Nghị quyết 35/2009/QH12

RESOLUTION

ON GUIDELINES AND ORIENTATIONS FOR RENEWING SOME FINANCIAL MECHANISMS IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING FROM THE 2010-2011 SCHOOL YEAR TO THE 2014-2015 SCHOOL YEAR

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

Pursuant to the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 51/2001/QHW;
Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the National Assembly and the Law on Education;
After considering the Government's Submission Report No. 89/TTr-CP of May 20, 2009, on the Scheme on renewing the financial mechanism in education in the 2009-2014 period; the National Assembly's Culture, Education, Youth, Teenagers and Children Committee's Verification Rreport No. 717/BC-VHGDTTN of May 28, 2009, and opinions of National Assembly deputies; and the National Assembly Standing Committee's Explanation Report No. 252/BC- UBTVQH12 of June 18, 2009;

RESOLVES:

Article 1. Objectives of the financial mechanism renewal

To develop some new financial mechanisms for education and training, aiming to increasingly mobilize and effectively use resources of the State and society for raising the quality and expanding the scale of and ensuing equality in education and training, meeting the requirements of national industrialization and modernization; to contribute to building a system of policies to achieve the goal of an education of increasing quality for all.

Article 2. Guidelines and orientations for renewing some financial mechanisms

1. The State assures its role as major investor in education and training, concurrently mobilizes contributions from learners* families depending on their actual conditions; encourages contributions from enterprises, organizations and individuals: facilitates the establishment and development of non-public education and training institutions and supports these institutions to train their lecturers and administrators for raising their qualifications.

2. The Government shall clearly define the tasks, powers and responsibilities of central and local state management agencies in the making, assignment and implementation of education and training budget plans. The State continues increasing investment and restructures budgetary expenditures for education and training objectives. To prioritize allocation of budgetary funds for universalizing free primary education; universalizing lower secondary education and preschool education for 5-year children, which is not provided free in the immediate future, and education in difficulty-hit and ethnic minority areas: developing vocational training and talent fostering. The state budget will be invested in public education and training institutions to reach quality standards in different development stages and in establishing a number of high-quality education and training institutions to meet the human resource development requirement in the new period of the country.

3. To perfect legal bases and policies to increase the autonomy and responsibility of public vocational training institutions and universities for their performance, organizational structures, payroll and finance. Education and training institutions shall ensure the direct proportion between education and training quality and investment; publicize their objectives, training capacity and financial capability; and submit financial reports to their immediately superior agencies according to state regulations.

4. Education and finance state management agencies and concerned agencies shall inspect, examine and audit the use of funds at education and training institutions, ensuring publicity, transparency, proper purposes and compliance with law. Pupil parents, officials and teachers of preschool and general education institutions, trainees and students, officials and teachers of vocational training institutions and universities have the right and responsibility to supervise the use of funds at their education and training institutions according to their internal spending rules.

5. To implement the policy of prioritizing salaries and allowances for teachers; to continue with the policy of encouraging teachers to work in difficulty-hit and ethnic minority areas and integration education; to provide seniority allowances for teachers and education administrators; to reserve the class-taking allowance for three years for teachers assigned to work as education administrators.

6. To renew the policy on school fees, scholarships and learner supports in the following direction:

For public preschool and general education, school fees must suit economic conditions of each area and the actual contribution capability of people and will be exempted at an appropriate time. To continue free primary education. For preschools, secondary schools and continuing education centers, school fees will be exempted for pupils who are children of people with meritorious services to the country, policy beneficiaries and poor households, and will be reduced for children of near-poor households; financial supports will be provided for children of too low-income households that cannot afford their children's schooling. Students who complete upper secondary education with specially outstanding results, students who win first, second and third prizes at national contests or medals at international contests will be granted scholarships for pursuing tertiary education.

For public vocational training and tertiary education, school fees shall be collected on the basis of sharing of training costs between the State and trainees. In the initial years, total school fees of public training institutions will account for maximum 40% of total regular expenditures, which will incrementally increase in subsequent years in line with the school fee policy renewal roadmap. School fees will be exempted and reduced for pupils and students who are children of people with meritorious services to the country and policy beneficiaries, and will be reduced by 50% for students who have completed lower secondary education to attend vocational training; vocational trainees and children of poor households, near-poor households and disadvantaged families will have access to loans from the social policy bank for their training or schooling; policy scholarships will be further granted to students who are children of policy beneficiaries and study promotion scholarships will be provided to outstanding pupils and students. University graduates with specially excellent exam results will be granted scholarships for continuing their education at home and abroad.

The State will grant school fee subsidies for preschool, general education, vocational training and tertiary education institutions admitting pupils and students entitled to school fee reduction and exemption. To grant school fee subsidies (at the levels applied by local public schools) for children of people with meritorious services to the country and policy beneficiaries to learn at non-public preschools and general education schools.

Education and training institutions will be allowed to implement high-quality programs and collect corresponding school fees to cover training costs.

To accredit the quality of vocational training institutions and universities as well as training programs, and apply the mechanism of associating school fees with training quality.

7. Implementation roadmap:

For common programs at public preschool and general education institutions, given insufficient state resources for school fee exemption, school fee levels will be set to suit each area in each province or centrally run city, average incomes and actual contribution capability of families, which will incrementally 4 increase according to a reasonable roadmap to reach the ceiling level by the 2014-2015 school year.

For common programs at public vocational training institutions and universities, school fees shall be determined according to groups of disciplines and training levels and associated with training quality, which will be incrementally increased according to given roadmaps, the cost-sharing principle and actual contribution capability of learners.

The new school fee policy will be implemented from the 2010-2011 school year. Particularly for the 2009-2010 school year, when the economy still faces numerous difficulties and is in decline, ceiling school fee levels at public vocational training institutions and universities (except students who have completed lower secondary education and attend vocational intermediate training) shall be increased at a transitional low level before implementing the school fee adjustment roadmap from the 2010-2011 school year to the 2014-2015 school year.

Financial mechanisms not related to school fee will be applied from the 2010 fiscal year.

Article 3.

1. The Government shall specifically decide and direct the implementation of the guidelines and orientations for renewing some financial mechanisms in education and training under Articles 1 and 2 of this Resolution. To direct thorough and comprehensive research to early work out a school fee frame for common programs in groups of disciplines at public vocational training institutions: to guide school fee levels for common programs of non-public training and education institutions which will reasonably correspond to those applied by public-ones and concurrently direct local administrations at all levels to adopt measures to control school fees and education quality at non-public institutions.

2. People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities shall, on the basis of the Government's guidance, organize the formulation of school fee levels for public-preschool and general education institutions in their provinces or cities and submit them to their People's Councils for decision.

3. The National Assembly Standing Committee, the Culture. Education, Youth, Teenagers and Children Committee, the Ethnic-Minorities Council, other committees of the National Assembly. National Assembly deputies' delegations. National Assembly deputies. People's Councils and deputies of People's Councils at all levels, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations shall, within the ambit of their responsibilities, oversee the implementation of this Resolution.

This Resolution was passed on June 19, 2009, by the XII1'1 National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its fifth session.