Chương 2 Luật Giáo dục 1998: Hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân

Chapter II

NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

SECTION 1. INFANT EDUCATION

Article 18.- Infant education

Infant education carries out the raising, care for, and education of children from three months to six years old.

Article 19.- Objective of infant education

The objective of infant education is to help children develop physically, sentimentally, intellectually and aesthetically and form the first elements of their personality, and prepare the children for the first form.

Article 20.- Requirements for the contents and method of infant education

1. The contents of infant education must ensure harmony between raising, caring and education and conform with the psychological and physiological development of the child, help children develop their body in a balanced manner, and become healthy and alert, know how to respect, love and behave politely to their grandparents, parents, teachers and elders, love their brothers, sisters and friends, be honest, brave and unassumed, love the beautiful, eager to know and to go to school.

2. The main method of infant education is to help children through the organization of recreative activities to develop in all spheres; to pay attention to setting example, encouraging and inciting.

Article 21.- Establishments of infant education

The establishments of infant education comprise:

1. Creche and group of baby sitters to care for children from three months to three years old;

2. Infant school and infant class admitting children from three to six years old;

3. "Young bud" school is an educational establishment combining creche and infant school admitting children from three months to six years old.

SECTION 2. GENERAL EDUCATION

Article 22.- General education

General education comprises:

1. Primary education is the compulsory level of education for all children from six to fourteen years old; it is conducted in five school-years from the first to the fifth form. The age of pupils admitted to the first form is six years;

2. Basic secondary education is conducted in four school years from the sixth to the ninth form. Pupils admitted to the sixth form must have the graduation certificate of primary education and be eleven years old;

3. General secondary education is conducted in three school-years from the tenth to twelfth form. Pupils admitted to the tenth form must have the graduation certificate of basic secondary education and be fifteen years old.

The Ministry of Education and Training shall provide for cases where the age to start learning can be higher than prescribed in Items 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article 23.- Objective of general education

The objective of general education is to help the pupils develop in all spheres, ethical, intellectual, physical, aestical, and in the basic abilities aimed at forming the personality of the socialist Vietnamese, building the civic quality and sense of responsibility and preparing the pupils to continue their education to a higher level or to join the working life and taking part in the building and defense of the Fatherland.

Primary education aims to help form the initial bases for the correct and long-term ethical, intellectual, physical and aesthetic development and the basic know-hows for the pupils to proceed to basic general education.

Basic secondary education aims to help the pupils to consolidate and develop the results of primary education, achieve the basic general cultural level and the initial technical and vocational knowledge in order to proceed to general secondary education, vocational secondary education and job training or embark on the working life.

General secondary education aims to help the pupils consolidate and develop the results of basic secondary education, complete their general education and grasp the common technical and vocational knowledge in order to proceed to university, college or vocational secondary education and job training education or embark on the working life.

Article 24.- Requirements for the contents and method of general education

1. The contents of general education must ensure the popular, basic, all-round, vocational and systematic character, must be associated with the practice of life and conform with the psychology and physiology of the age group of the pupils and meeting the requirements of education of each level and degree of education.

Primary education must ensure that the pupils get simple and necessary knowledge of nature, society and man; get the basic know-how on listening, reading and writing and the calculations, the habit of training physically and observing hygiene, get the initial knowledge of singing, dancing, music and art.

Basic secondary education must consolidate and develop the contents already learned at primary education, ensure that the pupils get the basic general knowledge of the Vietnamese language, mathematics, the national history and other knowledge of social science, natural science, law, informatics, foreign languages and other necessary minimum understanding of technique and vocation.

General secondary education must consolidate and develop the contents already learned at basic secondary education and complete the contents of general education. Besides the main contents aimed at ensuring the standard general, basic, all-round and vocational knowledge for all the pupils, there must also be the content of raising the standard in a number of subjects in order to develop their capacities and meeting their aspirations.

2. The method of general education consists in developing the activeness, voluntariness, initiative and creativeness of the pupils in conformity with the characteristics of each form and subject; fostering the method of self teaching, training their ability to apply knowledge to practice, and impact on the sentiments, bring joy and enthusiasm in studies for the pupils.

3. The contents of the method of general education shall be reflected in the program of education decided and issued by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Article 25.- Text-books

1. Text-books must reflect the objective and principle of education, concretize the contents and method of education defined in the educational program of each degree, level and form.

2. The Ministry of Education and Training shall organize the compilation and ratify the textbooks on the basis of the examinations by the National Text-book Examination Council for official unified and stable use in teaching and study at the schools and other educational establishments.

3. The State manages the publication, printing and distribution of text-books.

Article 26.- General education establishments

The general education establishments comprise:

1. The primary schools;

2. The basic secondary schools;

3. The general secondary schools;

4. The general-vocational technical centers.

Article 27.- Diplomas of general education

1. Pupils having completed the program of primary education, basic secondary education and general secondary education and meeting all the conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training are eligible to sit at examinations and, if they meet the requirements, shall be issued the diplomas of graduation from primary, basic secondary and general secondary education.

2. The Head of the Education and Training Section at the district, town and city under the province (hereafter commonly called district level) shall issue graduation diplomas of primary education.

The Directors of the Education and Training Services of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government (hereafter commonly called the provincial level) shall issue graduation diplomas of basic secondary and general secondary education.

SECTION 3. JOB EDUCATION

Article 28.- Job education

Job education comprises:

1. Vocational secondary education is conducted from three to four years for learners having the graduation diploma of basic secondary education, from one to two years for those having the diploma of general secondary education;

2. Job training reserved for those having a cultural standard and health condition suited to the job they need to be trained in. It is carried out for less than one year for the short-term job training programs and from one to three years for the long term job training programs.

Article 29.- Objective of job education

The objective of job education is to train working people with knowledge and professional know-how of different levels, good ethics, professional conscience, the sense of discipline, an industrial style and good health with a view to creating conditions for the working people to have the capacity to find a job and meeting the needs of socio-economic development and strengthening national defense and security.

Vocational secondary education aims to train technicians and professional personnel equipped with professional knowledge and know-how at the intermediate level.

Job training aims to train working people having general knowledge and know-how, technical workers and professional personnel.

Article 30.- Requirements for contents and method of job education

1. The content of job education shall concentrate on training the professional acity, paying attention to ethical education, physical training, raising the cultural standard according of the need of training.

2. The method of job education must combine theoretical teaching with training of practical know-how in order to ensure that after graduation the learner can do the job.

3. The content and method of job education must be reflected in the educational program.

The Ministry of Education and Training shall coordinate with the specialized ministries to work out the frame programs of vocational secondary education including the structure of the contents, the number of subjects, the time frame of the subjects, the time ratio between theory and practice and experimentation for each trade and profession of the training. Basing itself on the frame program, the vocational secondary school shall determine its own curriculum.

The State agency managing job training shall determine the principle of working out and organizing the implementation of the job training program.

Article 31.- Curriculum of vocational secondary education and curriculum of long-term job training

1. The curriculum of vocational secondary education and the curriculum of long-term job training must reflect the objective and principle of education, concretize the content and method of education defined in the curriculum of vocational secondary education and the curriculum of long-term job training.

2. The Headmaster of the school shall organize the compilation and ratify the curriculum of vocational secondary education and the curriculum of long-term job training on the basis of the examination by the Curriculum Examination Council set up by the Headmaster for use as official material for teaching and study of the school.

Article 32.- Job education establishments

1. Job education establishments comprise:

a/ Vocational secondary schools;

b/ Job training schools, job training centers, job training courses (hereafter commonly called job training establishments).

2. Job training establishments may be organized independently or in association with production, business, service establishments and other educational establishments.

Article 33.- Diplomas and certificates of job education

1. Pupils having finished their vocational secondary education program, program of long-term job training and who fill all the conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training are eligible to sit for exams and, if they pass, shall be issued the graduation diplomas.

Pupils who have finished short-term job education programs, or the programs of fostering job standard at the vocational secondary schools and who fill the conditions as prescribed shall be eligible to take tests for certificates.

2. The Headmasters of vocational secondary schools shall issue diplomas of vocational secondary education, diplomas of job training education and job certificates.

The Headmasters of job training schools shall issue diplomas of job training education and job certificates. The directors of job training centers shall issue job certificates.

SECTION 4. UNIVERSITY AND POST-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

Article 34.- University and post university education

University and post-university education comprise:

1. University education trains the college degree and university degree.

a/ College degree training is conducted in three years for persons having diplomas of general secondary education or diplomas of vocational secondary education;

b/ Doctorate training is conducted in from four to six years depending on the trades and jobs for those having the diploma of general secondary education or diploma of vocational secondary education and from one to two years for those having college diplomas of the same branch.

2. Post-university education trains the master’s degree and doctorate.

a/ Master’s degree training is conducted in two years for persons having university diplomas;

b/ Doctor degree training is conducted in four years for persons having university diplomas, from two to three years for persons having master diplomas. In special cases, the time for training the doctorate may be extended as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training;

c/ The Government shall issue specific regulations on post-university training in a number of special specialties.

Article 35.- Objective of university and post-university education

The objective of university and post-university education is to train persons with good political and ethical qualities, with a sense of serving the people, having the knowledge and capacity to do their jobs corresponding to the level of training, good health and meeting the demand of building and defending the Fatherland.

College degree training helps the students acquire basic professional knowledge and practice know-how about a trade and the capacity to solve ordinary questions in the specialty of their training.

University degree training helps the students have a firm grasp of professional knowledge and practice know-how about a trade and have the capacity to detect and solve ordinary questions in the specialty of their training.

Master degree training helps the learners to grasp the theory, get a high level of practice, have the capacity to detect and solve questions in the specialty of their training.

Doctor degree training helps the post-graduates get a high theoretical and practical level, have the acity to conduct research independently and creatively, solve questions of science and technology and guide activities in specialized domains.

Article 36.- Requirements for contents and method of university and post-university education

The requirements for the contents and method of university and post- university education are provided as follows:

1. For university education:

a/ The contents of university education must have a modern and developed character, ensure a rational proportion between basic science knowledge and specialized knowledge and the subjects of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought; inherit and develop the fine traditions and the national cultural identity corresponding to the general standard of the region and the world.

College degree training must ensure that the students get the necessary and relatively complete knowledge of basic and specialized science, must pay attention to training the fundamental know-how and capacity to carry out specialized work.

University degree training must ensure that the students get the relatively complete knowledge of fundamental science and specialized knowledge, a scientific method of work, the capacity to apply theory to specialized work.

b/ The method of university education must give importance to fostering the capacity of self teaching and independent research, creating conditions for the learner to develop his creative thinking, train his practical know-how, take part in research, experimentation and application.

c/ The content and method of university education must be reflected in the educational program. The Ministry of Education and Training shall work out the frame program including the content structure of the subjects, the time of training, the rate of distribution of training time among the basic and specialized subjects, between theory, practice and experimentation. On the basis of the frame program, the college and university shall determine the program of education for their school.

2. For post-university education:

a/ The content of post-university education must help the learners develop and complete their knowledge in fundamental science and specialized knowledge, the subjects of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought; develop their creative capacity and their capacity to detect and solve questions of the specialties of their training, acquire the capacity to contribute to the development of science and technology and to social-economic development of the country.

Master degree training must ensure that the learners can complement and raise the knowledge they have learned at the university degree, increase their multi-discipline knowledge, have the necessary capacity to carry out their specialized work and scientific research in their specialty.

Doctor degree training must ensure that the post-graduates raise and complete their fundamental knowledge, have deep understanding of their specialty and are able of conducting independently and creatively scientific research in their specialty.

b/ The method of training masters is carried out by the combination of in-class learning with self-teaching, independent research, giving importance to developing the capacity to practice, the capacity of discovery and the settlement of professional matters.

The method of training doctors is carried out chiefly through self-teaching and independent research under the guidance of teachers, and scientists, giving importance to the habit of scientific research, developing creative thinking in discovery and settling professional matters.

c/ The content of the method of education in the subjects, specialized subjects, treatises and theses shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Article 37.- College and university curricula

1. The college and university curricula must reflect the objective and principle of education, concretize the content and method of education defined in the training program of the colleges and universities.

2. The State adopts policies to ensure that all colleges and universities have the necessary curricula.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall organize the compilation and ratifying of curricula used for both the colleges and universities. The Headmasters of the colleges and universities shall organize the compilation and ratifying of the curricula for different specialties of each school on the basis of the Curriculum Examination Council set up by the Headmaster for use as official materials for teaching and study at the school.

Article 38.- Establishments for university and post university education

1. The establishments of university and post-university education comprise:

a/ Colleges to train college degree;

b/ Universities to train college and university degrees and the master and doctor degrees when assigned by the Prime Minister;

c/ Scientific research institutes train the doctor degree and coordinate with the university in training the master’s degree when assigned by the Prime Minister.

2. The concrete model for organization of different types of university shall be prescribed by the Government.

Article 39.- Diplomas of university and post-university education

1. Students having finished the college degree and qualifying as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Students having finished the university program and having the conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training are eligible to sit for examinations and defend their projects and graduation theses and shall be granted the diploma of college degree if they get the pass.

The university graduation diploma of a technical branch is called engineer diploma, of the architecture branch is called architect diploma, of the medical branch is called medical doctor diploma or pharmacist diploma, of the fundamental sciences, teacher’ training, jurisprudence and economy is called bachelor diploma. For the other branches it is called university diploma.

2. Learners who have finished the program of training masters and who meet the conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training are eligible to defend their theses and if they pass shall be issued the master’s diploma.

Post-graduates who have finished the program of doctor training and who meet the conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training are eligible to defend their theses and if they meet the requirements shall be issued the doctorate diploma.

3. The Minister of Education and Training shall issue the doctorate diploma.

For the diplomas of masters and diplomas of university graduation and masters degree, the Headmaster of the school shall issue diplomas of such degree as it is allowed to train.

4. The Government shall provide for post-university diplomas of a number of special branches.

SECTION 5. MODE OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION

Article 40.- Non-formal education

Non-formal education is the mode of education to help everyone to work and learn at the same time and to learn continually all the life aimed at perfecting their personality, broadening their knowledge, elevating their cultural, specialization and professional standard in order to improve the quality of life, find a job and adapt to social life.

Article 41.- Requirements for content and method of non-formal education

1. The content of non-formal education shall be reflected in the following programs:

a/ Program of eradication of illiteracy and further education after literacy;

b/ Program of complementary training, periodical fostering and fostering to raise the standard and upgrade knowledge and know-how;

c/ Educational program to meet the demand of the learner;

d/ Educational program to get the diploma of the national educational system in the form of learning while working, correspondence education and self teaching with guidance.

2. The educational content of the programs defined at Points a, b and c, Item 1 of this Article must ensure the practicality to help the learners raise their labor capacity, production and working capacity and quality of life.

The educational content of the educational program stipulated at Point d, Item 1 of this Article must conform with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.

3. The method of non-formal education must develop the initiative role and exploit the experience of the learner and give importance to fostering his/her self-teaching capacity.

Article 42.- Establishments of non-formal education

1. The establishments of non-formal education comprises:

a/ Permanent education centers;

b/ Non-formal education is also carried out at the general education and vocational secondary schools, job training centers, colleges and universities, and through the mass media.

The formal education establishments which conduct educational programs in the method of non-formal education must assure their training task; non-formal education can be conducted only for the programs stipulated at Point d, Item 1, Article 41 of this Law and conducted in the formal system with the permission of the competent State educational authority.

2. The centers of permanent education shall not carry out educational programs for diplomas of vocational secondary education and the diplomas of college and university education.

Article 43.- Diplomas and certificates of non-formal education

1. Learners of educational programs stipulated in Point d, Item 1, Article 41 of this Law are eligible to sit for examination for the graduation diplomas if they fill the following conditions:

a/ They have registered at an educational establishment competent to train the corresponding grade, level or degree;

b/ They have finished the program and meet all the conditions on checking the result of learning and are certified by the educational establishment at the place of registration to be fully qualified to sit for examination as prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training.

2. Learners having finished the educational programs prescribed at Points a, b and c, Item 1, Article 41 of this Law and meeting the conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training are eligible to attend the test and shall be issued certificates of non-formal education if they get the pass.

3. Learners having finished the educational program stipulated in Point d, Item 41 of this Law, are eligible for the examinations if they meet all the conditions prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training. If they get the pass they shall be issued the graduation diplomas of the mode of non-formal education. This mode must be specified on the diplomas. If they meet all the conditions prescribed for a graduation examination in the formal system they shall be qualified to attend the examinations and if they get the pass they shall be issued the graduation diplomas of this formal system.

4. The competence of issuing diplomas of non formal education is prescribed like the competence of issuing diplomas of formal education.

5. The Director of the non-formal educational center shall issue the certificate of non-formal education.