From 19 December 2026, a general education school seeking Level 1 or 2 must have at least one principal or vice principal able to work directly with foreigners in English; Level 3 requires two.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular 94/2026/TT-BGDĐT on 3 November 2026, setting standards, criteria and assessment arrangements for its “Making English a Second Language in Schools” project. The circular takes effect on 19 December 2026. The government approved the project in October 2025 to improve language instruction and build an English-speaking environment that prepares students for international integration.
The leadership criteria determine which achievement level a school can reach; they do not require every leader to qualify immediately. Each level requires all of its criteria to be met, and each higher level builds on the one below it. An institution that falls short of Level 1 is not assigned a level.
The framework has separate criteria for preschool, general, continuing, vocational and higher education institutions. For general education schools, VnExpress said the assessment covers the English-speaking environment, teaching plans, learning resources, the application of superintelligence (SI) and digital transformation, staff and student proficiency, and international cooperation in English-language education.
Institution heads will establish self-assessment councils. The institutions will compare verifiable evidence with the criteria, and their heads will decide and take responsibility for recognizing the level achieved. They can recognize a higher level as soon as they meet its requirements; results must be entered in the education management information system and disclosed publicly under the rules.
The results cannot be used to rank or classify institutions or directly determine their emulation ratings. For educators, the results cannot directly determine evaluation, classification, appointment, recruitment or benefits and policies, unless the law provides otherwise. Institutions must fund educators’ foreign-language training when it is an institutional requirement under the law and falls within their funding responsibility.
The government’s October 2025 account said English was compulsory from Grade 3, while eligible schools could offer it as an elective in Grades 1 and 2. Its plan calls for compulsory English from Grade 1 nationwide by 2030.
The roadmap also set targets for the share of schools expected to reach each level by that year:
| Level | Target share |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | At least 20% |
| Level 2 | 5% |
| Level 3 | 2% |
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