CIRCULAR

PROMULGATING REGULATIONS ON PUBLIC DISCLOSURE FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE NATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM

Pursuant to the Education Law dated June 14, 2005; the Law on Amendments to several provisions of the Education Law dated November 25, 2009;

Pursuant to the University Education Law dated June 18, 2012;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 69/2017/ND-CP dated May 25, 2017, setting out regulations on functions, duties, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 04/2015/ND-CP dated January 9, 2015, prescribing the implementation of practices of democracy towards activities of state administrative authorities and public service units;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 16/2015/ND-CP dated February 14, 2015, regulating the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 192/2004/QD-TTg dated November 16, 2004 regarding regulations on financial disclosure for budget lines, budget estimating units, organizations receiving financial support from the state budget, capital construction projects funded by the state budget, state enterprises, state budget-derived funds and social contribution-derived funds,

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The Minister of Education and Training herein promulgates the Circular introducing Regulations on public disclosure for educational institutions in the national education system.

Article 1. Regulations on public disclosure for educational institutions in the national education system are enclosed herewith.

Article 2. This Circular is entering into force as from February 13, 2018 as a replacement for the Circular No. 09/2009/TT-BGDDT dated May 7, 2009 of the Ministry of Education and Training regarding public disclosure at educational institutions in the national education system.

Article 3. The Chief of the Ministry’s Office, the Director of the Planning and Financial Department, Heads of relevant affiliates of the Ministry of Education and Training; Presidents of the People’s Committees of centrally-affiliated cities and provinces, Directors of Departments of Education and Training in centrally-affiliated cities and provinces; Heads of educational institutions in the national education system shall be responsible for implementing this Circular./.

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Nguyen Huu Do

REGULATIONS

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Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and subjects of application

1. The Regulations provide for public disclosure practices in terms of educational quality commitments, quality assurance conditions, revenues and expenses.

2. The Regulations are applied to educational institutions in the national education system under the regulatory authority of the Ministry of Education and Training, including early childhood education institutions, general education institutions, boarding high schools for ethnic minorities, semi-boarding high schools for ethnic minorities, college preparatory schools (hereinafter referred to as specialised educational institutions), continuing education institutions, pedagogical post-secondary schools, pedagogical colleges, higher education institutions (hereinafter referred to as educational institutions).

Article 2. Objectives of public disclosure practicing

1. Enable students, competent regulatory authorities and the public to get involved in the public supervision and comment towards educational institutions in accordance with law.

2. Aim to improve transparency, promote democracy, and enhance autonomy and self-accountability of educational institutions towards resource management and educational quality assurance.

Article 3. Principles of public disclosure practicing

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2. Information to be disclosed on school premises and websites as prescribed in these Regulations must be accurate, complete, timely and easily accessible.

Chapter II

WHAT TO DISCLOSE

Article 4. Public disclosure practices implemented at early childhood education institutions

1. Educational quality commitments and educational quality in real situation:

a) Educational quality commitments: Expected quality of child care and education activities; educational programs that an educational institution provides; achieved outcomes per child by developmental domains; child care and education support provided at early childhood education institutions (using the Form No. 01).

b) Quality of parenting, care and education activities in real situation: The number of children/child care or daycare groups or classrooms; the number of children joining mixed groups or classes; the number of children attending two sessions/day; the number of children with disabilities taking inclusive education programs; the number of children having lunch at school; the number of children receiving periodic health checks; child health wellbeing and development outcomes; the number of children taking educational care programs that are categorised into age groups (using the Form No. 02).

c) Plan to build a nationally-accredited educational institution and achievements arranged in chronological order.

d) With respect to the accreditation of an early childhood education institution, independent assessment reports, accreditation results indicating that the educational institution fails or passes must be publicly disclosed.

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a) Physical facilities: Measurement of ​​land or playground per child on average; number and size of ​​classrooms and function rooms per child on average; the minimum amount of equipment, supplies and toys that are currently available for use and less than the legally-required amount; number of toys for outdoor activities per child care group or classroom on average (using the Form No. 03).

b) School teachers, administrators and staff members:

Number of teachers, administrators and staff categorised by professional titles, standards and academic qualifications (using the Form No. 04).

Number of teachers, administrators and staff members completing training programs; formats, curricula, level and duration of training programs in the current school year and the next 2 years.

3. Revenues and expenses:

a) Financial health:

For public educational institutions, the financial disclosure shall be subject to regulatory documents in force regarding regulations on financial disclosure for budget lines, budget estimating units, organizations receiving financial support from the state budget, capital construction projects funded by the state budget, state enterprises, state budget-derived funds and social contribution-derived funds; and regulatory documents providing instructions about budget disclosure for budget estimating units and state budget-financed entities. Forms and charts of disclosure of the budget estimate and final accounts of revenues and expenses that are attached to regulatory documents on financial management disclosure must be posted.

For non-public educational institutions, the disclosure of financial activities shall be subject to regulatory documents in force regarding incentive policies for private-sector involvement in activities in the education, vocational education, health, culture, sport and environment sector. Each educational institution shall be required to make the public disclosure of levels of tuition fees and other financial obligations by school years; the state budget’s grants for the educational institution; financial aid, grants, gifts and donations that the educational institution receives; other payables to the state budget.

b) School fees and other financial obligations that students have to pay: levels of school fees and other receipts by academic years and in the next 2 academic years.

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d) Contents and results of implementation of annual policies on tuition fee subsidies, relief and exemption for students eligible for social welfare policies.

dd) Audit findings (if any): Public disclosure of audit findings shall be subject to regulatory documents currently in force regarding public disclosure of audit findings and results of implementation of audit conclusions and recommendations of the State Audit.

Article 5. Public disclosure practices implemented at general or specialized education institutions

1. Educational quality commitments and educational quality in real situation:

a) Educational quality commitments: Publicly disclosing the eligibility standards of enrollees in educational institutions; educational programs the educational institutions provide; required coordination between educational institutions and families, requirements concerning students' learning attitudes; learning and life support for students at educational institutions; outcomes concerning abilities, qualities, learning and health that a student expects to achieve; likelihood of students’ ongoing study (primary schools use the Form No. 05; lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools and specialized educational institutions use the Form No. 09).

b) Educational quality in real situation: The number of students studying two sessions/day; the number of students having access to periodic assessments at the end of academic year concerning each criterion of academic ability, moral conduct, learning outcome, or full-year general reports on learning outcomes with respect to primary schools (using the Form No. 06); the number of students graded according to their moral conduct and learning abilities; the number of students eligible to receive year-end final scores; the number of students winning awards in excellent student competitions; the number of students eligible for consideration of graduation or participation in graduation exams; the number of students recognized as graduates; the number of students passing entrance or admission tests in lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools and specialized educational institutions (using the Form No. 10).

c) Plan to build a nationally-accredited educational institution and achievements arranged in chronological order.

d) With respect to the accreditation of an educational institution, independent assessment reports, accreditation results indicating that the educational institution fails or passes must be disclosed to the public.

2. Quality assurance conditions:

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b) School teachers, administrators and staff members:

Publicly disclosing the number of teachers, administrators and staff categorised by professional titles, standards and academic qualifications (primary schools use the Form No. 08; lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools and specialized educational institutions use the Form No. 12).

Publicly disclosing the number of teachers, administrators and staff members completing training programs; formats, curricula, level and duration of training programs in the current school year and the next 2 years.

3. Revenues and expenses:

a) Public disclosure practices are the same as those stipulated in regulations laid down in point a, c, d and dd of clause 3 of Article 4 herein.

b) Amounts of tuition fees and other payments that educational institutions receive by academic years and in the entire level of education.

c) Scholarship policies and performance results in each academic year.

Article 6. Public disclosure practices implemented at continuing education institutions

1. Educational quality commitments and educational quality in real situation:

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b) Educational quality in real situation: Publicly disclosing the number of students graded according to their moral conduct, academic ability, year-end study results; the number of students eligible for consideration of graduation or participation in graduation exams; the number of students recognized as graduates; the number of students passing entrance or admission tests in universities or colleges; the number of students studying at other vocational education institutions categorized by grades of education; results of joint education at the pedagogical college and university levels in the form of on-the-job or remote learning classified according to graduation results, the number of students employed after 1 year of graduation; academic results of other programs sorted according to the number of participants, time and qualifications granted (using the Form No. 14).

c) Academic subjects studied in each course or major: Publicly disclosing syllabus and teaching schedule, reference materials, student assessment methods.

d) Textbooks, materials or resources published by educational institutions: Titles of textbooks, years of publication and publishing plans of academic majors.

dd) Training or coaching tasks assigned by the State; local and business needs: Publicly disclosing affiliates, the number of students studying training and coaching programs, training duration, professions, attained levels and implications of training activities.

e) Accreditation of educational quality at continuing education institutions: Independent assessment reports, accreditation results indicating that the educational institution fails or passes must be disclosed to the public.

2. Quality assurance conditions:

a) Physical facilities: Number and size of ​​classrooms and function rooms per child on average; the minimum amount of teaching equipment that are currently available for use and less than the legally-required amount per class on average (using the Form No. 15).

b) School teachers, administrators and staff members:

Publicly disclosing the number of teachers, administrators and staff members; their professional titles classified according to their academic qualification (using the Form No. 16).

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3. Revenues and expenses:

a) Public disclosure practices are the same as those stipulated in regulations laid down in point a, c, d and dd of clause 3 of Article 4 herein.

b) Amounts of tuition fees and other payments that educational institutions receive by academic years and in the entire course of education.

c) Other revenues other than tuition fees: Proceeds from contracts for training in scientific research, technology transfer, production, consulting and other lawful ones.

d) Scholarship policies and performance results in each academic year.

Article 7. Public disclosure practices implemented at higher education institutions, pedagogical colleges and pedagogical post-secondary schools

1. Educational quality commitments and educational quality in real situation:

a) Educational quality commitments: Publicly disclosing the eligibility standards for candidates to be admitted into educational institutions; outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, behavioral conduct and foreign language proficiency that students expect to achieve according to grade-IV training disciplines; support policies for student's learning and daily life activities, training programs provided by educational institutions; prospect of further study and qualification improvement after graduation; job positions that students can be offered after graduation according to levels of education and grade-IV training disciplines (using the Form No. 17).

b) Educational quality in real situation: Publicly disclosing information about current admission capacity, graduates and rate of students employed after 1 year of graduation. For information about the current admission capacity, it is necessary to publicize the capacity of admission of doctoral students, masters and undergraduates at all training levels and forms which is classified according to the areas of study. For the rate of graduates employed after one year of graduation, publicly disclosing the number of students employed after one year of graduation, including the number of graduates offered jobs and the number of graduates pursuing further study (using the Form No. 18).

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d) Academic subjects studied in each course or major: Publicly disclosing information about lecturers and instructors (if any), course objectives, syllabus and teaching schedule, references and student assessment methods.

dd) Textbooks, reference materials published by educational institutions: Publicly disclosing titles of textbooks (including electronic textbooks), references, years of publication, plans to publish textbooks and reference materials for use by different academic majors.

e) Graduation projects, theses and dissertations of undergraduate students, masters students and doctoral students: Publicly disclosing titles, full names of students in charge and instructors, synopses.

g) For higher education institutions that autonomously print and confer diplomas and certificates to students, publicly publishing relevant information about diplomas and certificates of students on their websites.

h) Academic tasks performed under the mandate or commissioning of the State, local authorities and businesses (if any): Publicly disclosing units involved in these tasks, student intake, training time length, professions, levels of study and implications of these training activities.

i) Scientific research, technology transfer, trial production and consulting activities: Publicly disclosing names of scientific and technological projects or tasks, persons in charge and participants, domestic and international partners, implementation time and cost, brief description of the products of research projects or tasks, and their use in life situation.

k) In-country and overseas joint education: Disclosure of information and conditions concerning quality assurance of affiliates, admission capacity and levels of study at affiliates, and types of joint education.

l) Scientific seminars and workshops taking place within educational institutions: names of scientific seminars and workshops, dates and venues, number of participants.

m) Accreditation of educational quality of educational institutions and training programs: Publicly disclosing independent assessment results, resolutions and recommendations of educational quality accreditation boards, and accreditation results indicating that the educational institution fails or passes.

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2.1. Information about physical infrastructure: Total land area, total construction floor area; laboratories, practice rooms, workshops, multi-functional halls, meeting halls, classrooms, libraries, academic resource centers; learning materials of libraries and learning resource centers; land area/student, floor area/student (using the Form No. 19).

2.2. Tenured lecturers, administrators and staff members:

Publicly disclosing the number of tenured lecturers, administrators and staff members categorized by study fields and general subjects with distinction by professional titles, academic qualifications and professional ranks, detailed list of tenured lecturers categorized by study fields, student-to-lecturer ratio converted according to study fields (using the Form No. 20).

Biography briefs of lecturers: Publicly disclosing full name (photos attached), age, academic seniority, title, qualification, scientific publications, teaching and research experience, domestic and international research activities, papers published domestically and internationally; information about full name of students and doctoral students whom the lecturer has instructed in successfully defending their masters and doctoral-level research papers, synopsis of each research paper, and writing period of time.

Publicly disclosing the number of tenured teachers, administrators and staff members completing training programs; formats, curricula, level and duration of training programs in the current school year and the next 2 years.

3. Revenues and expenses:

a) Public disclosure practices are the same as those stipulated in regulations laid down in point a, c, d and dd of clause 3 of Article 4 herein.

b) Amounts of tuition fees and other payments that educational institutions receive by academic years and in the entire course (using the Form No. 21).

c) Proceeds from contracts for training in scientific research, technology transfer, production, consulting and other lawful ones.

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Article 8. Public disclosure forms and time

1. For public disclosure practices stipulated in Article 4, 5, 6 and 7 hereof:

a) All relevant information must be made available to the public on websites of educational institutions in June each year; must be complete, accurate and timely before the start of academic year, or whenever there is any change in related information.

b) Posting information at public places on school premises must facilitate public review. The time of public disclosure must be June each year and updated at the start of academic year, or whenever there is any change in related information. The public disclosure should last for at least 30 consecutive days from the posting date.

2. For matters prescribed in point b of clause 3 of Article 4; point b of clause 3 of Article 5; point b of clause 3 of Article 6; and point b of clause 4 of Article 7 herein, in addition to the public disclosure practices stipulated in point a and b of clause 1 of this Article, educational institutions shall implement the following practices of public disclosure:

a) Communicate them in the meetings with children’s parents, students, graduate students, doctoral students or give them handouts before educational institutions’ admission of children to their child care, parenting and education programs, or before educational institutions’ admission of students, graduate students and doctoral students.

b) Communicate or give out handouts to children’s parents, students, graduate students, doctoral students before educational institutions hold meetings with them at the start of academic year with regard to children who are receiving their child care, parenting and education programs, or students, graduate students and doctoral students who are studying at these educational institutions.

3. With respect to educational institutions, pedagogical colleges and pedagogical post-secondary schools, in addition to the public disclosure practices prescribed in clause 1 of this Article, the following practices of public disclosure shall be implemented:

a) Design complete print documents, brochures or leaflets about their functions and missions available at faculties, subject groups, centers or units subordinate to educational institutions to meet research needs of students, lecturers and interested persons. They must be regularly updated and kept in place to be ready for use during the working period of faculties, subject groups, centers or units.

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Chapter III

IMPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Article 9. Responsibilities of educational institutions

1. Educational institutions shall comply with regulations on what to disclose, forms and time of public disclosure laid down herein. Review and assess the implementation of public disclosure practices in order to help improve and increase efficiency in management.

2. Report on the results of the implementation of the Regulations on public disclosure in the previous school year and the plan for the implementation of the public disclosure regulations in the upcoming school year to bodies in charge of inspection and host entities (if any) by September 30 each year.

3. Facilitate the inspection of implementation of public disclosure practices by educational institutions.

4. Announce the inspection results within 5 days after receiving the inspection results from the body in charge of inspection and in the following forms:

a) Publicly communicate them to administrators, lecturers and staff members in the intramural meetings.

b) Publicly post test results at educational institutions to ensure that school administrators, lecturers, staff members and students' parents have easy access for their review.

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Article 10. Responsibilities of Divisions, Departments and Ministry of Education and Training

1. Divisions of Education and Training:

a) Instruct affiliated educational institutions and educational institutions established under approval decisions or obtaining establishment permits of the district-level People's Committees to implement the public disclosure practices as provided in these Regulations.

b) Conduct the inspection of the implementation of the public disclosure practices by the affiliated educational institutions; take charge of cooperating with the host entities (if any) in inspecting the conformance with the public disclosure practices of educational institutions established under approval decisions or obtaining establishment permits of the district-level People's Committees. The inspection must be joined by the Parent Representative Boards of educational institutions.

c) Notify test results in writing to educational institutions. The notification deadline shall fall within 30 days after completion of the inspection.

d) Synthesize results of implementation of regulations on public disclosure and inspection results of educational institutions falling within their range of responsibilities to take charge of the inspection; submit review reports to the Departments of Education and Training by October 31 every year.

2. Departments of Education and Training:

a) Instruct subordinate divisions of education and training, educational institutions and educational institutions established under approval decisions or obtaining establishment permits of the provincial People's Committees to implement the public disclosure practices as provided in these Regulations.

b) Conduct the inspection of the implementation of the public disclosure practices by the subordinate educational institutions; take charge of cooperating with the host entities (if any) in inspecting the conformance with the public disclosure practices of educational institutions established under approval decisions or obtaining establishment permits of the provincial People's Committees. The inspection must be joined by representatives of the Parent Representative Boards or the Unions of Students operating within the inspected educational institutions.

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d) Synthesize results of implementation of regulations on public disclosure and inspection results of educational institutions falling within their range of responsibilities to take charge of the inspection; synthesize results of implementation of regulations on public disclosure and inspection results of educational institutions under the duty of divisions of education and training; announce synthesized results on websites of educational institutions and submit review reports to the Ministry of Education and Training by November 30 each year.

3. Ministry of Education and Training:

a) Instruct educational institutions, college preparatory schools, pedagogical post-secondary schools, pedagogical colleges and higher education institutions to implement the public disclosure practices under these Regulations.

b) Take charge of and cooperate with host entities (if any) in conducting the inspection of the public disclosure practices of educational institutions, college preparatory schools, pedagogical post-secondary schools, pedagogical colleges and higher education institutions.

c) Notify inspection results in writing to the inspected educational institutions. The notification deadline shall fall within 30 days after completion of the inspection.

d) Synthesize results of implementation of regulations on public disclosure by college preparatory schools, pedagogical post-secondary schools, pedagogical colleges and higher education institutions, and results of inspection of educational institutions synthesized by the Departments of Education and Training; post synthesized results on the website of the Ministry of Education and Training by December 31 each year.