HCM City will pilot an integrated international education programme before wider application at the city level, said one official.

Le Hong Son, Director of the municipal Department of Education and Training, said, “We’ve held discussions with the British Department of Education concerning the creation of an integrated education programme. These talks have been ongoing since December 2011. It’s time for us to start piloting the programme after a three-year preparation period.”

Le Hong Son, Director of the municipal Department of Education and Training

According to Son, the new programme has been designed to be in line with Vietnamese culture while still ensuring international standards.

“We’ll allow primary and secondary schools in the city to register for the integrated programme, along with carefully preparing the content, documents and teaching staff for the pilot project,” he noted.

Concerning the teaching staff, he said that they planned to intensify teacher training to make sure that by 2020 half of the city's teaching staff takeing part in the programme would be Vietnamese. At present, they will employ native speaking teachers to carry out the programme.

The British Department of Education would provide support for diplomas, certifications and other document issues. Tuition fees are estimated to be the same as the Cambridge programme, and are expected to be reduced once more Vietnamese teachers are hired.

Regarding the cooperation halt between CIE Cambridge and EMG Education, he said that all students who have pursued the CIE Cambridge programme in HCM City would be able to continue their studies and would receive their certificates until 2018. Those who want to switch to the integrated programme would also receive support.

“We’ve requested CIE to provide an integrated programme in HCM City but they refused, insisting on maintaining their copyrighted curriculum, which we consider too strict and conducive to Vietnamese students,” he added.