Decision No. 1033/QD-TTg dated June 30, 2011 of the Prime on development of education, training and vocational training in the Mekong river delta during 2011-2015

DECISION

ON DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION, TRAINING AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN THE MEKONG RIVER DELTA DURING 2011-2015

THE PRIME MINISTER

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

At the proposal of the Minister of Education and Training in Report No. 135/TTr-BGDDT of March 28, 2011, on promulgation of the decision on development of education, training and vocational training in the Mekong river-delta during 2011 2015.

DECIDES:

Article 1.Development of education, training and vocational training in the Mekong river delta during 2011 -2015 aims to create a breakthrough in raising all-sided education quality and meeting human resource requirements for quick and sustainable socio economic development of the region and the country.

Article 2.Specific targets:

1. Preschool education: By 2015. 10-12% of under-3 children will go to kindergarten: and 70-75% of children aged between 3-5 to preschool, including over 98% of 5-year-old children going to preschool in preparation for grade 1; 100% of provinces and cities in the region will reach preschool education universalization standards for 5-year-old children.

2. General education: By 2015. at least 99% of children of eligible age will go to primary school, to lower secondary school and 60% to upper secondary school.

3. Education for ethnic minority people: By 2015, districts with 10,000 ethnic minority inhabitants or more shall establish ethnic boarding schools, and semi-boarding schools in areas where conditions permit. To strive that 10-12% of the total number of ethnic minority pupils in upper secondary education w ill study at boarding schools.

4. Professional secondary education: To increase annual enrollment by 10-12%; to mobilize around 10-15% of lower secondary school graduates to go to professional secondary school.

5. Vocational training: By 2015, the rate of trained labor will reach 40%, with 445,000 people being trained annually on average. The region will have 22 vocational colleges and 35 intermediate-level vocational schools. Each urban/rural district will have at least 1 vocational training center or intermediate-level vocational school.

6. Tertiary education: To intensify training of highly qualified human resources to reach the ratio of 190 students/10.000 people on average by 2015. To ensure a reasonable training structure based on the region s advantageous socio-economic sectors.

7. Continuing education: All districts will have continuing education centers. Each province or city will have 1 provincial-level continuing education center. All communes and wards will have effectively operating community learning centers.

Article 3.Major solutions for development of education, training and vocational training in the Mekong river delta

1. To improve the school network, to solidity and standardize physical foundations of schools and classrooms at all educational levels, meeting requirements for improvement of all-sided education quality.

a/ Preschool education:

- To prioritize construction of schools in communes without preschools: to attach importance to investment in physical foundations of scattered schools to increase children s enrollment in deep-lying, remote and ethnic minority areas:

- To build sufficient classrooms, functional rooms, toilets, playgrounds and outdoor toys and other essential support works, incrementally standardizing physical foundations of schools.

b/ General education:

- To continue the program on school and classroom solidification; to step by step completely build the system of functional rooms, subject learning rooms, libraries, physical training sections, administration sections and other essential support works, incrementally standardizing schools:

- To develop the system of upper secondary schools for gifted students under the scheme approved by the Prime Minister;

- To assure conditions for effective implementation of the scheme on foreign language teaching and learning in the national education system during 2008-2020;

- To prioritize investment in schools in border areas, to create favorable exchange and learning conditions for ethnic pupils in border provinces of the country and Cambodia.

c/ Continuing education:

- To attach importance to investment in physical foundations and equipment to raise teaching and learning quality and effectiveness in district- and provincial-level continuing education centers:

- To increase equipment, means and funds to raise effectiveness of community learning centers.

d/ Professional secondary education:

- To review, adjust and supplement the network of professional secondary training institutions: to establish professional secondary schools in provinces with sufficient conditions and high requirements for channeling pupils after finishing lower secondary education to meet these provinces human resource training demands:

- To assure physical foundations, equipment and teachers to meet requirements for raising training scale and quality of professional secondary education.

e/ Vocational training:

- To make comprehensive investment in intermediate-level vocational schools and vocational colleges, each of which will train in 2-5 trades up to national standards, especially for trades identified in the region s socio­economic development strategy:

- To review technical teachers colleges for upgrading into universities those that fully meet prescribed conditions: to increase investment in 3 intermediate-level vocational boarding schools for ethnic students in Tra Vinh, An Giang and Kien Giang provinces and district-level public vocational training centers: to further support investment in existing vocational training institutions.

f/ Tertiary education:

- To increase physical foundations and equipment for and incrementally standardize universities and colleges in the region:

To review, arrange and establish universities and colleges in conformity with the regional master plan on university and college network on the basis of fully satisfying establishment criteria and conditions under regulations. By 2015, to upgrade and establish between 10-12 universities (including 5 private ones) and 11 colleges (mostly upgraded from health, culture and arts and transport secondary schools of provinces);

- To create favorable conditions on land and to attract lecturers of doctoral degree for new universities; to prioritize investment and adopt appropriate mechanisms for Can Tho University and some others to modernize their physical foundations and develop lecturers and training programs up to the level of developed countries in the region. To build Can Tho city into a regional center for quality human resource training:

- Provinces shall assure land for tertiary education development. To build dormitories to accommodate around 80% of formal students (including 100% of students being policy beneficiaries and ethnic people) by 2015:

- To prioritize investment in Nha Trang University s branch in Kien Giang province and support Tra Vinh University to form a faculty of southern Khmer language, culture and arts; to form ethnic culture faculties in some universities and colleges of provinces in the region.

2. To develop the contingent of teachers and education administrators

a/ Each locality and training institution in the region shall formulate its plan to develop quality teachers, lecturers and education administrators of all levels with sufficient number and reasonable structure. To intensify training of lecturers of master and doctoral degrees for universities, colleges, professional secondary schools, vocational colleges and intermediate-level vocational schools under the Government s scheme and Mekong 1000 scheme;

b/ To renew continuing training programs for teachers of preschool, general and continuing education toward meeting teachers demands and conducting training at educational institutions;

c/ To evaluate performance of school administrators by standards on principals and of teachers by professional standards. Teachers universities shall include education administration into training programs;

d/ To establish ethnic language faculties in some teachers colleges to train teachers of ethnic minority language and script for ethnic minority areas;

e/ To formulate plans to train and recruit vocational trainers to meet requirements on number of trainees, quality and structure of training. To mobilize scientists, technicians, engineers and skilled employees of state enterprises and agencies to participate in vocational training and develop vocational training programs.

3. To renew education contents and methods, examination and evaluation

a/ To widely implement the new preschool education program, to universalize preschool education for five-year-old children, to prepare good Vietnamese for children before attending grade 1. To direct teaching, examination and evaluation by standard knowledge and skills under training programs suitable to target pupil groups, especially for ethnic pupils in general and Khmer pupils in particular. To intensify teaching of ethnic languages at schools to raise the rate of pupils learning ethnic languages to at least 5.5% of the total number of ethnic minority pupils in the region;

b/ To increase full-day teaching at preschools, primary schools, ethnic boarding schools, upper secondary schools for gifted students, and upper secondary schools where conditions permit. To maintain order, discipline and rules on teaching and learning management; to increase education about ethics, values, living skills and national culture;

c/ To implement programs to meet learners needs; to update technological knowledge, skills and transfer at continuing education centers and community learning centers;

d/ To further renew professional secondary training programs and evaluate student performance in association with output standards;

e/ To renew and develop vocational training programs, manuals and materials in the direction of closely reflecting advantageous trades of the Mekong river delta To raise effectiveness of vocational orientation at lower and upper secondary schools to help pupils properly and proactively select forms of vocational training after finishing general education to meet labor market needs.

f/ To form vocational trainers faculties at some vocational colleges to train in vocational training skills and raise qualifications and skills for vocational teachers and lecturers in the region.

4. Financial solutions;

- To further prioritize investment in education, training and vocational training in the Mekong river delta, striving that state budget spending for education, training and vocational training in the region will account for 20% of the total state budget spending for education, training and vocational training for provinces and centrally run cities.

- To increasingly raise non-state budget resources for development of education, training and vocational training.

Article 4.Policies

1. Policies for learners

- To continue priority policies for pupils, students and learners being ethnic minority people in general and Khmer people in particular (priority in conditions for enrollment. selection-based enrollment, pre-education. learner-based training).

- To continue policies on school fee exemption and reduction and learning expense supports under the Government s Decree No. 49/2010/ND-CP of May 14. 2010; lunch allowance supports under the Prime Minister s Decision No. 239/QD-TTg of February 9.2010; and credit for pupils and students under the Prime Ministers Decision No. 157/2007/QD-TTg of September 27. 2007. and other policies under the State s current regulations.

- To add pupils of ethnic boarding schools to beneficiaries of vocational training policies under the Prime Minister s Decision No. 267/ 2005/QD-TTg of May 31.2005. After receiving vocational training, laborers may take loans from the national employment fund to set up self-employed businesses.

- To supplement policies on vocational training on order for learners of trades which promote industrialization in rural areas and generate employment and quickly restructure rural labor, and of trades for which enrolment is difficult.

2. Policies for teachers and education administrators

- To implement regimes and policies for teachers and education administrators under current regulations.

- To reserve the preferential allowance regime for teachers assigned to education and training administration work and the seniority allowance regime for teachers under current regulations.

- To provide vocational teachers who frequently provide training in villages and hamlets with mobility allowances like teachers engaged in illiteracy eradication and educational universalization. Teachers who provide vocational training for boarding pupils and students are entitled to policies applicable to teachers of specialized schools. Teachers of vocational training institutions providing both theoretical and practical training are entitled to trade-based preferential allowance.

Article 5.Organization of implementation

1. People s Committees of Mekong river delta provinces and cities

To plan and assure minimum land areas under regulations for educational, training and vocational training institutions; to formulate programs and plans to implement this Decision under current regulations on decentralization of education, training and vocational training management.

2. The Ministry of Education and Training

To assume the prime responsibility for. and coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities in the region in. directing, guiding, inspecting, reviewing and regularly reporting to the Prime Minister on. and to coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance in assuring funds for, fulfillment of the objectives of this Decision: to coordinate with concerned ministries and sectors in guiding policies applicable to pupils, students, teachers and education administrators in the region.

3. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries, sectors and localities in the region in, directing, guiding, inspecting, reviewing and regularly reporting to the Prime Minister on implementation; to coordinate with concerned ministries and sectors in guiding policies applicable to vocational training institutions, trainers, learners and administrators in the vocational training sector.

4. The Ministry of Planning and Investment

To assume the prime responsibility for. and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and -Social Affairs and concerned agencies in. summarizing, balancing and formulating plans to allocate investment funds for submission to competent authorities for consideration and decision: to adopt solutions for encouraging and attracting domestic and overseas investors to invest in education, training and vocational training in the Mekong river delta.

5. The Ministry of Finance

To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and concerned agencies in, formulating plans to allocate regular budget funds for education, training and vocational training in the Mekong river delta for submission to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

Article 6.This Decision lakes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 7.Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of provincial-level People s Committees shall implement this Decision.-