The Department of Education and Training of Da Nang City said it is verifying parents' complaints related to Thien Lap Nhan English Center (headquartered at 177 Hai Phong, Thanh Khe District).

Convinced that the child is studying in an "American school"

Parent T. said that her child is an Australian citizen and returned to Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2021-2023, she sent her child to study at 177 Hai Phong (Thanh Khe district). Although there is only a small sign outside this address that says Thien Lap Nhan English Center, through the introduction, Ms. T. believed that this was an "American school".

Ms. T. said she was introduced to the Prinberk Academy curriculum of Prinberk School in the US, with the form of "on-site study abroad". The tuition fee is nearly 100 million VND/year, and the child studies at the center from Monday to Friday, two sessions a day, morning and afternoon.

The family wanted to send their child to this “study abroad” program because Prinberk Academy had transcripts and certificates so that they could return to Australia to continue their studies. In 2023, Ms. T. wanted to transfer her child to another school and needed to submit her transcript to the new school. However, after a year of dropping out of school, the family still has not received it.

In August 2024, Ms. T's family sent a petition to the Department of Education and Training of Da Nang City to report their suspicions related to Thien Lap Nhan Center and requested clarification of the center's functions.

In September 2024, the inspectorate worked with Mr. Truong Van Thien Tu, the center's director, and concluded that the center was only allowed to organize the teaching of English programs for children. Mr. Tu affirmed that he had no connection with "Prinberk Academy".

The family was now panicking and did not know where to turn. The person who was introduced as responsible for providing Prinberk's student evaluation reports said he was only an employee of Thien Lap Nhan English Center.

“I know my biggest mistake was not doing enough research before letting my child study, everything was based on recommendations. Without a transcript, my child’s two years of study would have been in vain,” said Ms. T.

Just a reference program?

Many parents were also surprised to hear that Thien Lap Nhan Center was not related to Prinberk Academy. One parent said that he was introduced to this “American school” and that after finishing the course, his child would receive a certificate to continue his university studies in the US. Based on this promise, he decided to transfer his child to study at the 177 Hai Phong campus.

After studying here for two years, he was transferred to 565 Nguyen Tat Thanh to continue studying in the senior class, the tuition fee is currently 8 million VND/month.

The information that the director of Thien Lap Nhan Center confirmed that there was no facility at 565 Nguyen Tat Thanh made this person even more shocked because in recent years, his family had been informed by teachers to pay tuition directly at this facility or the office at 177 Hai Phong.

The parent also presented a tuition receipt from Prinberk Academy stating the address at 177 Hai Phong, signed by a staff member of Thien Lap Nhan Center. The exchanges about the learning content of Prinberk Academy from teachers of Thien Lap Nhan Center were all related to the above two addresses. Along with that, his child's previous years' transcripts from Prinberk Academy were given by Thien Lap Nhan Center.

“Now I don’t know if my child will get a transcript if he drops out of school. I don’t know if my child can go back to public school,” this parent worried.

According to Mr. Tran Nguyen Minh Thanh - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Da Nang, last October the department inspected two facilities of Thien Lap Nhan Center at 177 Hai Phong and 617 Nguyen Tat Thanh.

The inspection results showed that the center used internal documents for teaching, the documents used were compiled according to reference documents and English learning guide links. Through the inspection, it was discovered that some teachers at the center did not meet the prescribed standards, and requested to correct and handle administrative violations. Mr. Thanh said that the department is currently continuing to receive petitions from parents and is verifying further.

Reporters contacted Mr. Truong Van Thien Tu many times but he refused to answer. On November 22, Mr. Tu authorized an employee to send a statement.

The center representative confirmed that in addition to learning English, students are also introduced to a number of online reference programs such as Duolingo, Khan Academy, Prinberk Academy, Acellus Academy, K12, IXL Learning.

Parents are encouraged to refer to and register their children to study these programs at home. If they have any problems or do not understand the lessons while studying at home, they can talk to the center's teachers the next day for help.