. The Principal should be appointed to a fixed term of at least 5+5 years following a rigorous evaluation process.
- Governance Structure: Establish an Advisory Board or Board of Trustees composed of outstanding leaders from academia, politics, and business, operating similarly to the boards of elite non-profit academies in the United States. The Board Chair should ideally be a retired, highly respected top-tier national statesman.
The Rationale: An elite school requires elite leaders who are given the time to execute long-term strategies. The primary role of an influential Board Chair with a powerful network is to lead fundraising efforts, protect the institution, and champion the school through corporate and political relationships.
4. OKRs for alumni success
Hanoi-Amsterdam must look beyond generating top exam scorers; it must intentionally produce individuals capable of reaching the absolute pinnacles of politics, state governance, science, and global business.
Over the next 25 years, the school should aim to count among its alumni:
- 5 Politburo Members, including at least one individual reaching the top four highest offices of state leadership.
- 25 Cabinet Ministers.
- 50 Deputy Ministers.
- 3 US Dollar Billionaires in high-value-add, non-real-estate, and non-natural-resource sectors (such as high-tech, AI, healthcare, FMCG, manufacturing, or agriculture).
- 100 Centi-Millionaires with a net worth exceeding 100 million USD across any industry.
- 300 Outstanding International Alumni who ascend to corporate or political leadership within their home countries.
The Rationale: While Ams has been immensely successful academically, very few alumni have reached the absolute highest echelons of national politics or global business since its founding. We must pivot away from a purely safe, academic curriculum toward teaching styles that foster breakthrough thinkers for the political and commercial arenas. Successful alumni create a powerful network that gives back to the school and attracts the next wave of top talent.
5. OKRs for financial contributions
- Fundraising Infrastructure: Establish a dedicated Fundraising and Advisory Board equivalent to the Boards of Trustees at major global non-profit institutions.
- Endowment Target: Build an independent school endowment of at least 100 million USD within 25 years, fueled by alumni and philanthropic contributions.
- Revenue Diversification: Generate at least 10 million USD annually from international student tuition and voluntary contributions (e.g., 300 international students paying 35,000 USD per year).
The Rationale: A truly successful school must be financially robust. It requires deep financial reserves to fund innovative programs, provide generous financial aid, and sponsor student research and competitions. No world-class educational institution relies solely on state funding. The leadership must possess the sophistication and courage to raise private capital rather than simply playing it safe.
6. OKRs for financial autonomy
- Variable Tuition Model: The school must have the right to charge voluntary, market-rate tuition (ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 USD/year) for affluent domestic families and international students.
- Self-Sustainability: Transition the school into a self-sustaining model that operates independently of the state budget.
- State Dependency Reduction: Reduce dependency so that the state budget accounts for a maximum of 20% of the school’s operational expenses.
The Rationale: Independent and stable financing is critical. Currently, the school relies too heavily on state budgets for infrastructure and personnel, which slows down necessary upgrades. One only needs to look at the current state of deteriorating facilities to see the limitations of the status quo.
7. OKRs for student body & placement
- National Recruitment: Open admissions to top students nationwide, rather than restricting entry to Hanoi residents.
- International Integration: Ensure at least 20% of the student body consists of exceptional international students, drawn either through school scholarships or from global families in business and politics.
- Elite Global Placement: Ams must become a primary feeder school for the absolute top universities in the world. Annually, the school must place at least:
- 50 students into the Top 50 US universities.
- 10 students into Tsinghua University and Peking University.
- 10 students into Oxford, Cambridge, and LSE.
- (These targets must represent unique, non-overlapping placements).
The Rationale: OKRs should focus on elite global placement. Our students are already highly qualified for general international universities. Furthermore, we must stop using “gaining a scholarship” as our sole metric of success; that is an obsolete mindset from poorer economic times. Gaining admission to an elite university is the true badge of honor; top universities, especially in the US, automatically provide financial aid if a student cannot afford the tuition. In 25 years, Vietnam will be a wealthy country; we must move past the mindset of needing to beg for financial aid to study.
8. OKRs for physical campus and athletics
- Campus Expansion: Relocate or expand to a world-class campus spanning at least 50 hectares, featuring international-grade maintenance, full-sized football and basketball facilities, a 9-hole golf course, an Olympic-standard swimming pool, tennis courts, a multi-purpose arts complex, and an extensive club ecosystem.
- Athletic Performance: Secure at least 10 national sports championships annually, with school teams consistently ranking in the Top 5 nationwide.
- Collegiate Athletic Scholarships: Place at least 20 students annually into US university sports programs via athletic scholarships, with at least 5 entering NCAA Division 1.
- National Contribution: Establish Ams as one of the largest talent pipelines for student-athletes representing Vietnam at the SEA Games, ASIAD, and the Olympics (contributing roughly 10% of the national roster).
The Rationale: Historically, Ams students have not been strong in sports, traditionally prioritizing rote academics over athletic development. The school must focus heavily on physical development and elite sports. While the current campus is considered large for a public school in Vietnam, it remains far too small compared to elite high schools globally.
9. OKRs for academic and research investment
- Advanced Laboratories: Build state-of-the-art laboratories for Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and AI that match the standards of Top 100 US universities.
- Innovation Ecosystem: Launch dedicated AI Labs, Innovation Hubs, and Entrepreneur Hubs, alongside applied research programs that teach students how to collaborate early with corporations and top-tier global universities.
- Academic Awards: Secure at least 5 international and 20 genuine national academic awards annually.
- Peer-Reviewed Publication: Produce at least 10 co-authored research papers annually published in internationally recognized, peer-reviewed journals, featuring genuine student contributions rather than honorary bylines.
Given the massive equity in the Hanoi-Amsterdam brand, I am completely convinced that these OKRs are entirely achievable. All that is missing is the right institutional mechanism and framework.
The most valuable asset an educational institution possesses is its brand. Ams already has an incredibly powerful brand. Utilizing this asset to turn this vision into reality ultimately rests in the hands of leaders who possess both the vision to see it and the capability to execute it.
I wish Hanoi City and Hanoi-Amsterdam High School the courage to chase much grander ambitions. As an alumnus (Amser), this is my dream for the school. It is also the exact blueprint we follow as we build our own educational systems at EQuest.
