Ho Chi Minh City School Shuts on First Day Back, Leaving 477 Families Without Answers

On the morning of August 24, families arriving at PennSchool's Ba Thang Hai campus in central Ho Chi Minh City found the gates shut. The school had given no advance notice that the opening day of the 2026-27 academic year would not proceed. Parents who had already paid full-year tuition stood outside with their children and received no immediate explanation from school staff. According to Tuoi Tre News, 477 students were affected at the Ba Thang Hai campus alone.

The school later attributed the shutdown to a lease dispute. The Ba Thang Hai premises are managed by the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Academy of Public Administration and Governance, which had been scheduled to reclaim the building from July 1, 2026. PennSchool had signed a contract liquidation agreement committing it to vacate by June 30 but failed to do so. The academy subsequently told reporters that its contractual relationship with the school had already expired by the time the new term was due to begin.

Emergency response

The local ward government convened an emergency meeting the following day and referred the matter to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training. The department confirmed it had opened a case and that its priority was ensuring continuity of education for the displaced students, according to Vietnam News. From August 26 to 28, the school directed families to a temporary alternative campus at 240 Tran Binh Trong Street in Cho Quan Ward while it worked to resolve the premises dispute. As of the end of last week, no formal penalty proceedings against the school had been announced.

The episode adds to a pattern of stress in Ho Chi Minh City's private-school market. Schools operating out of leased premises in central districts face periodic renegotiations with landowners, a structural vulnerability that sharpens when disputes run through the academic calendar without resolution. In this case, the school collected fees for an academic year it was not, in practice, able to start.

What it means for the sector

PennSchool offers English-language instruction and markets itself under an international-school banner, though it is not a British-curriculum operator and its primary intake is local Vietnamese families. The distinction matters less to Ho Chi Minh City regulators than the manner of the closure. Vietnam's education authorities have in recent years tightened oversight of privately run schools using international branding, and a shutdown of this kind, with fees collected, premises lost, and parents given no prior warning, tends to prompt renewed scrutiny of financial reserves and property arrangements across the sector.

The city's international-school market, which includes a cluster of licensed British-curriculum operators at the upper end of the fee range, is watching the regulatory fallout closely. For established schools with owned or long-term secured premises, episodes like the Ba Thang Hai closure reinforce the case for proper infrastructure. For newer entrants and growth-stage operators in leased commercial spaces, they serve as a reminder of how quickly a landlord dispute can end a school year before it has properly begun.