Programming.school is coming to Vietnam
Programming.school is officially launching its expansion to Vietnam. Our core team, led by founder Sergey Shedov, has arrived in the country to establish partnerships and build a deep, research-based understanding of how IT education works here and what students, parents, and employers genuinely need.
This marks the beginning of programming.school's journey in Vietnam — a structured exploration of the country's education landscape and digital economy, with a clear goal: to build strong local partnerships and design long-term, practical programs that fit local learners and support Vietnam's growing tech sector.
Why Vietnam? Programming.school's vision for Southeast Asia's fastest-growing IT market
Vietnam is one of the most dynamic economies in Southeast Asia, and programming.school founder Sergey Shedov believes it's entering a pivotal moment for IT education and tech talent development.
Sergey Shedov,
Founder of programming.school
"Vietnam has all the ingredients for becoming a major tech hub: young population, strong economic growth, and increasing demand for IT professionals. But what struck us most is the gap between the rapid growth of the tech sector and the availability of quality, long-term education programs. This is exactly where programming.school can make a meaningful impact."
A massive and growing market
- Population: ~97.5 million people — one of the largest populations in Southeast Asia, with a young, tech-savvy demographic. The median age is 32 years, meaning the country is filled with people hungry for opportunity, education, and career growth.
- Strong investment in education — Vietnamese families are willing to spend approximately 25% of household income on education. This cultural emphasis on learning creates enormous demand for quality educational programs, especially in high-growth fields like IT.
The most stable GDP growth in Southeast Asia
While other countries in the region experienced volatile economic performance, Vietnam has maintained remarkably consistent GDP growth. Even during the pandemic years of 2020-2021, Vietnam's economy demonstrated resilience and recovered quickly, posting strong growth of 7.4% in 2022.
This economic stability creates a solid foundation for long-term business development and makes Vietnam an attractive market for educational institutions planning to invest for the future.
Explosive growth in IT employment
The number of people employed in the IT field has grown by 40% over the past five years. According to forecasts from the Vietnam IT market report by TopDev agency (Q3 2022), by 2030 this number will grow another 1.5 times.
The digital technology sector is expanding rapidly:
- In 2018: ~700K digital technology companies and employees
- By 2030: projected to reach 1.5M+ companies and significantly more employees
This explosive growth means the demand for qualified IT professionals will only intensify in the coming years.
The shift from outsourcing to product development
Vietnam has rapidly established itself as a competitive outsourcing destination for international companies, consistently ranked among the top IT outsourcing locations in Southeast Asia. Major tech companies — Samsung, Apple suppliers, and others — are investing heavily in Vietnam, moving beyond simple assembly work toward high-value R&D and complex manufacturing. But what makes this moment particularly interesting is the visible trend: Vietnam is transitioning from being purely an outsourcing destination to building its own tech products and companies. Startups are multiplying, venture capital is flowing in, and local companies are beginning to compete on a global stage. This shift from services to products means the demand for highly skilled, well-educated software engineers and IT professionals will grow exponentially. Vietnam needs not just developers who can execute tasks, but engineers who can design systems, solve complex problems, and build innovative products. This is where education becomes critical — and this is where programming.school sees its role in Vietnam's tech ecosystem.
Programming.school in Vietnam: Building partnerships and conducting market research
During this initial launch phase, programming.school is focused on two key activities:
1. Establishing strategic partnerships for programming.school Vietnam
Programming.school is meeting with potential partners across Vietnam's education and tech ecosystem:
- Educational institutions — universities, colleges, and schools interested in strengthening their IT curriculum or offering additional programming courses to their students.
- Technology companies — local and international tech companies operating in Vietnam who need qualified talent and may be interested in corporate training partnerships.
- Industry organizations — professional associations, chambers of commerce, and industry bodies that can help us understand the employment landscape and skills requirements.
- Investment and business networks — connections with investors, accelerators, and business communities that can support programming.school's growth in Vietnam.
These partnerships will be crucial for understanding local needs, building credibility, and creating programs that genuinely serve the Vietnamese market. For programming.school, the launch phase in Vietnam is about laying a foundation for long-term success.
2. Qualitative market research to shape programming.school offerings
Alongside partnership development, programming.school is conducting conversations with potential clients to understand what they need:
- University and college students — young adults who are either studying computer science or want to transition into IT careers.
- School students and their parents — families interested in coding education for children and teenagers.
- Young professionals — people already working in tech or adjacent fields who want to upskill or change careers.
- Educators — teachers and university professors who understand the local learning culture and can provide insights into how Vietnamese students learn best.
- Employers — tech companies, startups, and enterprises hiring developers in Vietnam, who can tell programming.school what skills they're looking for.
These conversations are helping programming.school map the landscape: what exists, what's working, what's not, and where the biggest opportunities are for entering the Vietnamese market.
What we're learning so far
Early conversations have already revealed several important insights:
- Strong appetite for tech careers — there's enormous interest in programming and IT, both from students and from professionals looking to transition into the sector.
- Emphasis on practical, project-based learning — students and employers both value hands-on experience. Abstract theory alone doesn't resonate; people want to build things, solve problems, and create portfolios.
- Need for quality over quantity — Vietnam has many coding schools and bootcamps, but not all deliver the depth and rigor that students need to succeed in competitive job markets.
What comes next
The partnerships we build and the insights we gather during this phase will guide every decision we make: which cities to focus on, which age groups to prioritize, which formats to use (in-person, online, or hybrid), which programming languages and technologies to teach, and how to structure our curriculum to fit both local culture and global industry standards.
We're not rushing. We're taking the time to build strong relationships and understand the market deeply before we launch our programs.
Once we've established our key partnerships and completed our market research, we'll be ready to launch programming.school in Vietnam with offerings that are tailored to local needs, grounded in real feedback from partners and clients, and built to support the country's growing tech talent.
Building for the long term
Programming.school is not a short-term project. We're committed to becoming part of Vietnam's education ecosystem for years to come.
By starting with partnership development and field research rather than importing a ready-made product, we're laying a solid foundation for sustainable growth and meaningful impact. We want to support Vietnam's development as a tech hub — not by offering quick fixes, but by building strong local relationships and investing in quality education that prepares the next generation of engineers, developers, and innovators.
We'll be sharing more updates soon as our partnerships develop and we move closer to launching our first programs in Vietnam.
If you're an educational institution, technology company, industry organization, or potential partner interested in collaborating with programming.school in Vietnam, we'd love to hear from you. If you're a student, parent, or employer with perspectives on IT education in Vietnam, your insights will help shape what we build here.
Welcome to the beginning of programming.school in Vietnam.
