Joint Circular No. 88/2001/TTLT/BTC-BGD&DT-BNG dated November 06, 2001 of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs guiding the management and allocation of the state budget funding for the scheme on "training of scientific and technical cadres at foreign training establishments"

JOINT CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE MANAGEMENT AND ALLOCATION OF THE STATE BUDGET FUNDING FOR THE SCHEME ON "TRAINING OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CADRES AT FOREIGN TRAINING ESTABLISHMENTS"

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 322/QD-TTg of April 19, 2000 approving the Scheme on "State budget-funded training of scientific and technical cadres at foreign establishments."

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 77/2001/QD-TTg of May 14, 2001 on the expenditures for the State budget-funded training of scientific and technical cadres at foreign establishments.

The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs hereby jointly guide the management and allocation of the State budget funding for the Scheme on "Training of scientific and technical cadres at foreign establishments" as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Trainees:

In this Circular the trainees under the Scheme on "Training of scientific and technical cadres at foreign training establishments" are understood as all trainees stated at Point 2a, Article 1 of Decision No. 322/QD-TTg (hereinafter called foreign-trained students). Specifically, they include:

Scientific and technical cadres, teachers, scientific and technical managers working at universities, scientific research institutes, key national laboratories, high-tech centers, scientific and technical cadres personally directing production and business or participating in making socio-economic development policies, excellent and talented pupils and students having good moral qualities, who fall in the following age groups: under 40 years of age for doctoral training, under 35 years of age for masters training, under 50 years of age for scientific practices and surveys to raise the professional level, under 22 years of age for undergraduate training, who are selected and sent by the Ministry of Education and Training for training at foreign establishments.

2. Expenditures for the Scheme on State budget-funded training of scientific and technical workers at foreign establishments consist of:

2.1. Expenditures for training establishments and foreign-trained students:

a/ For the form of overseas training: To be wholly covered by the State budget.

b/ For the form of training at Vietnam-based foreign establishments: Part of the expenses paid to the training establishments shall be covered by the State budget; foreign-trained students shall enjoy a study support allowance as prescribed in Appendix 1 attached to this Circular.

c/ For the form of mixed training: The expenses shall be covered by the State budget under specific arrangements of government treaties or specific training contracts.

d/ For the form of coordinated training (sandwich training, i.e., foreign-trained students study in Vietnam for a definite time and at overseas training establishments for the remaining duration): The expenses shall be covered wholly or partly by the State budget under arrangements of treaties or specific training contracts.

Decisions of the Minister of Education and Training on sending people for training should clearly state the training duration, training level, training form and mode of funding of the training with the State budget, serving as basis for making financial allocations to these people.

2.2. Other expenses:

- Service charges paid to the service organizations according to contracts (if any)

- Expenses for improving foreign language skills of nominated scientific and technical cadres in Vietnam

- Expenses for selection organization, outbound delegations, inbound delegations, and office expenses related to the scheme…

3. Responsibilities of the agencies:

3.1. The Ministry of Education and Training shall be responsible for selecting students, receiving and managing fundings allocated by the State (both domestic and foreign currencies) for the Scheme and effecting the payment to the subjects specified in Sections 1 and 2, Part I of this Circular. The management, estimation and final settlement of fundings under the Scheme shall comply with the current regime.

3.2. Overseas Vietnamese representations (including those which have full-time officials of the Ministry of Education and Training) shall coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training in performing the management of foreign-trained students according to current regulations; in cases where they are authorized by the Ministry of Education and Training, they shall sign training contracts with foreign training establishments, receive training fundings, make payment to the training establishments and grant subsistence allowances to foreign-trained students; making payment and final settlement reports to the Ministry of Education and Training.

3.3. The Ministry of Finance shall allocate training fundings to foreign-trained students (both in domestic and foreign currencies) at the request of the Ministry of Education and Training. The allocation shall take the form of payment orders according to quarterly and annual funding estimates of the training Scheme. The Finance Ministry shall also have the responsibility to check the final settlements of the Scheme’s expenditures and propose necessary measures to handle cases where payments were made to wrong subjects or in excess of the levels set by this Circular.

4. Responsibilities of foreign-trained students:

4.1. At the end of each academic year and upon the completion of training courses finish, foreign-trained students must send reports on their study results (with certifications by the schools and the Vietnamese representations in the host countries) to the Ministry of Education and Training, or directly to the Ministry of Education and Training (the Political Affairs Department) if there are no Vietnamese representations in the host countries.

If foreign-trained students fail to fulfill their commitments according to the regulations of their schools, thus have their study time prolonged as compared to the decisions of the Ministry of Education and Training, they shall have to bear all training expenses till they receive the graduation diplomas; the training expenses for the prolonged time shall not be covered by the State budget.

In special cases where the study duration is prolonged for objective reasons, foreign-trained students must send explanation letters to the Minister of Education and Training (with certifications by their schools and the Vietnamese representations in the host countries) for consideration and decision. Where foreign-trained students are permitted to prolong their study duration, the Minister of Education and Training shall make additional decisions and notify them to the Ministry of Finance and the Vietnamese representations as basis for financial allocation and management.

4.2. Foreign-trained students who have completed their training but do not return home or refuse to take jobs assigned by the State after returning home, shall have to refund all training expenses. The refunding of training expenses shall comply with Joint Circular No. 75/2000/TTLB/BTC-GDDT of July 20, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education and Training.

5. Amounts recovered from foreign-trained students: Amounts refunded by foreign-trained students who stay on abroad on their own, and retained amounts covered by the State budget must be paid into the funds for temporary custody of the State budget at overseas Vietnamese representations (if these amounts arise abroad) or paid into the State budget (if they arise in Vietnam).

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. Expenses for the training of scientific and technical cadres at foreign establishments include: tuition, subsistence allowances, medical insurance and return airfares for foreign-trained students. Specifically:

1.1. Tuition: is the amount payable to the foreign training establishment, determined on the basis of:

a/ The tuition level as agreed upon in the contracts signed between the Ministry of Education and Training or individual foreign-trained students (with certification by the Vietnamese representations in the host countries) and the foreign training establishments.

b/ The tuition level notified by the training establishments in the admission notices to foreign-trained students and approved by the Ministry of Education and Training.

1.2. Subsistence allowances of students shall be calculated to ensure minimum daily-life needs of foreign-trained students (covering accommodation and meal expenses, daily travelling expenses, expenses for learning documents and aids). Students shall enjoy subsistence allowance levels as specified in Appendix 1 attached to this Circular.

If the cost of living in a country where foreign-trained students are studying is rocketing, thus affecting the life of Vietnamese working and studying there, the foreign-trained students’ subsistence allowances shall be considered and adjusted at the same time with those of officials of the overseas Vietnamese representations.

Subsistence allowances shall be allocated to foreign-trained students once every six months, counting from the time the foreign-trained students enter school (with certification by the training establishment or overseas Vietnamese representations in the host countries).

For students trained abroad, before they set off for training, they shall be allocated an advance of the first three months’ subsistence allowances.

1.3. Medical insurance: The medical insurance level for foreign-trained students shall be equal to the minimum medical insurance level generally applicable to foreign students studying in the host countries.

1.4. Return airfares:

a/ Airfares for outbound journeys shall be allocated according to the airfare quotation of the Budget Counter of Vietnam National Airlines or of a foreign airlines offering airfares lower than those of Vietnam National Airlines.

b/ Airfares for return journeys shall be allocated in PTA form via the Vietnamese representations in the host countries, or directly to foreign-trained students. Where foreign-trained students buy airfares on their own, when they return home, they shall be refunded the amounts inscribed in the invoices and the ticket counterfoils, which must not exceed the PTA level in Vietnam for the economy class and the shortest direct flight route.

1.5. Travelling expenses (to pay for Vietnamese airport charges and expenses for travel from airport to accommodation place) shall be allocated in lump sum with a package amount of USD 100/time/person.

2. The full training expenditures which are determined under the package contracts (consisting of tuition and subsistence allowances of foreign-trained students) signed between the Ministry of Education and Training or the Vietnamese representations authorized by the Ministry of Education and Training and the foreign training establishments, or according to the notices of the foreign training establishments (certified by the Ministry of Education and Training) shall be paid according to the package contracts signed with the foreign training establishments but must not exceed the level of the full training expenditures (including the tuition set by the schools and the subsistence allowance levels specified in Appendix 1).

3. Allocation procedures:

3.1. The financial management from the estimation, allocation to the final settlement of expenditures belonging to the Scheme shall comply with the current financial regulations.

3.2. Every quarter and year, the Ministry of Education and Training shall send to the Ministry of Finance the expenditure estimates for the Scheme on "State budget-funded training of scientific and technical cadres at foreign training establishments" together with the following documents:

The list of successful candidates to be sent for overseas training, which should clearly state: The country where they go for training, the training level, the training duration (the time of entering school and the duration of the course).

This estimate should clearly indicate:

- The tuition amount/school/country.

- The subsistence allowance amount/month/student/country.

- The medical insurance amount/student/country.

- Airfare/student/country (as stipulated at Item 1.4, Part II of this Circular).

- The bank’s name, account number, the name and address of the beneficiary.

4. Kinds of currencies to be allocated:

4.1. For spending in Vietnam: Vietnam dong or foreign currency (in case the foreign training establishments based in Vietnam are permitted to collect foreign currencies).

4.2. For spending in foreign countries: US dollar (USD), or the currency of the host country, depending on the host country’s foreign exchange regulations.

5. Forms of allocation:

5.1. On the basis of the Scheme’s expenditure estimates for overseas training, the Ministry of Finance shall allocate an initial amount of foreign currency (the ceiling level) into a special account of the Ministry of Education and Training opened at the Foreign Trade Bank of Vietnam. The ceiling level shall be adjusted to suit the actual disbursement tempo.

5.2. The Foreign Trade Bank of Vietnam shall disburse the special account on the basis of the requests of the Ministry of Education and Training, which clearly explain the transfer of money for payment of tuition, subsistence allowances, airfares and medical insurance for students who are studying abroad and the accounts of the beneficiary individuals and units.

5.3. At the end of each quarter or when the balance of the special account is equal to 50% of the ceiling level (depending on which case comes first), the Ministry of Education and Training shall send vouchers on payments already made to students and request the Ministry of Finance to check them and make additional allocations for properly spent amounts.

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. This Circular takes implementation effect as from the date of its signing. For cases where students have been allocated with advance subsistence allowances by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Finance after the issuance of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 322/QD-TTg of April 19, 2001 and Decision No. 77/2001/QD-TTg of May 14, 2001, such subsistence allowances shall be adjusted according to the levels set at Item 1, Part II of this Circular.

2. In the course of implementation, all foreign-trained students’ problems related to funding matters should be referred to the Ministry of Education and Training and overseas Vietnamese representations in the host countries. The Ministry of Education and Training shall sum them up and coordinate with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance in settling them.

APPENDIX 1

(Attached to Joint Circular No. 88/2001/TTLT/BTC-BGDDT-BNG of November 6, 2001 of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs)

SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE LEVELS

Note: For foreign-trained students who are State employees sent for training, they shall also enjoy, apart from the subsistence allowances, salaries according to the current regime.-