Decision No. 07/2008/QD-TTg dated January 10, 2008 of the Prime Minister approving the national target program on education and training up to 2010

DECISION

APPROVING THE NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAM ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING UP TO 2010

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the June 14,2005 Education Law;

At the proposal of the Minister of Education and Training and the Minister of Planning and Investment,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the national target program on education and training up to 2010 with the following principal contents;

1. General objectives

To support the education sector in implementing the National Assemblys and Governments resolutions on education and training and fulfilling the tasks set in the 2001-2010 education development strategy, creating conditions for the education sector to approach regional and world advanced levels and practically serve socio-economic development in each locality and the whole country.

2. The programs contents

The program covers the following seven projects:

Project 1: Support for the universalization of lower secondary education, the maintenance of primary education universalization results and support for universalization of upper secondary education.

Estimated total funding: VXD 680 billion.

Specific objectives:

To provide support for 32 difficulty-hit provinces in universalization of primary education for eligible age group and lower secondary education, and complete standardization of universalization of primary education for eligible age group and of lower secondary education in 64 provinces and centrally run cities by 2010.

Principal contents:

- To support educational institutions in education universalization, especially universalization of lower secondary education: to pay remuneration to teachers, supply textbooks, learning materials and teaching equipment and facilities for primary and lower secondary schools in areas hit by exceptional socio-economic difficulties.

- To train and retrain teachers and educational administrators engaged in education universalization with a view to raising their teaching and managerial capabilities, carrying out and maintaining education universalization activities.

- To investigate and collect data, inspect and recognize education universalization standardization; to formulate standards for secondary education universalization.

Project 2: Renewal of curricula, textbooks and teaching materials

Estimated total funding: VND 2,830 billion.

Specific objectives:

To complete the renewal of curricula and the replacement of new textbooks in general education schools and continuing education institutions in light of Resolution No. 40/2000/NQ-QH10 of December 9, 2000, of the Xlh National Assembly; to improve curricula and documents guiding the implementation of the preschool education program; to formulate 100 core programs applicable to professional secondary schools and 250 core programs applicable to universities and colleges; to formulate 1.000 e-curricula applicable to universities and colleges; to compile and publish textbooks and teacher books in some ethnic minority languages; to improve knowledge and skill standards applicable to three educational levels as a basis for quality assessment.

Principal contents:

- Regarding preschool education: To improve the curriculum and guiding materials; to formulate a new standard curriculum and apply it on a pilot basis; to support the formulation of curriculum, syllabuses and learning materials at preschool pedagogical schools suitable to the new curriculum.

- Regarding general education: To support the replacement of the general education curriculum and textbooks, especially the streamline program in upper secondary schools; to formulate new teaching software, video tapes and equipment for application of new textbooks to grades 11 and 12. To formulate optional teaching programs and materials for different educational levels; to formulate teaching programs and materials for specialized upper secondary schools; to formulate foreign-language programs and textbooks. To formulate assessment criteria and instruments based on knowledge and skill standards applicable to all grades.

- Regarding education for ethnic minorities: To compile books for teaching Vietnamese and ethnic minority languages for ethnic minority children. To formulate programs and compile syllabuses for training teachers of ethnic minority languages. To study and experiment ethnic minority language-teaching aids.

- Regarding professional secondary education: To formulate 100 core programs of training disciplines in 25 domains; to organize training courses on application of new curricula and syllabuses for teachers.

- Regarding university and collegial education: To formulate 250 core programs and compile on a pilot basis syllabuses of common-use subjects; to organize training courses on new curricula and syllabuses for administrators and lecturers; to formulate 1,000 e-syllabuses and study a plan on renewing entrance and graduation exams; to compile syllabuses and materials and make learning materials for the subject of education on population, gender and living skills for pedagogical schools.

- Regarding continuing education: To formulate curricula and compile books guiding the implementation of primary and upper secondary complementary curricula, and organize professional training courses for teachers and administrators. To formulate programs and compile materials for retraining and improving peoples intellectual standards, anti-illiteracy books, self-learning and guided distance self-learning materials.

- Regarding special education: To formulate curricula and compile guiding books for teaching handicapped children in special educational institutions. To transform textbooks under the general education program into Braille books for visually handicapped pupils. To support the application of the model of integrated education of lower-secondary handicapped pupils, compile materials and organize training courses on integrated education of lower-secondary handicapped pupils.

- Regarding education inspection: To compile materials and provide professional retraining for educational inspectors of provinces, universities, colleges and professional secondary schools.

Project 3: Training of information technology (IT) personnel and introduction of IT into schools

Estimated total funding: VND 960 billion.

Specific objectives:

To implement programs on training IT human resources, prioritizing the training of human resources for software industry development, and step up IT teaching and application at all educational levels, grades and disciplines. To invest in some IT faculties in leading schools to attain the regional advanced training quality. To increase computer rooms, make Internet connection and select educational software for IT application to the teaching of subjects in education and training institutions.

Principal contents:

- To enhance the training capacity of key IT and electronics-telecommunications faculties up to the regional advanced level; to upgrade, and supply new equipment for, IT laboratories and IT practice rooms for teaching and learning activities, procure teaching software, to formulate and procure teaching materials in English and other supporting equipment.

- To formulate applied IT curricula and contents applicable to universities, colleges and professional secondary schools, and apply IT to the teaching of subjects of training disciplines.

- To develop the educational network: To establish the educational network control system and ADSL Internet connection to educational institutions; to develop digital information on education: to formulate e-leaming systems, e-lectures and network portals on education for education and training institutions, to effect applications of video conference, web conference and audio conference.

- To teach and apply IT in orderno renew teaching methods in education and training institutions: To procure IT equipment and teach IT at schools to ensure transferability and update of new knowledge: to formulate IT retraining programs for teachers and select software in support of leaching and learning activities.

Project 4: Training and retraining of teachers, lecturers and educational administrators

Estimated total funding: VND 700 billion.

Specific objectives:

To retrain and standardize teachers and educational administrators so that by 2010, 80% of preschool teachers and 100% of primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary school teachers reach training-degree standards, of which 40% of primary school teachers have collegial or higher degree, 50% of lower secondary school teachers have university degree, and 10% of upper secondary school teachers have master degree. To train and retrain lecturers for all pedagogic schools (faculties) and schools for educational administrators in order to raise their professional qualifications so that by 2010, 40% of lecturers have master degree and 25% of them have doctoral degree.

Principal contents:

- To investigate and assess the actual situation of the contingent of teachers and educational administrators; to formulate plannings and plans on the development of a contingent of teachers for different educational levels.

- To train teachers on demand and apply the recruitment-through-nomination mechanism to ethnic minority and exceptional difficulty-hit areas. Priority will be given to training and retraining teachers of study subjects that lack teachers

- To retrain and standardize preschool and general education school teachers so that by 2010, 80% of preschool teachers and 100% of primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary school teachers reach training-degree standards, of which 40% of primary school teachers have collegial or higher degree, 50% of lower secondary school teachers have university degree and 10% of upper secondary school teachers have master degree.

- To train and retrain lecturers of all pedagogic schools (faculties) and schools for education administrators in order to raise their professional qualifications so that by 2010, 40% of lecturers have master degree and 25% of them have doctoral degree.

Project 5: Support for education in mountain, ethnic minority and difficulty-hit areas

Estimated total funding: VND 3 trillion.

Specific objectives:

To focus on improving material foundations for 48 standardized provincial boarding general education schools for ethnic minority people (with adequate classrooms, classrooms for subjects, dormitories, multifunctional houses, refectories, classrooms for vocational training, etc.). To support the building of houses, kitchens and essential equipment for nearly 900 day-boarding general education schools in order to create more conditions for universalization of primary and lower secondary education. To supply equipment, documents, audio-visual facilities and teaching aids for boarding general education schools with a view to renewing curricula and providing vocational education and education of national cultural identity.

Principal contents:

- To repair and maintain material foundations of provincial and district boarding general education schools and pre-entrance schools. To concentrate efforts on improving essential works of provincial boarding general education schools for ethnic minority people.

- To support the building of material foundations of day-boarding general education schools and educational institutions in mountain, ethnic minority and difficulty-hit areas in order to create conditions for universalization of primary and lower secondary education.

- To procure equipment for vocational education for provincial boarding general education schools.

- To grant scholarships and essential learning materials for ethnic minority pupils in day-boarding general education schools, ethnic minority pupils meeting with difficulties and pupils residing in localities hit by exceptional socio-economic difficulties.

Project 6: Increase of material foundations of schools

Estimated total funding: VND 6.6 trillion.

Specific objectives:

To renovate, upgrade and build 14,000 classrooms up to minimum quality standard applicable to primary schools, increase the number of two-class-per-day primary and lower secondary schools, and attract to the utmost 5-year children to preschools and kindergartens before they start grade 1; to increase material foundations for raising the quality at all educational levels, first of all through building libraries, laboratories and classrooms for subjects, and procuring teaching equipment; to support the building of working offices for university and college lecturers, ensuring adequate working offices for professors and associate professors in universities and colleges by 2010.

Principal contents:

- To upgrade and additionally build classrooms for preschools in difficulty-hit areas in order to attract to the utmost 5-year children to preschools.

- To upgrade and additionally build classrooms up to minimum school quality requirements and gradually increase the number of primary and lower.secondary school pupils who can follow two classes a day.

- To upgrade and build architectural works other than classrooms (laboratories, libraries, rooms for teaching aids, working offices, multifunctional houses, sanitation-clean water works, etc.) with a view to gradually increasing the number of general education schools reaching national standards.

- Together with regular budget allocations and capital construction funds, to allocate funds of the project in support of preventing degrade of lecture halls, dormitories, student refectories and other supporting works of training institutions,

- To further increase essential laboratory and scientific research equipment. To step by step invest in modernized laboratory and scientific research equipment for a number of leading universities, colleges and professional secondary schools. To prioritize investment in central laboratories for common use by faculties of a university or a group of universities with a view to training highly professional and technical human resources for industrialization and modernization. To support the building of working offices for professors, associate professors and lecturers in universities and colleges.

- To prioritize investment in material foundations of key pedagogic schools pedagogic colleges newly upgraded from pedagogic secondary schools, multi-disciplinary training schools and schools in mountain and difficulty-hit areas.

Project 7: Enhancement of vocational training capacity

Estimated total funding: VND 5.5 trillion.

Specific objectives:

- To increase vocational training material foundations and equipment for professional colleges, secondary schools and centers; to develop a contingent of vocational trainers, administrators, appraisers and assessors; to develop vocational training programs and formulate vocational skill standards, exam-question banks and vocational training quality-appraisal standards; to support preliminary vocational training and continuing vocational training for rural laborers, ethnic minority youths and disabled people; to provide vocational training on a trial basis and under order-placing mechanism.

Principal contents:

- To invest in vocational training equipment for 60 key schools, three of which will reach the regional advanced level by 2010; 50 professional secondary schools and a number of professional colleges newly set up in newly divided-and difficulty-hit provinces; 300 new vocational training centers and a number of other vocational training institutions. To invest in building material foundations, workshops, classrooms and dormitories for 30 professional secondary schools and 100 vocational training centers in newly divided and difficulty-hit provinces.

- To increase data on vocational trainers and administrators; to formulate 40 retraining programs, curricula and materials; to train and retrain vocational trainers, administrators, appraisers and assessors; to develop pedagogic faculties in a number of professional colleges.

- To formulate sets of vocational skill standards and vocational core programs according to three vocational degrees; to formulate exam-question bank sets for use as a basis for assessment and grant of national certificates; to support the formulation of vocational program sets on the basis of vocational-skill standard sets and vocational core programs of collegial and intermediate levels; to formulate vocational training quality appraisal standards.

- To support vocational training of preliminary level and annual continuing vocational training for around 350,000-400,000 rural laborers, ethnic minority people and disabled people. To allocate funds for pilot vocational training under the order-placing mechanism.

- To supervise and assess the project implementation.

3. Total fund for implementation of the projects: VND 20,270 billion.

Of which:

a/ Central budget: VND 16,420 billion;

b/ Official development assistance (ODA) capital: VND 2,080 billion;

c7 Local budgets and community contributions: VND 1,770 billion.

4. Project management

a/ The Ministry of Education and Training shall manage, administer and review the implementation of the national target program on education and training; assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries, branches and localities in, implementing Projects 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

b/ The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries, branches and localities in, implementing Project 7.

Article 2. Based on contents of the projects mentioned in Clause 2, Article 1 of this Decision and relevant programs and projects of the education and training sector, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, concerned ministries and branches and provincial/ municipal Peoples Committees in, drawing up implementation plans and annual plans which include approved funds, and organizing and guiding the implementation inspection and supervision; and annually report the implementation progress and results to the Prime Minister.

Article 3. This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in CONG BAO.

Article 4. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and presidents of provincial/municipal Peoples Committees shall implement this Decision.