Circular 30/2022/TT-BTC financial mechanism for implementing Scheme improving capacity of lecturers of higher education institutions

CIRCULAR

Guiding the financial mechanism for implementation of the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and administrators 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 Law on the State Budget dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 163/2016/ND-CP dated December 21, 2016 on detailing a number of articles of the Law on the State Budget;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 87/2017/ND-CP dated July 26, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister's Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019 on approving the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and administrators 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 Public Expenditure;

The Minister of Finance promulgates the Circular guiding the financial mechanism for implementation of the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and administrators 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 guides the financial mechanism for implementation of the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and administrators of higher education institutions to meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive renovation of education and training in the 2019 - 2030 period that is approved by the Prime Minister in the Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the Decision No. 89/QD-TTg);

Professional contents about enrollment, criteria for selection and the organization of training according to the Scheme on improving the capacity of lecturers and administrators of higher education institutions to meet the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive renovation of education and training in the 2019 - 2030 (hereinafter referred to as the Scheme) shall comply with the Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BGDDT dated September 08, 2021 of the Ministry of Education and Training 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 (hereinafter referred to as the Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BGDDT).

2. This Circular applies to higher education institutions participating in the Scheme as prescribed in the Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training, agencies, organizations and individuals involved in the implementation of the Scheme.

Article 2. Implementation funding

1. The State budget shall be allocated in the annual education, training and vocational training expenditure estimates according to the assignment of state budget management to perform the task of providing financial support (including scholarships, tuition fees and expenses for learners receiving doctoral and master training) for learners who are sent for training within the training quota assigned by the competent agency and the expenditure contents and levels specified in this Circular.

2. Financial sources of higher education institutions eligible to participate in the Scheme:

a) Higher education institutions that send lecturers to study are responsible for self-financing from their lawful financial sources for training in foreign languages and necessary skills for learners selected for abroad training; support learners in participation in training programs of the Scheme in addition to the expenditure contents and levels specified in this Circular (if any). The expenditure contents and levels shall comply with internal spending regulations of the units;

b) Higher education institutions are responsible for self-financing from their lawful financial sources to improve the capacity of lecturers and administrators, to attract scientists and people with doctoral degrees; implementing activities within the framework of the Scheme according to functions and tasks of the units. The expenditure contents and levels shall comply with internal spending regulations of the units.

3. Sponsorship, support and lawful mobilization sources from organizations and individuals according to regulations. The expenditure contents and levels shall be implemented under recent regulations for each funding source, the compliance with this Circular is encouraged.

Chapter II

SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

Article 3. Support contents for full-time overseas doctoral and master training

1. Tuition fees and related fees: The payment shall be made according to a contract signed between the Ministry of Education and Training and a foreign training institution or according to the rate announced by the foreign training institution in the notice of learner admission (the payment in USD or in the currency of the foreign country); the payments shall not exceed USD 25,000/learner/academic year or its equivalent in the currency of the foreign country. If the tuition fees are more than USD 25,000/learner/academic year, the difference shall be paid by learners or paid by the higher education institution sending lecturers according to the unit’s internal spending regulations.

In special cases, it is necessary to attract and create a lecturer source from excellent graduates and young scientists who meet the conditions prescribed in the Government’s Decree No. 140/2017/ND-CP dated December 5, 2017 on policies of attracting excellent graduates and young scientists for public servant source, the Minister of Education and Training shall consider and decide on a case-by-case basis, make payment according to the tuition fees prescribed by the training institution and within the assigned estimates.

2. Expenses for passports and visas: The payment of expense for passports shall be in accordance with the State’s regulations; the one of expense for visas shall be according to the visa fee invoices of the countries to which the learners are sent for training.

3. Cost of living:

a) Learners shall be provided with the cost of living prescribed in the Appendix to this Circular. Cost of living shall be provided according to the actual overseas study duration (from the date of admission to the date of completion of the course, but not exceeding the duration stated in the decision on appointment to training courses of the Minister of Education and Training);

b) The cost of living shall be provided quarterly or every 6 months, ensuring the learners’ study and research.

4. Compulsory health insurance:

a) Compulsory health insurance level: The paid compulsory health insurance level shall be the one specified in the foreign country (based on the compulsory health insurance level stated in the education institutions’ notice of learner admission) and be provided in USD or in the currency of the foreign country; but not exceed USD 1,000/person/year;

b) In case learners wish to purchase health insurance at a higher rate than the one specified in this Circular, they must pay the difference themselves.

5. Flight ticket (Economy class):

a) Learners shall be provided with the airfare for one ticket from Vietnam to the place of study and one ticket from the place of study to Vietnam (unless it is covered by the foreign country) for the entire training period;

b) The payment shall comply with current regulations on state budget spending regime and norm.

6. Travel expenses (to offset airport fees and the payment for on rent on a vehicle from the airport to the accommodation and vice versa) shall be provided once with USD 100/person for the entire training period.

7. Other expenses incurred during the training:

a) Expenses for transfer and receipt of money via banks related to overseas training courses (if any): Based on regulations of the banks in the foreign country and in Vietnam, if there is a fee for transferring money or receiving money via banks, the state budget will allocate this expenditure according to the actual expenses;

b) Expenses for handling of risks and force majeure that learners sent for training encounter: In case a learner died, the State budget shall pay the whole cost of transporting the corpse or ashes from the foreign country to Vietnam or pay the difference between the transportation fee and the money covered by the insurance;

c) In case the actual training duration is longer than the duration stated in the decision on sending to the training of the Minister of Education and Training (including cases in which the extension of training duration is due to force majeure such as war, natural disasters, epidemics), and learners ensure their academic results and are certified by their foreign training institution, regimes and policies will be paid for the prolonged time only if an additional decision of the Minister of Education and Training is issued, but the total duration does not exceed the time to complete the training program prescribed in Clause 4, Article 4 of Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BGDDT.

Article 4. Support contents for full-time doctoral training in Vietnam

1. Tuition fees paid to higher education institutions in Vietnam that are selected by the Ministry of Education and Training to participate in the Scheme’s training tasks: The payment shall be according to the levels prescribed by the higher education institutions, not exceeding the tuition fee bracket specified in the Government’s Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP dated August 27, 2021 defining the collection and management of tuition fees applicable to eduction institutions of the national education system and policies of tuition fee exemption and reduction, support of study costs; prices for education and training services.

2. Financial support for learners’ study and research includes:

a) Financial support for learners to carry out thesis topics, attend seminars and conferences in Vietnam, to be specific:

- Sectors of Medicine and Pharmacy, Physical Training and Sports, Arts: VND 20 million/learner/year;

- Sectors of natural sciences, engineering, technology; agriculture, forestry, and fishing products: VND 18 million/learner/year;

- Sectors of social sciences, economics, law; hospitality, tourism and others: VND 13 million/learner/year;

Support time: The support shall be provided during the training period in the training institutions (not exceeding 04 years).

b) Financial support for learners to publish international scientific articles, attend international conferences and seminars and go abroad for short-term internships:

- The state budget shall cover 100% of the fee for publishing research results in prestigious international scientific and technological journals on the Web of Science’s scientific journal list, based on the level announced by the scientific and technological journals, as author or contact author;

- Learners with academic results meeting the conditions under the Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BGDDT that are invited to attend international conferences and seminars or go abroad for short-term internships shall be supported by the State budget in travel expenses and cost of living (01 time at most during the whole training period) in accordance with the Circular No. 102/2012/TT-BTC dated June 21, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance defining the regime of business travel expenses funded by the State budget for State cadres and civil servants who make overseas short-term business trips. Learners’ expenses related to the attendance of international seminars, conferences or short-term internships that are supported by other organizations shall not be covered by the State budget.

Higher education institutions that send lecturers for training shall be responsible for establishing support standards, criteria and regulations for learners eligible to receive the support according to the above-mentioned contents, based on the Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training and this Circular, and publicly announcing them before the implementation.

In addition to the support from the State budget, higher education institutions that send lecturers to study can mobilize other lawful contributions to provide the financial support for learners’ learning and research according to internal spending regulations of the units.

Article 5. Support contents for the form of joint training at the doctoral level

The form of joint training at the doctoral level shall comply with the Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training. Expenditure contents and levels shall be as follows:

1. For the full-time domestic training time: Comply with Article 4 of this Circular.

2. For the full-time overseas training time (02 years at most): Comply with Article 3 of this Circular.

Chapter III

FORMULATION OF ESTIMATES, ALLOCATION, MANAGEMENT AND FINALIZATION OF THE FUNDING

Article 6. Formulation of estimates

1. For the Ministry of Education and Training:

a) On an annual basis, based on the objectives and tasks of the Scheme, the Ministry of Education and Training shall guide management agencies of higher education institutions sending lecturers to study (for public institutions) and non-public higher education institutions sending lecturers to study in reporting on the implementation of the Scheme, developing a plan to implement the Scheme that details the training quantity, form and level, and making estimates of funding for the implementation of the Scheme according to funding sources (for the State budget and other funding sources), expenditure contents and levels specified in this Circular;

b) Based on reports, plans and estimate proposals of ministries, central agencies, localities and non-public higher education institutions; the Ministry of Finance’s guidance on formulation of annual budget estimates; the Ministry of Education and Training shall be responsible for reviewing and synthesizing the funding estimates for the implementation of the Scheme, and sending them to the Ministry of Finance for reporting to the competent authorities for approval in accordance with regulations. In which:

- For the form of full-time overseas training; the full-time overseas training time of the form of joint training and training funding for learners of non-public higher education institutions: Funding estimates for the implementation of the Scheme shall be formulated and synthesized in the annual budget estimates of the Ministry of Education and Training to pay overseas higher education institutions and learners in accordance with regulations;

- For the form of full-time domestic training, the full-time domestic training time of the form of joint training: Funding estimates for the implementation shall be formulated and synthesized in the annual budget estimates of ministries, central agencies, localities to pay domestic higher education institutions and learners in accordance with regulations.

2. For ministries, central agencies and localities:

Based on the Scheme’s objectives; guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training on making reports and formulating estimates of funding for the implementation of the Scheme; the assessment results of the implementation of the Scheme’s tasks; ministries, central agencies and localities shall guide their affiliated higher education institutions to make reports and plans for the implementation of the Scheme, synthesize and send them to the Ministry of Education and Training as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article; at the same time send them to ministries and central agencies (for training institutions under the management of ministries and central agencies), to direct management agencies (for higher education institutions under the management of localities) to synthesize them into the budget estimate of the plan year according to the state budget management assignment, and send them to the finance agency at the same level for considering, synthesizing and reporting to the competent authority for approval in accordance with regulations.

3. For non-public higher education institutions:

Based on the Scheme’s objectives; guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training on making reports and formulating estimates of funding for the implementation of the Scheme; the assessment results of the implementation of the Scheme’s tasks and plan for the implementation of the Scheme; non-public higher education institutions shall make reports and formulate the estimates on the funding for sending lecturers to study under the Scheme, summarize and send them to the Ministry of Education and Training as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 7. Allocation and assignment of estimates

1. Based on the funding estimates for the implementation of the Scheme assigned by competent authorities; plan for the implementation of the Scheme, approved training targets and actual list of learners; ministries, central and local agencies shall allocate and assign funding estimates to their affiliated higher education institutions sending lecturers to study in order to make the payment to domestic training institutions and learners as specified for the form of full-time domestic training, the full-time domestic training time of the form of joint training, send them to the finance agency at the same level for inspection in accordance with law regulations on the State Budget; and send them to the Ministry of Education and Training for monitoring and synthesis.

2. Training funding for the form of full-time overseas training; the full-time overseas training time of the form of joint training and training funding for learners of non-public higher education institutions participating in the Scheme shall be allocated and assigned in the annual budget estimates of the Ministry of Education and Training to make the payment to overseas training institutions receiving students under the Scheme and learners.

3. For 2022, the Ministry of Education and Training, ministries, central agencies and localities shall proactively allocate the funding in the assigned estimates to perform the Scheme’s tasks in accordance with the guidance in this Circular.

Article 8. Principles of management and finalization of the funding from the State budget

1. Regulations on control of the payment of financial support for learners at the State Treasury:

a) Regarding the dossiers and procedures for controlling the payment of domestic training expenses and overseas training expenses through the State Treasury: To comply with the Government’s Decree No. 11/2020/ND-CP dated January 20, 2020 on defining administrative procedures in the field of State Treasury (hereinafter referred to as the Decree No. 11/2020/ND-CP).

b) Regarding regulations on control and payment of funding through the State Treasury: To comply with the Circular No. 62/2020/TT-BTC dated June 22, 2020 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the control and payment of current expenditures from the State budget through the State Treasury and current regulations, in which expenditure control dossiers for overseas training funding shall be mad as follows:

The budget-using unit shall make a document for withdrawing budget estimates on the basis of the total amount in the list of training expense transferred to overseas students by country/school, by type of foreign currency or document for withdrawing budget estimates for each learner and send it to the State Treasury together with the documents specified in Article 7 of the Decree No. 11/2020/ND-CP.

A dossier of training expense payment for a learner must contain the following contents: The learner’s full name; the foreign country where the learner is studying; spending contents; amount in foreign currency for each learner; beneficiary’s account name (name of foreign training institution or individual beneficiary); beneficiary’s account number; swift code of the beneficiary’s bank or the full name and address of the beneficiary’s bank; intermediary bank (if any); transfer fee; other (if any).

The budget-using unit shall be responsible for the legitimacy, validity and accuracy of contents of the document for withdrawing budget estimates for training expenses for learners and the documents sent to the State Treasury; ensuring the expenditure contents and norms prescribed in this Circular.

The State Treasury shall, based on its assigned estimates and the dossiers sent by the unit, control and carry out procedures to request the Bank to transfer money from the State Treasury’s payment account to each beneficiary.

For cost of living and health insurance of learners going abroad for training, travel expenses and cost of living for no more than 3 months are provided before the admission.

2. The financial support provided for a learner under the approval decision of the Minister of Education and Training is calculated from the time the learner 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. During the period of suspension from study and research, learners shall not receive the financial support from the Scheme.

3. In cases learners 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, the provision of financial support from the State budget shall be stopped under a decision of the Minister of Education and Training.

4. Learners shall reimbursement the whole training expenses in cases they do not fully perform the responsibilities of learners specified in Clause 2, Article 6 of the Circular No. 25/2021/TT-BGDDT. The reimbursement of training expenses shall comply with 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; the Government’s Decree No. 101/2017/ND-CP dated September 01, 2017, on training and fostering cadres, civil servants and public employees for learners who are civil servants, public employees, and other relevant current regulations.

5. The management and use of funding for payment to non-public establishments shall comply with current law regulations on the State budget and this Circular, the payment shall be under the contract within the estimates approved by the competent authority.

6. The Ministry of Education and Training shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies in, supervising and inspecting the management of funding for the implementation of the Scheme, evaluating and synthesizing the implementation results of the Scheme in accordance with regulations.

7. Funding for the implementation of the Scheme shall be managed, used and finalized in conformity with the nature of the funding source and the corresponding expenditure item of the State budget index, aggregated in the annual finalization reports of the units that are sent to their superior management agency for approval and to the finance agency for appraisal and finalization in accordance with law regulations on State budget.

Chapter IV

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 9. Organization of implementation

1. This Circular takes effect on July 20, 2022.

2. For learners who have been enrolled and are studying under the Scheme on doctoral training for university and college lecturers during the period of 2010 - 2020 under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 911/QD-TTg dated June 17, 2010, the Scheme on training cadres abroad by using the state budget for the period of 2013 - 2020 under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 599/QD-TTg dated April 17, 2013, to continue paying in accordance with the Joint Circular No. 130/2013/TTLT-BTC-BGDDT dated September 19, 2013 of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Training guiding the financial regime for implementation of Decision No. 911/QD-TTg; Joint Circular No. 05/2015/TTLT-BTC-BGDDT dated March 10, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education and Training guiding the enrollment and financial regime for the implementation of Decision No. 599/QD-TTg until the training program is completed according to the approval decision of the Ministry of Education and Training.

3. During the course of the implementation, in case legal documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented or superseded, the amending, supplementing, superseding documents shall be applied.

4. Any arising difficulty and problem shall be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for research and settlement./.

Appendix

COST OF LIVING PROVIDED FOR LEARNERS SENT FOR LONG-TERM TRAINING IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES UNDER THE SCHEME ON IMPROVING THE CAPACITY OF LECTURERS AND ADMINISTRATORS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF FUNDAMENTAL AND COMPREHENSIVE RENOVATION OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN THE 2019 - 2030 PERIOD

(Issued together with the Circular No. 30/2022/TT-BTC dated June 03, 2022 of the Minister of Finance)