According to Tien Phong, on the night of March 17, many parents of students at the American International School Vietnam (AISVN) received an email notification from the school stating that the current number of teachers is not enough to ensure safety and teaching for students so all students must take a day off on March 18. About 1,400 students from preschool to grade 12 are affected.
In a meeting with parents on March 17, the school representative informed that 95% of teachers would not teach on Monday (March 18) due to unpaid salaries and insurance. Therefore, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em – Chairwoman of the School Board of AISVN, decided to let students off on March 18.
In September last year, many parents went to AISVN and requested Ms. Ut Em to pay the money according to the investment return contract. These parents said they have children who have studied at the school, were trained in the main program, and exempted from tuition fees throughout their study time. The condition is that parents will lend money to the school. The school will repay the borrowed amount when the student finishes grade 12 and completes the termination procedures for the main training program or completes the procedures for ending the study at the school.
However, many parents said that their children have finished studying at the school for a long time but have not been refunded. These parents then submitted a petition to the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em said that the “tuition debt” mentioned is actually the educational investment amount that the school signed with parents through the Education Investment Contract and will be refunded after 5 to 15 years of students studying at the school. “We have done this very well in the past, which is providing free main training programs for students and refunding the educational investment amount on time,” said Ms. Em.
However, according to Ms. Em, in later years, the school encountered many difficulties, so there were delays in repayment as well as no timely information exchange channel to parents.
According to information on the website, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em is the Chairwoman of the School Board of AISVN. In 2001, Ms. Em founded a college – university of international standard (teaching American curriculum) in Ho Chi Minh City, under the non-profit criteria. This is the first school in Vietnam to be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in 2003.
In August 2006, Ms. Em established the American International School Vietnam (AISVN) with the vision of a comprehensive international school, from preschool to grade 12, without limitation on the number of Vietnamese students, operating under the non-profit criteria.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em – Chairwoman of the School Board of AISVN
The tuition fee of the school from preschool to grade 12 is from 280 million to 725 million per year, making it one of the most expensive high schools in Ho Chi Minh City. The above tuition fee does not include a series of other fees such as application fee, enrollment fee, English development program fee, real-life learning programs, external organization exams, etc.
The application fee for each student ranges from 1.5 million to 2.5 million depending on the grade level. The enrollment fee of the school varies by grade level, ranging from 25 to 45 million dong. Additional English development program fee ranges from 40 to 50 million dong per year.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ut Em is currently the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and the representative of several companies such as AIS My International Education Joint Stock Company, My International Education Investment Joint Stock Company, My International University Investment Joint Stock Company, International Education Corporation Joint Stock Company, My International Corporation Joint Stock Company.
Among them, AIS My International Education Joint Stock Company has the largest charter capital of 1,000 billion. Notably, in October 2018, the company increased its charter capital from 50 billion to 1,000 billion dong and did not disclose new shareholder structure. Previously, Ms. Ut Em owned 90% of the charter capital of AIS My International Education Joint Stock Company.
AIS My International Education Joint Stock Company has issued 3 batches of bonds. Among them, 2 batches of bonds worth 250 billion issued in October 2021 and January 2022 have matured. The remaining batch of bonds worth nearly 318 billion issued in October 2022 will mature in September 2024.
My International Education Investment Joint Stock Company has a charter capital of 745.28 billion dong, My International University Investment Joint Stock Company has a charter capital of 200 billion dong, International Education Corporation Joint Stock Company has a charter capital of 300 billion dong, in which Ms. Em owns 80%, My International Corporation Joint Stock Company has a charter capital of 90 billion dong, in which Ms. Em owns 70%.
