When looking Western is enough to teach English

After following the case of a Russian teacher who slapped and grabbed two second-grade students by the neck during an English lesson at a primary school in Can Tho in September, I have a few concerns of my own. This was a serious breach of professional ethics, but the problem goes much further than one teacher's misconduct. It should be a wake-up call for everyone involved in the English language programs run by outside providers in Vietnamese schools.

Having worked in English language education for ten years, I see this incident as the predictable result of a management loophole that has been left unaddressed for years.

Mistaking a foreign appearance for teaching competence

Schools and language centers have deliberately or inadvertently blurred the distinction between "native English-speaking teachers" and "foreigners who teach English."

Hiring a qualified native English-speaking teacher from a country such as the U.K., the U.S., Australia, Canada or New Zealand, particularly one with an internationally recognized teaching qualification such as CELTA, TESOL or TEFL, can be extremely expensive. To cut costs while still advertising "foreign teachers," many institutions are willing to work with partner language centers that recruit foreigners from non-native English-speaking countries, some of whom have little or no formal teacher training. As long as they look Western, they can walk straight into a classroom.

The recent incident involving the Russian teacher is a case in point. For Russians, English is also a foreign language. They do not necessarily have the linguistic intuition of a native English speaker, nor can we assume that they have received proper training in primary school child psychology or classroom management. When language barriers arise and a teacher lacks the emotional control needed to handle young children, there is a real risk that frustration will turn into physical aggression.

A teacher grabs a student by the neck at a classroom in Can Tho on Sept. 22, 2026. Photo from security camera footage

Accountability gap in outsourced English programs

Consider how many supplementary English programs operate today. A school signs a contract with a language center, which then recruits foreign workers and sends them to teach at the school. Once the teachers are assigned, responsibility for what happens in the classroom becomes blurred.

In this case, when surveillance footage captured the teacher assaulting the children, the Vietnamese teaching assistant in the classroom appeared helpless and was unable to intervene in time. Why?

Under this arrangement, Vietnamese teaching assistants are often reduced to keeping students quiet or acting as interpreters. They have little authority to intervene in teaching matters or challenge inappropriate behavior by a foreign teacher.

Then, when something goes wrong, the school reports the incident to the police and the language center fires the teacher. The crisis is dealt with swiftly enough. But who is going to compensate a seven-year-old child for the physical and psychological scars left behind?

I am certainly not suggesting that all foreign teachers lack teaching skills. Many are genuinely dedicated, care deeply about children and are excellent at their jobs.

The bitter reality, however, is that many Vietnamese teachers, despite having formal qualifications, a sound understanding of child psychology and proper training in teaching methods, find themselves at a disadvantage in their own country simply because they do not look Western.

This incident should serve as a warning to education authorities and parents alike. It is time to take action.

For educational institutions: Stop being so lax about the qualifications of foreign teachers supplied by partner language centers. Checking passports and English language certificates is nowhere near enough. Schools must thoroughly verify teaching qualifications and assess whether candidates are psychologically suited to working with children.

For parents: Be wary of flashy advertisements promising "100% foreign teachers." English is a means of communication, and anyone teaching it to children should be a qualified educator who knows how to teach, behaves professionally and genuinely cares about young learners. Simply being a foreigner who speaks English does not make someone a good teacher.

We cannot allow the misleading label of "foreign teacher" to keep harming our children, whether through poor education or physical abuse.