The Government has just issued Decree No. 360/2026/ND-CP stipulating the conditions for investment and operation of preschool education institutions, general education institutions, continuing education institutions and other educational institutions under the national education system, effective from September 17.
The Decree stipulates the conditions for establishing or allowing the establishment of kindergartens, including:
Suitable to the strategy, planning, and socio-economic development requirements of the locality where the school is headquartered.
Having a planned school construction location in accordance with the local plan or being permitted by a competent authority to use residential land, land for building agency headquarters, non-educational and training facilities, non-agricultural production and business land for educational and training purposes, and at the same time, meeting the criteria for location, scale, and area for kindergartens according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
For the inner city area of special-class cities, the construction floor area is calculated equivalent to the land area but not lower than the minimum average land area for one child according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
According to the Decree, to be licensed for educational activities for preschools, the following conditions must be met:
First, have minimal facilities, supplies, toys, learning materials, and teaching equipment that meet the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.
For private and semi-public kindergartens (including kindergartens proposed by foreign diplomatic missions and intergovernmental international organizations), there must be a roadmap to ensure minimum facilities meeting the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training in accordance with the highest expected scale of the school.
Second, have a team of educational institution management officials, teachers, educational support personnel and employees to ensure sufficient quantity, meeting the requirements of the job position to organize activities to nurture, care for, and educate children to meet the requirements of the preschool education program.
Third, having financial resources to ensure the maintenance and development of educational activities including:
For private kindergartens, the investment level is at least 30 million VND/child (excluding land use costs). The total investment capital is calculated at least based on the time with the highest expected scale of the school. The investment capital plan must be consistent with the expected scale of each stage.
In case a private kindergarten does not build new facilities but only leases or uses existing facilities to deploy operations, the investment level must at least reach 70% of the prescribed investment level.
For public and private kindergartens, financial resources are ensured by competent management agencies or local communities at the grassroots level to organize activities to nurture, care for, and educate children to meet the requirements of the preschool education program as prescribed.
