HÀ NỘI – The International Educational Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), on Tuesday asked Newton Grammar School in Bắc Từ Liêm District to end its relationship with George Washington International School (GWIS) in the US. 

The request was made after GWIS was confirmed to be an unregistered school. A report issued by MoET said GWIS did not perform any educational activities in the US or have any national or regional accreditation. 

Earlier, on April 13, MoET issued a dispatch asking Hà Nội Department of Education and Training to investigate the case. 

Newton Grammar School has been told to end its co-operation with GWIS and work to guarantee the benefits of students partaking in courses linked with GWIS and related agencies. 

The investigation is also looking into the bilingual (Vietnamese – English) curriculum which follows the American high school education. It also touches upon the teaching activities at Newton Grammar School.

Finally, the responsibilities of stakeholders working with foreign institutes are being probed.

The ties between Newton Grammar School and GWIS came under scrutiny after American documents calling Newton’s claims into question were posted online. Students enrolling in the programme supposedly study Mathematics, Science and English language using the American curriculum supplied and taught by GWIS. Students will receive credits from both Newton Grammar School and GWIS. After collecting 24 credits, a student will obtain an American high school diploma.  

Although the set-up sounds attractive, the information GWIS founder Philip Nguyen provided to substantiate claims about the school’s operations in the United States are paltry, prompting an outcry from parents.

Karen Tang, Assistant Culture Affairs Officer of US Embassy in Hà Nội, said that GWIS had not appeared on any official registration of schools that they were able to find. 

According to Tuổi trẻ (Youth) newspaper, GWIS cooperates with other high schools in HCM City and registers as an English language centre in many other localities including Hải Phòng City, Hà Tĩnh Province, Bình Định Province and Đắk Lắk Province.– VNS