Vietnamese Teachers’ Day (20 November): A Guide for Expat Parents

Vietnamese Teachers’ Day falls on 20 November every year, and for parents it usually means three things: flowers, a card or drawing made by your child, and a share of one class gift organized in the parents’ Zalo group. What it should not mean, for a foreign parent, is a cash envelope of your own. Your school’s gift policy decides what is welcome, so read it before you buy anything. Below: what the day is, who to thank, one line for the card, and a plan for the week before Friday 20 November 2026.

If you read our guide to Vietnamese Women’s Day on 20 October, you will recognize the pattern. That guide suggests keeping 20/10 small for teachers, because 20/11 is the bigger date for thanking them.

What Vietnamese Teachers’ Day Is, and Why It Matters

The date is official. On 28 September 1982, the Council of Ministers (today’s Government) issued Decision 167-HĐBT, whose first article makes 20 November “Ngày Nhà giáo Việt Nam”, the day of Vietnam’s teachers, every year. The full text of the decision on the Government’s portal gives one reason as carrying on the people’s tradition of always respecting and cherishing their teachers. The roots are older: Wikipedia’s list of Teachers’ Days around the world traces 20 November to a 1957 meeting of educators in Warsaw, first marked in North Vietnam in 1958.

Behind the decree sits an older idea, tôn sư trọng đạo: respect the teacher and value what they teach. On 20/11 that respect is shown in person, by the child.

It is not a day off. Wikipedia’s list of public holidays in Vietnam places 20 November among the observances that “do not involve days off but are widely observed,” though the same table labels it a school holiday. In practice schools differ, so check your school calendar rather than assuming.

What Vietnamese Parents Usually Do

Wikipedia’s list puts it simply: on this day, “students often come to give flowers and gifts to teachers.” At a Vietnamese or bilingual school in Saigon, the gestures come in three layers:

• Flowers. A small bouquet or a single stem, carried in by the child that morning. Ask a florist for hoa 20/11 (20/11 flowers) and they will know what you mean.
• Something the child made. A card, a drawing or a short letter. It costs nothing, and it is the one gift that is clearly from the child.
• A class gift. The class parents’ committee (ban đại diện cha mẹ học sinh) or a volunteer parent proposes one joint gift in the class Zalo group and collects contributions, and the gift goes from the whole class.

The joint gift is an expat parent’s friend: it takes the guesswork out of value. New to the app the whole class runs on? Our guide to Vietnamese spa etiquette, which also explains why everything here runs through Zalo, is a gentle start.

The Cash Envelope Question

You may hear that some families hand a teacher an envelope (phong bì) on 20/11. Whatever the custom at a given school, a foreign parent should not improvise one. Cash from one family to the teacher who grades your child is the gift most easily read as an inducement, however kindly it is meant. Whether it is welcome, tolerated or banned is set by your school’s written policy, not by custom or by another parent in the group chat.

The same goes for anything that works like cash. Our own gift card terms tell holders to “treat it like cash”, so if your school rules out cash gifts, assume a gift card counts too, ours included. A teacher who declines a gift is following the rules, not being cold.

School Gift Policies: Read Yours First

Some schools ask for no individual gifts, some allow class gifts only, some set a value cap, and some ask for a card and nothing else. No general article can tell you yours, so look in three places: the parent handbook or school website, often under a code of conduct; any newsletter or email sent before the day; and the class rep or homeroom teacher, who will answer if you ask.

If the policy sets a cap, it applies to the class gift too, so mention it in the group before the collection closes. Changed schools this year? Do not carry last year’s habits across.

Who to Thank, and How: A Quick Table

The day covers everyone who teaches your child, not only the homeroom teacher.

Teachers Beyond the Classroom

School policies cover school staff. Many children also have a private tutor, a football or swimming coach, or a piano teacher, and many expats take Vietnamese lessons themselves. Because you pay these teachers directly, the question is proportion rather than policy: a card, flowers or a box of fruit says thank you without looking like a bonus. Keep it modest just before a music grade or a team selection.

One Line for the Card, in Vietnamese

Vietnamese chooses its word for “you” by relationship, and for teachers the words are settled: thầy for a man, cô for a woman, thầy cô for teachers together. The 1982 decision itself speaks of “thầy giáo và cô giáo”. Three lines cover almost every card:

• Chúc mừng ngày Nhà giáo Việt Nam 20/11. “Happy Teachers’ Day, 20/11”; literally, congratulations on the day of Vietnam’s teachers. It needs no pronoun, so it works from anyone to any teacher.
• Con chúc cô 20/11 vui vẻ. “I wish you a happy 20/11,” from a young child to a female teacher; write thầy for a male teacher. Older pupils usually write em instead of con: “Em chúc thầy 20/11 vui vẻ.”
• Kính chúc thầy cô sức khỏe và hạnh phúc. “Respectfully wishing you, our teachers, health and happiness,” a common line from parents. Kính adds the respect.

If your child copies out only the first line, in their own handwriting, that is plenty.

An Experience Gift Is One Option Among Several

For most classroom teachers, the class gift and your child’s card are the whole answer. An experience gift fits where no school rule stands in the way: a tutor, a coach, your own Vietnamese teacher, or a class gift the school allows. A book, tea or a plant work just as well. If you choose an hour of calm, these are Chạm Spa’s options at menu prices:

• Fully clothed and short. Our four herbal head spa treatments run from the 30-minute Basic Herbal Head Spa at 120,000 ₫ to the 75-minute Cham Signature Head Spa at 450,000 ₫, which adds a facial.
• A full switch-off. A relaxation massage with warm oil and light to medium pressure costs 290,000 ₫ for 60 minutes or 430,000 ₫ for 90.
• Their choice of treatment and date. A digital card the recipient spends on any treatment they like, from 300,000 ₫ to 5,000,000 ₫, valid for 12 months, ordered on WhatsApp or Zalo and paid by bank transfer. Remember the cash rule before giving one to a classroom teacher.

The Week Before 20/11: A Planning List

Friday 20 November 2026 is an ordinary working day, and Chạm Spa is open.

1. By Monday 9 November: find your school’s gift policy and check the calendar for the 20th.
2. That week: watch the class Zalo group for a joint gift. Join it, give what others give, and ask before buying anything separately.
3. Weekend of 14–15 November: help your child make the card, and copy out the Vietnamese line together.
4. Monday 16 November: sort out tutors and coaches; if an experience gift is part of the plan, order it now.
5. Wednesday 18 November: order flowers for Thursday evening or Friday morning, before the stalls are at their busiest.
6. Friday 20 November: flowers and card go in with your child in the morning. If a teacher declines a gift, accept that gracefully.
7. Afterwards: thank the parent who organized the class gift. And if November has worn you out too, a 60-minute treatment that evening has to start by 20:00 and a 90-minute one by 19:30, as our page on opening hours and last start times explains.

Small, Shared and by the Rules: The Short Version

Flowers, your child’s card and a fair share of the class gift cover Vietnamese Teachers’ Day at almost any school. Read the policy first, leave cash and cash-like gifts out unless the school says otherwise, and keep personal thank-yous for the tutors and coaches you employ. Next comes Tết, the Lunar New Year, on Saturday 6 February 2027; our guide to what closes and what stays open during Tết covers the planning.

Frequently Asked Questions About Vietnamese Teachers’ Day

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