According to Decree No. 125/2024/ND-CP (effective from November 20, 2024), to establish public, private, and non-public nurseries, kindergartens, and preschools (collectively referred to as preschools), it is necessary to have a project to establish a preschool in accordance with the provincial planning and relevant planning of the locality where the school is located.

The project clearly defines the objectives, tasks, programs and contents of preschool education; land, facilities, equipment, and planned location for school construction; organizational structure; resources and finance; and strategic directions for building and developing preschools.

Procedures for establishing a kindergarten

The Chairman of the People's Committee of a district, city, or town under a province (District-level People's Committee) decides to establish a public kindergarten or permit the establishment of a private kindergarten.

Implementation procedure: People's Committee of commune, ward, town (Commune-level People's Committee) (if requesting to establish a public kindergarten); organization, individual (if requesting permission to establish a non-public or private kindergarten) submit 1 set of prescribed documents via the online public service portal or by post or directly to the District-level People's Committee.

Within 5 working days from the date of receiving the complete dossier, if the dossier is invalid, the District People's Committee shall notify in writing the contents that need to be revised to the agency, organization or individual requesting to establish or permit the establishment of a kindergarten; if the dossier is valid, the District People's Committee shall direct the Department of Education and Training to organize the appraisal of the conditions for establishing or permitting the establishment of a kindergarten.

Within 15 days from the date of receiving the direction of the District People's Committee, the Department of Education and Training shall preside over and coordinate with relevant professional departments to appraise the conditions for establishing or permitting the establishment of a kindergarten in the dossier; prepare an appraisal report to assess the situation of meeting the regulations; submit it to the Chairman of the District People's Committee for consideration and decision.

Within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the appraisal report of the Department of Education and Training, if the conditions are met, the Chairman of the District People's Committee shall decide to establish or permit the establishment of a kindergarten; if the conditions are not met, a written notice shall be sent to the agency, organization or individual requesting the establishment or permitting the establishment of a kindergarten, stating the reasons.

The decision to establish or permit the establishment of a kindergarten is publicly announced in the mass media.

Conditions for preschools to operate educational activities

The Decree also clearly stipulates the conditions for allowing preschools to operate educational activities:

Have land, facilities, equipment, utensils, and toys that meet the standards on location, scale, area, and minimum facilities for kindergartens as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training.

For inner-city areas of special-class urban areas, the school construction land area can be replaced by the construction floor area and must ensure that the construction floor area is not lower than the minimum average land area for a child as prescribed.

Have educational programs, documents, and learning materials that meet the requirements of preschool education programs as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training.

There is a team of managers, teachers, staff and workers that ensures quantity and meets the standards to organize activities to nurture, care for and educate children to meet the requirements of the preschool education program as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Have sufficient financial resources to ensure the maintenance and development of educational activities: For private kindergartens, the minimum investment level is 30 million VND/child (excluding land use costs). The total minimum investment capital is calculated based on the time when the expected scale is highest. The investment capital plan must be consistent with the expected scale of each stage.

In the case of private kindergartens that do not build new facilities but only rent or use existing facilities to carry out childcare and education activities, the investment level must reach at least 70% of the prescribed investment level.

For public and private kindergartens, financial resources are guaranteed by competent management agencies or local communities to meet the requirements of preschool education programs as prescribed.

There are regulations on the organization and operation of the school.