People exempted from foreign language proficiency requirements for teaching in foreign languages

The Lao Dong Newspaper Legal Consulting Office replied:

Point c, Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree 222/2025/ND-CP (effective from September 25, 2025) stipulates the teaching and learning of foreign languages in educational institutions, stipulating that people who are fully trained in university, master's, or doctoral programs abroad with foreign languages being the language of training and have a graduation certificate recognized as prescribed or have a bachelor's degree in foreign languages or foreign language pedagogical practice in Vietnam are exempted from the requirements for foreign language proficiency as prescribed in Point b, Clause 1 of this Article.

Point b, Clause 1, Article 5 of Decree 222/2025/ND-CP stipulates foreign language proficiency as follows:

Primary and secondary school teachers must have a minimum foreign language proficiency of level 4 according to the 6-level Foreign Language proficiency framework for Vietnam or equivalent; high school teachers must have a minimum foreign language proficiency of level 5 according to the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency framework for Vietnam or equivalent;

Teachers at continuing education institutions who teach subjects and learning content in the continuing education program at the secondary school level must have a minimum foreign language proficiency of level 4 according to the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam or equivalent;

Teachers at continuing education institutions who teach some subjects, educational activities or some contents of some subjects, educational activities of the general education program must have a minimum foreign language proficiency of level 5 according to the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam or equivalent;

Teachers at continuing education institutions who teach learning content in vocational education and higher education programs must have a minimum foreign language proficiency of level 5 according to the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam or equivalent;

Teachers at continuing education institutions who teach learning content from other continuing education programs must have a minimum foreign language proficiency of level 4 according to the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam or equivalent;

Teachers of vocational education qualifications must have a minimum foreign language proficiency of level 5 according to the 6-level Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam or equivalent;

Lecturers teaching at university level must have foreign language proficiency to meet the teaching requirements of the training program, at least level 5 according to the 6-level Foreign Language Competency framework for Vietnam or equivalent;

Thus, from September 25, 2025, people exempted from foreign language proficiency requirements for teaching in foreign languages are regulated as above.