KinderWorld Vietnam - A journey towards success

KinderWorld has grown into a leading education group in Vietnam. Could you share about the group’s major activities and development milestones?

Ricky Tan

KinderWorld has been in Vietnam since the commencement of our first KinderWorld International Kindergarten in Ho Chi Minh City in 2000 and currently provides education services for students from 18 months to 18 years of age through three main brands –KinderWorld International Kindergarten, Singapore International School, and Singapore Vietnam International School.

We offer three different programmes – International Programme, Integrated Programme, and Premium Vietnamese Education Programme – each providing different certifications, which gives us a competitive edge as we cater to the different needs of students.

In April 2018, our subsidiary, KinderWorld Vietnam JSC was awarded the Bronze Award for Excellence in Provision of Literacy and Education Award (for companies with a market capitalisation of less than $1 billion) at the Global CSR Summit & Awards, by Pinnacle Group International.

The Global CSR Awards is an awards programme for corporate social responsibility which recognises and honours companies for outstanding, innovative, and world-class products, services, projects, and programmes implemented.

In November 2018, our company won the Singapore Winner of the SME Excellence Growth Award, which was presented to us at the ASEAN Business Awards 2018 Gala Dinner. Our company also emerged as the overall ASEAN Winner of SME Excellence Growth.

Congratulations on this significant milestone of your company. Can you tell us more about this achievement and why you think you were chosen for this award?

The ASEAN Business Awards recognise outstanding ASEAN businesses that have shown significant progress in establishing and reinforcing their positions in various sectors and give recognition to the most successful ASEAN companies contributing to the ASEAN’s economic growth and prosperity.

KinderWorld is the largest owner-operator of foreign-invested international schools in Vietnam with a market share amongst multi-level operators of 22.4-28.6 per cent based on market value.

Since the incorporation of our subsidiary, KinderWorld Vietnam JSC, in 2001, we have expanded our footprint in the country and now operate 15 schools across Vietnam in eight cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang.

We believe that our strengths include our strong and experienced management team, robust business model, supported by a diverse, well-known and high-quality curriculum, as well as our good relationships with various academic partners, government authorities, and real estate developers.

We are honoured that our company’s efforts and success in growing and expanding the brand’s footprint has been recognised at the ASEAN Business Awards.

Ricky Tan receiving the ASEAN Business Award 2018 from President of Singapore Halimah Yacob

Many investors have been implementing the “through-train” education system, reaching international standards in Vietnam. What measures has KinderWorld applied to maintain its leading position in Vietnam?

Besides our “through-train” model and recognised international curriculum at a competitive price which sets us apart from other schools, we also provide schools that are accredited by one of the six accrediting agencies in the US for the accreditation of public and private universities, schools, and colleges in the US as well as other jurisdictions, including certain locations in Asia.

We also offer a curriculum based on internationally-recognised benchmarks such as Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge AS/A Level, and a university preparation programme that helps students to develop their skills to obtain admission to colleges and universities conducted in English.

We provide various pathways to attain university qualifications through our International Programme, Integrated Programme, and Premium Vietnamese Education Programme that cater to a broad base of international and local students.

Overseas study tours, experiential outdoor learning courses, and elements of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) are incorporated into the curriculum to provide students with a holistic education.

We are proud of the proven track record of our students being ranked by Cambridge International as the top in Vietnam in various subjects at both the IGCSE and the Cambridge AS/A Levels, as well as student admissions to well-known overseas universities in the US, the UK, and Australia.

What are your growth plans in 2019 and going forward?

We hope to further entrench ourselves in Vietnam as well as expand into new geographical markets such as China, Australia, and other parts of the ASEAN.

A franchise model is also being developed, which will focus on the preschool initially, before implementation at other levels.

We also intend to constantly review our curriculum and to create new education pathways to target a wider group of prospective students.

On the operation side, we will invest resources to harness technology to improve work processes, enhance productivity, and promote organisational efficiency.