Circular 25/2021/TT-BGDDT guiding the implementation of doctoral and master training for lecturers of higher education institutions according to Decision 89/QD-TTg

CIRCULAR

Providing guidelines for the implementation of doctoral and master training for lecturers of higher education institutions according to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019, approving the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and managers of higher education institutions to meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive renovation of education and training in the 2019 - 2030 period

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Pursuant to the Education Law dated June 14, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Higher Education dated June 18, 2012 and the Law on Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Higher Education dated November 19, 2018;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 69/2017/ND-CP dated May 25, 2017, defining functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of Ministry of Education and Training;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CP dated December 30, 2019, on detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Higher Education;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019, approving the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and managers of higher education institutions to meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive renovation of education and training in the 2019 - 2030 period;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Higher Education;

The Minister of Education and Training hereby promulgates the Circular providing guidelines for the implementation of doctoral and master training for lecturers of higher education institutions according to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019, approving the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and managers of higher education institutions to meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive renovation of education and training in the 2019 - 2030 period.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. This Circular provides guidelines for the organization of implementation of doctoral and master training for lecturers of higher education institutions according to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019, approving the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and managers of higher education institutions to meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive renovation of education and training in the 2019 - 2030 period (hereinafter referred to as the Scheme), including  general provisions; subjects and criteria for selection, rights and responsibilities of learners; requirements and criteria for selecting a training institution, responsibilities and powers of the training institution, sending institution and organization of implementation of the Scheme.

2. This Circular applies to higher education institutions, organizations and individuals related to the achievement of objectives and tasks of doctoral and master training for lecturers of higher education institutions within the scope of the Scheme.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

1. Sending institution means a domestic higher education institution (excluding foreign-invested private higher education institutions) wishing to improve the capacity of lecturers for the doctoral and master's levels within the scope of the Scheme.

2. Training institution means a higher education institution, research institute, domestic and overseas educational organization that is permitted by the competent authorities of the host country to organize training and grant doctoral and master diplomas; meet the provisions of this Circular, selected and announced by the Ministry of Education and Training within the scope of the Scheme.

3. Tenured lecturers mean lecturers of the sending institution that meet the requirements at Point e, Clause 1, Article 10 of the Government's Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CP dated December 30, 2019, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Higher Education;

4. Source lecturers are those who, at the effective date of this Circular, have been admitted or are studying doctoral training programs at domestic or overseas training institutions, are not yet tenured lecturers but have the desire and commitment to be accepted by the sending institution as tenured lecturers after graduating from the doctoral training program through a contract to train source lecturers.

5. Learners who are tenured or source lecturers meeting the provisions of this Circular, are selected by the sending institution and approved by the Ministry of Education and Training to provide financial support from the Scheme during their study in doctoral or master training programs, in which a doctoral learner is a student of a doctoral training program, a master learner is a student of a master training program.

Article 3. Degrees, majors and forms of training

1. Training degrees and majors within the scope of the Scheme include:

a) To provide doctoral training in all majors; in which priority is given to the majors identified as needing training focus on Vietnam's high-skilled human resource development strategy in each period, until 2030 and in the next period;

b) To provide master training in majors of art and physical training and sports.

2. Forms of training include:

a) Full-time domestic training;

b) Full-time training abroad;

c) Joint doctoral training with one part the course is organized domestically and another is organized abroad, of which the maximum duration of overseas training is not more than 2 years.

Article 4. Policies supporting learners

1. Financial support for full-time domestic learners includes:

a) Tuition fees paid to training institutions;

b) Study and research support costs;

c) One-time support cost for doctoral learners attending overseas seminars, conferences or short-term internship abroad for up to 3 months during their study and research period.

2. Financial support for full-time overseas learners includes:

a) Tuition fees paid to training institutions;

b) Study and research support costs;

3. For joint doctoral training, learners are entitled to receive financial support as prescribed at Points a and b, Clause 1 of this Article when studying or researching at home and as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article when studying or researching abroad.

4. Financial support for learners within the time limit under the approval decision of the Ministry of Education and Training specified in Clause 5, Article 12 of this Circular; is calculated from the time the student officially enrolls at the training institution or from the time the decision takes effect for the doctoral learner; but not more than 4 years (48 months) for doctoral learners and not more than 2 years (24 months) for master learners.

5. Funding from the state budget for the implementation of the Scheme specified in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article with expenditure content and specific levels according to the guidance of the Ministry of Finance excludes the cost of training and improving foreign languages (if any) for learners before entering official doctoral and master training programs.

Chapter II

SUBJECTS AND CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE SELECTION, RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF LEARNERS

Article 5. Subjects and criteria for participating in the selection

1. Tenured or source lecturers may participate in the selection to receive the Scheme's financial support when meeting the following requirements:

a) Being a Vietnamese citizen with the age of no more than 40 years as of the year of selection; having good political and moral qualities; healthy enough to go to school; not in the period of being considered, disciplined, or being subject to the discipline of reprimand or higher; not in the circumstances of not being allowed to exit or enter the country as prescribed by law when participating in the selection to study abroad full-time;

b) Participating in the selection to study for a doctoral or master's degree or studying a doctoral training program for the first time;

c) Tenured lecturers who have met the enrollment conditions of the training program and are accepted by the training institution in the year of enrollment registration or the following year; or source lecturers, tenured lecturers who are studying a doctoral training program with the remaining study and research time of at least 18 months up to the time of selection;

d) Having not yet received or committed to receive a full scholarship from the state budget or from other funding sources for study and research at the candidate level up to the time of being selected.

2. Subjects selected to receive the Scheme's financial support while studying for a master's degree must be tenured lecturers teaching majors in the field of arts or physical training or sports of sending institutions in the cultural, arts and physical training and sports sectors.

Article 6. Rights and responsibilities of learners

1. Learners have the following rights:

a) Being provided with financial support of the Scheme according to the time limit approved by the Ministry of Education and Training during the period of studying doctoral and master training programs at training institutions;

b) Being facilitated and arranged time to complete the training program and accepted to return to work after graduation by the sending institution;

c) Being received additional financial support from other organizations and individuals during their study and research in case this financial support is not a full scholarship, and at the same time there is no conflict between the rights and responsibilities of the learners receiving the Scheme's financial support and the rights and responsibilities of learners receiving financial support according to regulations of these organizations and individuals;

d) Being entitled to the rights of Vietnamese citizens when studying and researching abroad according to current regulations.

2. Learners have the following responsibilities:

a) Complying with regulations and being subject to the management of the training institution during the study and research period; reporting to the sending institution on the progress and learning and research results biannually or at the end of the semester or the academic year during the training period and upon graduation from the training program;

b) Completing the training program on time and being granted a doctoral or master's degree according to the regulations of the training institution;

c) During the period of study, research or within 12 months after graduation, the doctoral learners must publish research results directly related to the thesis topic, as evidenced by at least 2 scientific publications for full-time learners studying abroad, or at least 1 scientific publication for learners in the remaining forms in publications in the list of Web of Science or Scopus (hereinafter abbreviated as WoS/Scopus) as lead or contact author. Particularly for doctoral learners in majors of art and physical training and sports, the scientific publication may be replaced by an official award of national or international competitions recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

d) Self-financing to continue studying, researching and completing the training program in case the training period received by the training institution is longer than the maximum time limit for receiving financial support from the Scheme as specified in Clause 4, Article 4 of this Circular;

dd) Performing learners’ responsibilities according to the law of the host country and current regulations for Vietnamese citizens when studying or researching abroad;

e) Returning to the sending institution immediately after graduation and working for a minimum period according to the Government's Decree No. 143/2013/ND-CP dated October 24, 2013, on reimbursement of scholarships and training expenses for learners other than civil servants or public employees (hereinafter referred to as the Decree 143); the Government's Decree No. 101/2017/ND-CP dated September 01, 2017, on training and fostering cadres, civil servants and public employees (hereinafter referred to as the Decree 101) for learners who are civil servants, public employees, and other relevant current regulations;

g) Refunding the financial support received from the Scheme during the study and research period according to the Decree 143 for learners who are not civil servants or public employees and according to the Decree 101 for learners who are civil servants, public employees and other relevant current regulations in case of violating the provisions of Article 3 of the Decree 143, Article 7 of the Decree 101 and failing to fulfill other responsibilities of learners as specified in this Article.

Article 7. Regulations for learners during training period

1. Learners with legitimate aspirations and reasons to suspend their study or research must submit an application and be approved by the sending institution or training institution. During the period of suspension of study and research, learners shall not receive financial support from the Scheme. Learners shall continue to be provided financial support when they return to study and research at the training institution if the total suspension period does not exceed 12 months for doctoral learners and not exceed 6 months for master learners. The total funding duration of the Scheme must not exceed the maximum time limit specified in Clause 4, Article 4 of this Circular.

2. Learners who wish to change their majors or training institutions without being disciplined or forced to leave school shall submit an application and be approved by the sending institution. The Scheme's financial support shall continue to be provided to learners if the following requirements are met:

a) The change of training majors or training institutions shall be only carried out once during the whole progress of study or research when the time limit for receiving funding from the Scheme is equal to or more than half of the time according to the approval decision of the Ministry of Education and Training;

b) Financial support for learners studying a new major or at the latter institution they wish to study is equal to or lower than the total amount of funding expected to be supported according to the approval decision of the Ministry of Education and Training minus the amount of funding already provided to learners when they are studying the current training major or at the current training institution; in the higher case, the learners shall themselves cover the difference in funding but must fulfill the learners' responsibilities according to this Circular;

c) The time for the provision of financial support shall not exceed the maximum time limit specified in Clause 4, Article 4 of this Circular, from the time of official enrollment according to the current training major or at the current training institution under the approval decision of the Ministry of Education and Training.

3. Learners shall be stopped from supporting in case they violate the law leading to penal liability examination, imprisonment or being forced out of school due to violations of the training institution's regulations in the progress of study or research.

4. Master learners are eligible to apply for immediate change to doctoral training program and receive the Scheme's financial support when they meet the following requirements:

a) Having graduated and being granted a master's degree or a master's graduation certificate in the same year of applying for enrollment to study for a doctoral degree;

b) Having an assessment score of at least 60% of the study credits in the master training program at the highest grade;

c) Being immediately accepted by the training institution to study a doctoral training program relevant to the majors trained at the master's level.

5. Based on the request of learners and sending institutions, the Ministry of Education and Training shall consider and decide on the contents specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

Chapter III

REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF TRAINING INSTITUTIONS; RESPONSIBILITIES AND RIGHTS OF TRAINING INSTITUTIONS AND SENDING INSTITUTIONS

Article 8. Requirements and criteria for selection of training institutions

1. Training institutions wishing to participate in training within the scope of the Scheme must meet the following requirements:

a) For domestic training institutions: training majors are listed in the world’s prestigious training majors or sectors recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training at least once in the last 5 years up to the time of selection; or training majors at the doctoral level has been recruited and trained for 5 years or more, with at least 5 graduate students who have graduated and been granted a degree within the last 5 years; or training majors at the master level with at least 5 completed training courses of which the degrees had been granted;

b) For oversea training institutions: training majors at the doctoral degree, excluding those in the field of art, physical training or sports, in the best 500 of the world’s prestigious training majors or sectors (recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training) at least once in the last 5 years up to the time the Ministry of Education and Training publishes the list of training institutions within the scope of the Scheme. List of training institutions in the fields in the field of art, physical training or sports (including doctoral and master's degrees) proposed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

c) Training institutions implementing joint training at the doctoral degree must satisfy the requirements at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article, for domestic training institutions, and the requirements at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article, for foreign training institutions and current regulations on foreign cooperation and investment in education.

2. The training majors of domestic training institutions satisfying the provisions of Point a, Clause 1 of this Article shall be considered and selected based on the following criteria in order of priority:

a) Having high ranking position in international rankings recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training;

b) Having highly qualified and professional lecturers, reflected in the number of professors and associate professors, the number of international publications, or the number of state-level projects, or national or international awards per lecturer;

b) Having a balance in the structure of majors or fields and according to the areas and regions, for domestic training institutions that fully satisfy the conditions for quality assurance.

Article 9. Responsibilities of training institutions

1. Domestic training institutions have the following responsibilities:

a) Formulating detailed regulations on enrollment and training organization for learners within the scope of the Scheme on the basis of the current regulations on enrollment and training of doctoral degrees of the Ministry of Education and Training, regulations of training institutions and relevant regulations in this Circular;

b) Organizing enrollment, receiving, managing and supporting learners to complete their study and research tasks during the training process; assigning lecturers with experience and scientific prestige to teach and guide learners;

c) Providing information to the sending institution and competent agencies on learners' learning results and learning progress upon request;

d) Notifying the sending institution when learners violate or fail to comply with regulations of training institutions;

dd) Refusing to accept, handle violations or expel learners when the learners fail to meet professional requirements or fail to comply with regulations of training institutions;

e) Assuming the prime responsibility for, and coordinating with the sending institution in, deciding whether to send learners to attend seminars, conferences, or short-term internships abroad to support research, complete reports or scientific articles related to the thesis topics published in publications in the list of WoS/Scopus;

g) Implementing reporting and archiving regime of related documents and materials according to this Circular and other relevant current regulations.

2. Overseas training institutions shall manage learners during the training process; coordinate and provide information on the progress and learning results of learners to sending institutions upon request and according to regulations of training institutions and the laws of the host country.

Article 10. Responsibilities of sending institutions

1. Formulating plans for training of tenured and source lecturers with doctoral and master's degrees according to the annual scheme to 2030 in line with the institution's human resource development strategy.

2. Improving, creating resources, supporting tenured lecturers and source lecturers in foreign languages and other skills to meet the enrollment requirements of domestic and oversea training institutions to enhance the ability to complete learning and research tasks.

3. Formulating and issuing detailed regulations of the institution on the selection of tenured and source lecturers to study under the Scheme, including regulations on application dossiers, proof of professional requirements and research capacity (if any), commitment between sending institution and tenured lecturers, training contracts with source lecturers, selection process, regulations on reimbursement of the Scheme's financial support in case the learners fail to fulfill their commitments with sending institutions according to this Circular and other relevant current regulations.

4. Organizing the selection in an open, transparent and fair manner; taking responsibility for the process of selecting the proper and qualified tenured and source lecturers to be trained; settling arising problems within the competence during the implementation of the Scheme at the institution.

5. Supporting learners to contact or connect learners with domestic and overseas training institutions that meet the requirements of Article 8 of this Circular according to registered training forms.

6. Coordinating with training institutions to manage and support learners in the study and research process, including considering changes made by learners during the training process, sending learners to attend seminars, conferences or short-term internships abroad; receiving and assigning work to learners who have graduated from the training program within a maximum period of 12 months from the time the learners complete the training program and urging learners to fulfill their committed responsibilities and obligations.

7. Implementing reporting and archiving regime of related documents and materials according to this Circular and current regulations; managing information about learners sent by the institution, updating information about learners and changes in the training process into the database system on the Scheme according to the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training.

8. Coordinating with the Ministry of Education and Training in carrying out procedures for payment of financial support for learners; taking responsibility for data and information related to learners in the study and research process; retrieving financial support that learners have received under the Scheme in case they violate the provisions of Point g, Clause 2, Article 6 of this Circular, or reimbursing the State for training costs in case of failure to accept or arrange jobs for learners specified in Clause 6 of this Article according to current regulations.

9. Implementing other related activities within the scope of the Scheme.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

Article 11. Register for training under the Scheme

1. For the form of full-time domestic training, training institutions that meet the requirements at Point a, Clause 1, Article 8 of this Circular shall formulate a scheme according to the form provided in Appendix I to this Circular, and send 1 copy of the scheme and proofs to the Ministry of Education and Training before September 30 of each year.

2. For the form of joint training, training institutions that meet the requirements at Point c, Clause 1, Article 8 of this Circular shall coordinate in completing the dossiers of joint doctoral training according to the Government's regulations on foreign investment and cooperation in the field of education, send 1 set of dossiers and proofs to the Ministry of Education and Training before September 30 of each year.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall organize the selection of domestic training institutions, and joint training programs for the doctoral level, then publish on the e-portal of the Ministry of Education and Training the list of domestic training institutions, joint training programs for the doctoral level and names of international rankings by training majors or sectors accepted within the scope of the Scheme.

Article 12. Formulation of plans and selection of learners

1. Based on the need to improve the qualifications of lecturers, sending institutions shall formulate plans to select and send tenured and source lecturers to study for a doctoral or master's degree within the scope of the Scheme of the next year, send the plans according to the form provided in Appendix II to this Circular to the Ministry of Education and Training before April 15 of each year, and at the same time update them in the database system on the Scheme.

2. The Ministry of Education and Training shall summarize the plans and cost estimates of sending institutions as specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 14 of this Circular and send them to the Ministry of Finance before June 15 every year for appraisal.

3. On the basis of the total estimates that have been appraised and approved, the Ministry of Education and Training shall decide and notify sending institutions the number of learners to receive funding from the Scheme according to each training major, level and training form before January 15 of each year and update it into the database system on the Scheme.

4. Sending institutions shall organize the selection of tenured and source lecturers according to the number announced by the Ministry of Education and Training in each training major, level and form, and complete the selection before March 15 every year and update the selection results in the database system on the Scheme.

5. Periodically or upon receiving information from training institutions, sending institutions shall send a list of learners who are officially admitted according to the form provided in Appendix III ton this Circular to the Ministry of Education and Training. Based on this list, the Ministry of Education and Training shall issue an approval decision for each learner and assign sending institutions to complete the financial dossiers and procedures for sending the learner to study.

Article 13. Preservation of selection results

1. Learners shall be entitled to reserve the results of selection at sending institutions specified in Clause 4, Article 12 of this Circular from the time the selection results are available to the time when training institutions officially announce the enrollment in the period:

a) Up to 6 months for full-time domestic learners and doctoral learners in joint doctoral training programs;

b) Up to 12 months for full-time overseas learners.

2. After 3 months for full-time domestic learners or after 6 months for full-time oversea learners during the reservation period specified in Clause 1 of this Article, learners may send a request to the sending institutions and the Ministry of Education and Training for permission to change the training institution or training form if they have not yet admitted or are not officially admitted by the registered training institution when meeting the following requirements:

a) Being officially accepted by training institutions that they have applied for the change;

b) Funding for learners at the new training institutions is equal to or lower than the total funding expected to be spent for learners according to the selection results of sending institutions as specified in Clause 4, Article 12 of this Circular.

3. Upon the expiration of the reservation period specified in Clause 1 of this Article, if a learner fails to officially enroll at a registered training institution or at the new training institution as authorized by the Ministry of Education and Training, he/she shall be excluded from the selection list of the sending institution specified in Clause 4, Article 12 of this Circular. Learners, if they wish, shall be able to register for re-selection at the sending institution in the next deployments.

4. The time to receive funding under the Scheme shall be counted from the time when learners officially start their study at registered training institutions or at the new training institutions as authorized by the Ministry of Education and Training.

5. The change of training institutions specified in this Article is not within the scope of the change of training institutions specified in Article 7 of this Circular.

Article 14. Management and provision of the Scheme's financial support

1. Sending institutions shall:

a) Formulate an annual cost estimate to support learners within the scope of the Scheme in accordance with plans specified in Clause 1, Article 12 of this Circular under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training, with specific expenditure contents and levels according to the regulations of the Ministry of Finance and sent it to the Ministry of Education and Training;

b) Complete financial dossiers of learners who have been approved by the Ministry of Education and Training and officially admitted to the institutions under instructions and requirements of the Ministry of Education and Training periodically and when necessary; monitor and synthesize information on the provision of the Scheme's financial support to learners during the training process and regularly update the database system on the Scheme;

c) Comply with other relevant regulations under the Finance Ministry's guidance on the financial regime for the implementation of the Scheme.

2. The Ministry of Education and Training shall:

a) Complete the total cost estimate for the implementation of the annual Project according to the Ministry of Finance's guidance on the formulation of state budget estimates on the basis of summarizing the cost estimates to support learners of sending institutions and then send it to the Ministry of Finance for appraisal and approval process according to regulations;

b) Allocate funding to learners who have been approved by the Ministry of Education and Training and officially admitted to the institutions according to current regulations on payment control when receiving complete financial dossiers of learners from the sending institution, notify the progress of allocating funding to learners for sending institutions to update the database system on the Scheme;

c) Comply with other relevant regulations under the Finance Ministry's guidance on the financial regime for the implementation of the Scheme.

Article 15. Reporting, inspection and supervision regime

1. Before December 20 of each year, sending institutions and the domestic training institutions shall make and send periodic reports to the Ministry of Education and Training according to the form and method of sending and receiving reports specified in Article 6 of the Circular No. 19/2020/TT-BGDDT dated June 29, 2020, providing the periodical reporting regime under the state management scope of the Ministry of Education and Training, and at the same time update the database on the Scheme with the following reporting requirements:

a) Sending institutions shall make a report according to the form provided in Appendix IV to this Circular, including: a list of learners who have been approved by the Ministry of Education and Training and officially enrolled in the year according to the training forms; a list of learners who have not officially enrolled and are expected to officially enroll in the following year; a number of learners expected to be sent for training next year under training majors, levels and forms;

b) Domestic training institutions shall make a report according to the form provided in Appendix V to this Circular a list of learners currently studying at various degrees and the expected number of graduates in the following year;

c) The deadline for closing the report data is from December 15 of the year prior to the reporting period to December 14 of the reporting year.

2. Sending institutions and domestic training institutions shall be responsible for periodically inspecting, internally supervising, monitoring and self-assessing the implementation of the provisions of this Circular.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall periodically organize and inspect the implementation of this Circular at sending institutions and domestic training institutions.

Article 16. Effect and transitional regulations

1. This Circular takes effect from October 24, 2021, and replaces Circular No. 35/2012/TT-BGDDT dated October 12, 2012. promulgating the regulations on doctoral degree training according to the scheme on “doctoral training for university and college lecturers during the period 20102020” approved by the Prime Minister in the Decision No. 911/QD-TTg dated June 17, 2010 (Circular 35).

2. Subjects who have been selected and studied for a doctoral degree under the provisions of the Circular 35 shall continue to comply with the Circular 35 until they complete the training program under the approval decision of the Ministry of Education and Training.

3. The Chief of Office, the Director of the Higher Education Department, Heads of relevant units under the Ministry of Education and Training; presidents of universities and academies; principals of universities; directors of research institutes with doctoral training; principals or directors of other educational institutions permitted to provide doctoral training programs; relevant organizations, and individuals shall implement this Circular./.

* All Appendices are not translated herein.