Prestigious international schools have been lining up to enter Vietnam, and it would be easy to think the market is booming. But the competitor many of these international schools are noticing is not another fee-charging school down the road. What they have paid private and bilingual schools to deliver is a specific bundle: stronger English, more modern teaching, better facilities, an environment a step above the local public school. There is also a quieter perception at work, that the public system is the more academically demanding of the two. Vietnam’s economy is growing fast, the state has committed real money and political weight, and the public system is the clear beneficiary.