Education Services in Vietnam

Vietnam has a state run public educational system for all levels from kindergarten to university. As of the year 2008, the level of literacy in the Vietnamese language stood at over 90 percent. The school year in Vietnam lasts from the months of August until June. Children in Vietnam who are aged between 18 months and 5 years old are allowed to go to kindergarten, where they will even begin to learn the alphabet and basic arithmetic. From the age of 6, primary school is a requirement for all Vietnamese children. However, the state run public educational system in Vietnam does not pay the entire cost of primary school tuition. Instead, parents are expected to come up with the other half of the tuition. Junior high school, which includes grades 6, 7, 8, and 9, is not a requirement at this time. In high school all students in Vietnam are required to take courses in subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, History, Civics, Information Technology, and a foreign language, usually English. If their exam scores are high enough, they may continue on to higher education, for example at one of Vietnam's Universities. There are both public and private universities in Vietnam.