Directive No. 296/CT-TTg dated February 27, 2010 of the Prime Minister on renewal of tertiary isucation administration during 2010-2012

DIRECTIVE

ON RENEWAL OF TERTIARY ISUCATION ADMINISTRATION DURING 2010-2012

THE PRIME MINISTER

Since initiating the renewal policy under the Party leadership and with the entire nation's great efforts, our country has seen comprehensive developments in all sectors, including education and training. After 9 years' implementation of the 2001-2010 education development strategy, Vietnam's tertiary education has gradually developed in scale, with diversified types of educational establishments and training forms, more social resources mobilized and positive results, preparing qualified human resources for national industrialization and modernization, making significant contributions to economic growth and social stability and ensuring security, defense and successful international integration.

However, tertiary education has revealed not a few limitations and weaknesses: training quality remains low generally, failing to meet the requirements of national socio-economic development; the mechanisms for state administration of tertiary education as well as administration by universities and colleges contain numerous irrationalities, failing to generate a strong driving force for the promotion of creativity and responsibility of lecturers, administrators and students so as to create radical and fundamental changes in tertiary education. Social and foreign investment potential for tertiary education development has not been tapped up efficiently. This situation can be attributed to numerous causes, of which the poor state administration of tertiary education and poor administration by universities and colleges themselves is the inherent one.

In this circumstance, to implement the Prime Minister's instructions, the Ministry of Education and Training has promulgated an action program on renovation of tertiary education administration during 2010-2012, considering this a breakthrough for quality improvement and comprehensive development of tertiary education, serving as a prerequisite for the implementation of coordinated solutions to the sector's problems, as well as for higher quality and effectiveness of tertiary education.

The renewal of tertiary education administration won't be effective and sustainable without resolute direction by Party committees and authorities at all levels, close coordination among mass organizations and concern of the entire society. Therefore, the Prime Minister instructs:

1. To thoroughly be aware that the expansion of tertiary education must go in parallel with assurance and improvement of training quality. To put an end to the situation of uncontrolled training quality. To create a mechanism and an impetus for the state administration and administration by training  establishments in order to ensure and improve training quality.

2. To consider the renewal of tertiary education administration, including the state administration of tertiary education and administration by training establishments, a breakthrough for the comprehensive renewal of tertiary education, which helps ensure and improve training quality, and improve scientific research efficiency in a sustainable manner.

3. For the renewal of tertiary education administration, the Prime Minister assigns:

- The Ministry of Training and Education:

1. To coordinate with the Vietnam Education Trade Union and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in organizing discussions within every tertiary education establishment about why improving training quality is necessary and what to be done to assure and improve training quality in the current period.

2. By comparing the current situation of tertiary education development with the targets approved under the Government's Resolution No. 14/2005/NQ-CP of November 2, 2005, on fundamental and comprehensive renewal of Vietnam's tertiary education during 2006-2020, and the Prime Minister's Decision No. 121/2007/ QD-TTg of July 27, 2007, on planning the network of universities and colleges, to coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance in renewing the planning and plans, revising tertiary education development targets through 2020; and concurrently improving forecasts to make tertiary education development targets and indexes feasible, serving as a basis for the formulation of the 2011-2020 education development strategy.

3. To review, amend and supplement promulgated legal documents; and at the same time, formulate and promulgate new ones on school founding, enrolment, training, financial management, quality management and recruitment, clarifying responsibilities and benefits of teachers in training and scientific research, relationships between the Managing Board, School Council, Party Committee and mass organizations in school, thus enabling universities and colleges to exercise their right to autonomy while being accountable to society and the State in line with the Education Law.

4. To implement Resolution No. 35/2009/ QH12 of June 19, 2009, of the XIIth National Assembly on undertakings and orientations for renovation of some financial mechanisms in education and training from the 2010-2011 school year to the 2014- 2015 school year. To guide and inspect schools in the application of new ceiling rates of tuition fees in the direction that increasing tuition fees is associated with specific solutions for higher training quality. To well implement tuition fee reduction policies and credit policies for students as well as the tuition fee refund for schools which give tuition fee exemption to their students.

5. To coordinate with the Ministry of Construction in formulating and implementing plans on building universities in provinces and cities; planning and building student dormitories. To organize the implementation of plans on building systems of universities and colleges in Hanoi capital and Ho Chi Minh City regions. To organize the implementation of plans on building university and college student dormitories, creating 200,000 more places of residence for students by 2011.       

6. To advise the Government on assigning and decentralizing the management of universities and colleges through clarifying responsibilities of the Ministry of Education and Training and other ministries, sectors and provincial-level People's Committees in managing Schools. To strengthen the assisting apparatuses of provincial level People's Committees so as to inspect and supervise universities and colleges in localities.

To step up decentralization of powers to tertiary education establishments while raising their autonomy, accountability and self-control in accordance with the State's and3fieir own regulations and stepping up supervision and inspection by the State, the society* and the establishments themselves.

7. To inspect and urge the realization of universities' and colleges' commitments stated in their founding projects, regarding material foundations, teaching staffs and programs, and textbooks, thus assuring and gradually improving training quality; to impose severe disciplinary penalties on those establishments which, after 3 years since their founding, still fail to meet criteria and conditions of a university or college as committed by the investors. To boost inspection and examination of associated training, in-service training, distance training as well as master and doctorate training.

8. To further promote social demand-based training; to review and appraise 3-year (2008-2010) implementation of demand-based training and formulate demand-based training plans for the whole nation, each locality and each training establishment.

9. To step up the evaluation and accreditation of tertiary education quality in the direction of accelerating self-evaluation by universities and colleges; step by step organizing the accreditation of universities and colleges; setting accreditation criteria «and forming some independent accrediting1 agencies for tertiary education.

10. To improve managerial capacity of university and college rectors and vice rectors through seating criteria for these titles, planning school leaderships during 2010-2015, and organizing refresher courses on tertiary education administration.

11. To improve managerial capacity and effectiveness of scientific research in universities, thus actively contributing to improving training quality and serving socio-economic development.

12. To guide and inspect universities and colleges-in formulating school development strategic* for 2011-2015, meeting the requirements of national development and of tertiary education in the current period.

- Ministries and branches:

To proactively coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training in directing their attached tertiary education establishments to formulate and implement action programs on renovation of tertiary education administration during 2010-2012, formulate (or revise) the 2011-2015 school development strategy; based

on their state management functions, to conduct additional studies for improving administration mechanisms and policies to meet development requirements of the entire tertiary education system; to notify the Ministry of Education and Training of implementation results for summarization and reporting to the Prime Minister.

- Chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees:

To coordinate closely with the Ministry of Education and Training in directing education administration agencies and locally managed tertiary education establishments to formulate and implement action programs on renovation of tertiary education administration during 2010-2012; to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training as well as other ministries and branches in performing the state administration of tertiary education as decentralized by the Prime Minister; and to notify the Ministry of Education and Training of implementation results for summarization and reporting to the Prime Minister.

- The Ministry of Information and Communications:

To coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training in directing press agencies to propagate and support the renewal of tertiary education administration.

- The Vietnam Television and the Voice of Vietnam radio:

To coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training in launching periodical programs on the implementation of action programs on renovation of tertiary education administration.

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of provincial-level People's Committees shall seriously implement this Directive.

The Minister of Education and Training shall review the implementation and submit to the Government annual reports on the results of implementation of this Directive by ministries, branches and localities nationwide.-