Chương II Luật giáo dục 2019: Hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân

Chapter II

THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Section 1. EDUCATIONAL LEVELS AND TRAINING QUALIFICATIONS

Subsection 1. PRESCHOOL EDUCATION

Article 23. Position, roles and objectives of preschool education

1. Preschool education is the first educational level in the national educational system that sets the foundation for the comprehensive development of the Vietnamese and carries out the nurturing, caring and educating of children from 03 months to 06 years of age.

2. The objectives of preschool education are to help children develop physically, emotionally, intellectually and aesthetically, in order to shape the initial elements of personality as well as to prepare children for the first grade.

Article 24. Requirements on contents and methods of preschool education

1. The contents of preschool education must be suited to the psycho-physiological development of children; balanced between nurturing, caring and educating, with a view to helping children to develop physically, emotionally, intellectually and aesthetically and to know how to respect differences; suitable with different age groups and transferable to primary education.

2. The methods of preschool education are prescribed as follows:

a) Junior kindergartens must enable children to proactively participate in activities and play, creating a bond between adults and children; stimulate the development of the senses, emotions and psycho-physiological functions;

b) Senior kindergartens must enable children to play, experience, explore and discover the surrounding environment in different ways, satisfying the needs and interests of children.

Article 25. Programmes of preschool education

1. Programmes of preschool education shall satisfy the following requirements:

a) Reflect the objectives of preschool education;

b) Concretize the outcome requirements of different age groups, educational activities, methods and modes of organizing educational activities, educational environment and evaluation of the development of children;

c) Be consistent throughout the country and implemented flexibly, suitable with specific conditions of localities and institutions of preschool education.

2. The Minister of Education and Training shall establish the National review council for appraising curricula for preschool education to appraise programmes of preschool education. The council shall be composed of teachers, education managers, experienced and prestigious scientists in the field of education and representatives of relevant agencies and organisations. At least one-third of the council members must be teachers who are working in institutions of preschool education. The council and the council members shall be responsible for the appraisal contents and quality.  

3. The Minister of Education and Training shall promulgate programmes of preschool education after receiving the appraisals of the National review council for appraising curricula for preschool education; stipulate standards, compiling and editing processes of programmes of preschool education; stipulate standards and selection of toys and learning materials used in institutions of preschool education; stipulate the duties, powers, operating methods, standards, number and structure of members of the National review council for appraising curricula for preschool education.

Article 26. Institutions of preschool education

Institutions of preschool education include:

1. Junior kindergarten centers and classes for children aged 03 – 36 months;

2. Senior kindergartens and independent senior kindergarten classes for children aged 03 – 06 years;

3. Combined kindergartens and independent preschool classes for children aged 03 months – 06 years.

Article 27. Development policies of preschool education

1. The State shall elaborate policies for investment in the development of preschool education; give priority to the development of preschool education in mountainous areas, islands, ethnic minority areas, areas with exceptional socio-economic difficulties, areas with industrial zones. 

2. The State shall issue incentive policies for organisations and individuals to invest in the development of preschool education in order to meet social demands.

3. The Government shall provide for this Article.

Subsection 2. GENERAL EDUCATION

Article 28. Educational levels and entry ages

1. Educational levels and age groups of general education are regulated as follows:

a) Primary education lasts for 05 school years, from the first to the fifth grade. The entry age for the first grade is 06;

b) Lower secondary education lasts for 04 school years, from the sixth to the ninth grade. Students must complete the primary educational programme before entering the sixth grade. The entry age for the sixth grade is 11;

c) Upper secondary education lasts for 03 school years, from the tenth to the twelfth grade. Students must complete the lower secondary educational programme before entering the tenth grade. The entry age for the tenth grade is 15;

2. Cases where schooling could be commenced at younger ages or at higher ages prescribed in clause 1 of this Article are as follows:

a) Commencing schooling at younger ages for students with early intellectual development;

b) Commencing schooling at older ages for students repeating classes, students living in areas with exceptional socio-economic difficulties, students belonging to ethnic minorities, disabled and handicapped students, students with physical or intellectual disadvantages, orphan students, students of poor households, students returning from overseas and other cases as prescribed by law.

3. General education shall be divided into 2 phases: basic education and career-orientated education. Basic education includes primary education and lower secondary education; career-oriented education is upper secondary education. Students of institutions of vocational education shall learn the upper secondary education knowledge.

4. The Minister of Education and Training shall stipulate the teaching and learning of the Vietnamese language to children of ethnic minorities prior to the commencement of the first grade; the teaching of the upper secondary education knowledge in institutions of vocational education; and the cases as prescribed in clause 2 of this Article.

Article 29. Objectives of general education

1. The objectives of general education are to help learners develop comprehensively by acquiring morals, knowledge, physical health, aesthetic values and other basic skills, develop personal abilities, flexibility and creativeness, with a view to forming the socialist Vietnamese personality and the civic duty, to preparing them for further studies of higher education, vocational education or entering the workforce, participating in the building and defending of the Fatherland.

2. Primary education aims to help students form initial foundations for moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic development and capacity, preparing them for entering lower secondary education.

3. Lower secondary education is directed towards students' consolidation and development of the outcomes of primary education, provision of general and basic knowledge along with introductory understanding on techniques and career orientation to enter upper secondary education or vocational education.

4. Upper secondary education is directed towards the provision of civic knowledge; students' consolidation and development of the outcomes of lower secondary education; completion of general education and acquisition of common understanding on techniques and career orientation; provision of opportunities for students to develop their personal abilities in order to choose their development direction, to enter higher education, vocational education or the workforce, contributing to the building and defending of the Fatherland.

Article 30. Requirements on contents and methods of general education

1. The contents of general education must ensure the popular, basic, comprehensive, career-orienting, and systematic characteristics; linking with the realities of life, appropriate to the psycho-physiological characteristics of students, meeting the objectives of education at each level.

2. Requirements on the contents of general education at each level are regulated as follows:

a) Primary education must guarantee students the foundation for comprehensive development of physical and emotional health, social skills, simple and necessary knowledge about nature, society and human being; with social moral awareness; with basic skills in listening, reading, speaking, writing and calculating; with habits of physical exercise and hygiene; and with initial understanding of singing, dancing, music and arts;

b) Lower secondary education shall consolidate and develop the contents learned in primary education, guarantee students the basic general knowledge in Vietnamese, mathematics, national history, other knowledge in social sciences, natural sciences, law, informatics, foreign languages; with introductory understanding on techniques and career-orientation.

c) Upper secondary education shall consolidate and develop the contents learned in lower secondary education, complete the contents of general education. Besides guaranteeing the general, basic, comprehensive and career-orienting knowledge for all students, there shall be advanced teaching in some subjects to develop the students' abilities and satisfy their needs.

3. The methods of general education are to promote the activeness, consciousness, initiatives and creativeness of students; to be appropriate to the characteristics of each subject, class and student; to nurture the methods of self-study, the joy of learning, the ability to work in team, the ability of independent thinking; to develop comprehensively in dignity and ability; to enhance the application of information technology and communications to education.

Article 31. Programmes of general education

1. Programmes of general education shall:

a) Reflect the objectives of general education;

b) Concretize the requirements on the outcomes of students’ quality and capacity after each educational level and on the educational contents compulsory to all students throughout the country;

c) Concretize the requirements on the methods and forms of organizing educational activities and on the evaluation of educational outcomes for subjects of each class and educational level of general education.

d) Be consistent throughout the country and implemented flexibly, suitable with specific conditions of localities and institutions of general education;

dd) Be open to feedbacks from organisations and individuals and undergo a pilot implementation before promulgation; be publicly announced after promulgation.

2. The Minister of Education and Training shall establish the National review council for appraising curricula for general education to appraise curricula of general education. The council shall be composed of teachers, education managers, experienced and prestigious scientists in the field of education and representatives of relevant agencies, organisations. At least one-third of the council members must be teachers who are working in corresponding educational levels. The council and the council members shall be responsible for the appraisal contents and quality.  

3. The Minister of Education and Training shall be responsible for the quality of general education programmes; promulgate programmes of general education after receiving the appraisals of the National review council for appraising curricula for general education; stipulate standards, compiling and editing processes of programme of general education; regulate objectives, subjects, scale, pilot duration of some new educational contents and methods in institutions of general education; stipulate the duties, powers, operating methods, standards, number and structure of members of the National review council for appraising curricula for general education.

Article 32. Textbooks of general education

1. Textbooks of general education are regulated as follows:

a) Textbooks must implement programmes of general education, concretizing the requirements on educational objectives and contents, on students’ quality and capacity as defined in programmes of general education; direct teaching methods and methods of assessing and evaluating education quality; contents and formats of textbooks shall not carry prejudices based on ethnicity, religion, profession, gender, age and social status; textbooks may be in the printed, Braille or electronic forms.

b) Each subject shall have one or several textbooks; implement private sector involvement in textbook compilation; textbook publication shall be in compliance with the law;

c) Provincial People’s Committees shall decide selection of textbooks for consistent use in institutions of general education in their localities as regulated by the Minister of Education and Training.

d) Local educational materials shall be designed by provincial People’s Committees to meet the needs and characteristics of their localities, be appraised by provincial review councils for appraising and approved by the Minister of Education and Training.

2. The Minister of Education and Training shall establish the National review council of each subject and each educational activity for appraising textbooks. The council shall be composed of teachers, education managers, experienced and prestigious scientists in the field of education and representatives of relevant agencies and organisations. At least one-third of the council members must be teachers who are working in corresponding educational levels. The council and the council members shall be responsible for the appraisal contents and quality.  

3. The Minister of Education and Training shall be responsible for textbooks of general education; approve textbooks used in institutions of general education after receiving the appraisals of the National review council for appraising textbooks; regulate standards, compiling and editing processes of textbooks of general education; stipulate selection of textbooks in institutions of general education; stipulate the duties, powers, operating methods, standards, number and structure of members of the National review council for appraising textbooks and provincial review councils for appraising..

4. Chairwomen/chairmen of provincial People’s Committees shall decide establishment of provincial review councils for appraising local educational materials.

Article 33. Institutions of general education

Institutions of general education include:

1. Primary schools;

2. Lower secondary schools;

3. Upper secondary schools;

4. Multi-level schools;

Article 34. Certification for completion of primary education and issuance of lower secondary diploma and upper secondary diploma

1. Students who complete the primary education programme and meet the requirements set by the Minister of Education and Training will be certified in their official academic records by a primary school principal that they have completed primary education.

2. Students who complete the lower secondary education programme and meet the requirements set by the Minister of Education and Training will be issued with diplomas of lower secondary education by the head of an educational specialized agency under the management of a provincial People’s Committee.

3. Students who complete the upper secondary education programme and meet the requirements set by the Minister of Education and Training will be eligible to take the examination. Those who pass the examination are issued with diplomas of upper secondary education by the head of an educational specialized agency under the management of a provincial People’s Committee.

Students who complete upper secondary education and meet the requirements set by the Minister of Education and Training will be eligible to take the examination. Those who do not take the examination or fail the examination are issued with certificates by the school principal that they have completed general education.

Certificate for completion of general education is used to register for the examination for the upper secondary diploma per learners' wish or per the requirements to continue studying in vocational education and is used in specific cases as prescribed by law.

4. Students with lower secondary diplomas and studying a vocational secondary programme in institutions of vocational education, after completing the programme, are eligible to take the examination certifying the upper secondary education knowledge as prescribed by the Minister of Education and Training. Those who pass the examination are issued with certificates by the head of an educational institution teaching upper secondary cultural knowledge that they have achieved sufficient upper secondary education knowledge.

Certificate for achieving sufficient upper secondary education knowledge is used to continue studying a higher qualification of vocational education and is used in specific cases as prescribed by law.

Subsection 3. VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Article 35. Training qualifications of vocational education

Vocational education trains at elementary-level, intermediate-level or college-level and provides other vocational training programmes for learners; meeting the demands for workers directly participating in production, trade and services.

Article 36. Objectives of vocational education

The objectives of vocational education are directed towards the training of workers directly participating in production, trade and service to have the practical ability of a profession adequate to the relevant training qualification; have morals, health; have professional responsibility; be creative and adaptable to the environment of international integration; ensure the improvement of labour productivity and quality; provide learners with employability, self- employability or ability to further study to improve professional qualifications after completing a programme of vocational education.

Article 37. Organisation and  operation of vocational education

Organisation and operation of vocational education are implemented as prescribed in this Law and the Law on Vocational education.

Subsection 4. HIGHER EDUCATION

Article 38. Training qualifications of higher education

Higher education includes bachelor education, master education, and doctoral education.

Article 39. Objectives of higher education

1. Training a workforce of high qualifications, improving the people’s knowledge, fostering talents; conducting scientific and technological research to invent new knowledge and products, meeting the requirements of socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security and international integration.

2. Educating learners towards comprehensive development in terms of morals, intellectuality, physical health and aesthetic sense; possessing professional knowledge, skills and responsibility; ability to follow up on scientific and technological advances relevant to their training qualifications, ability of self-study, creativity, adaptability to the workplace; spirit of entrepreneurship, of service to the People.    

Article 40. Organisation and operation of higher education

Organisation and operation of higher education are implemented as prescribed in this Law and the Law on Higher education.

Section 2. CONTINUING EDUCATION

Article 41. Objectives of continuing education

Continuing education enables people to learn while in-service, to learn continuously and for lifelong for development of their capacity, refinement of their personality, broadening their understanding, and for educational, professional and operational enhancement with a view to improving their employability, self-employability, and adaptation to the social life; contributing to the building of a learning society.

Article 42. Objectives of continuing education

1. Illiteracy eradication for citizens of suitable age as prescribed by law.

2. Training, upgrading and enhancing professional capacity; updating and supplying knowledge and skills necessary to people’s life; enabling those with the needs for education to improve their educational qualifications.

Article 43. Programmes, forms, contents and methods of continuing education

1. Programmes of continuing education include:

a) Illiteracy eradication;

b) Educational programmes responding to the needs of learners, updating of knowledge and skills, transfer of technology;

c) Programmes for training, upgrading and enhancing professional qualifications;

d) Educational programmes leading to degrees/diplomas of the national educational system.

2. Forms of conducting continuing educational programmes are as follows:

a) In-service learning;

b) Distance learning;

c) Guided self-learning;

d) Other learning forms per learner’s needs.

3. Educational contents of the programmes defined in point a, b, and c of clause 1 of this Article must guarantee the usefulness and help learners improve their working productivity and quality of life.

Educational contents of the programmes defined in point d clause 1 of this Article must lead to the completion of a qualification in the structural framework of the national educational system or the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework, must guarantee the requirements on contents of the educational programme of the same educational level/training qualification defined in Article 31 of this Law, the Law on Vocational education and Law on Higher education.

4. Methods of continuing education must promote the activeness of learners, with an emphasis on the development of their self-learning ability, using modern facilities and technology to improve quality and efficiency of teaching and learning.

5. Within the scope of their duties and authorities, the Minister of Education and Training and Minister of Labour - War Invalids and Social Affairs shall provide for educational programmes, textbooks, syllabi, materials of continuing education.

Article 44. Institutions of continuing education

1. Programmes of continuing education are conducted at institutions of continuing education, general education, vocational education or higher education, cultural institutions, at the workplace, residential communities, through mass media or other means.

2. Institutions of continuing education are as follows:

a) Institutions of continuing education

b) Institutions of vocational education – continuing education;

c) Community learning centers;

d) Other centers that conduct continuing education.

3. The implementation of continuing educational programmes of continuing education institutions are prescribed as follows:

a) Continuing education centers and vocational – continuing education centers shall implement educational programmes defined in clause 1 Article 43 of this Law, except for educational programmes leading to diplomas of vocational secondary education, college degrees, bachelor’s degrees;

b) Community learning centers shall implement educational programmes defined in point a and point b of clause 1 of Article 43 of this Law;

b) Other centers shall implement educational programmes defined in point b and point c of clause 1 of Article 43 of this Law.

4. General education institutions, vocational education institutions, higher education institutions implementing continuing educational programmes shall guarantee their educational and training duties, only implement educational programmes defined in point d clause 1 of Article 43 of this Law when authorised by competent education authority.

5. Cooperation in offering in-service courses with higher education institutions shall be implemented in accordance with the Law on Higher education.

Article 45. Assessment and recognition of students’ performance

1. Learners who complete the illiteracy eradication programme and meet the requirements set by the Minister of Education and Training, will be certified to have completed the illiteracy eradication programme.

2. Learners who complete lower secondary educational programmes defined in point d clause 1 Article 43 of this Law and meet the requirements set by the Minister of Education and Training, will be issued with diplomas of lower secondary education by the head of an educational specialized agency under the management of a provincial People’s Committee.

3. Learners who complete upper secondary educational programmes defined in point d clause 1 Article 43 of this Law and meet the requirements set by the Minister of Education and Training, will be eligible to take the examination. Those who pass the examination are issued with diplomas of upper secondary education by the head of an educational specialized agency under the management of a provincial People’s Committee. Those who do not take the examination or fail the examination are issued with certificates by the head of an institution of continuing education that they have completed general education.

4. Learners who complete training programmes and meet the graduation standards of a training qualification as prescribed in the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework, are issued with diplomas corresponding with their training qualifications.

5. Learners of upgrading courses conducted via various forms are eligible to take the examination. If they meet the requirements on outcomes of educational programmes prescribed in point b and point c clause 1 Article 43 of this Law, they are issued with certificates of corresponding learning programmes.

Article 46. Policies on development of continuing education

1. The State shall issue policies for investment in the development of continuing education, providing education to all the people, promoting the learning of adults, building a learning society; for encouraging organisations and individuals to participate and/or provide continuing educational services of quality, meeting learners’ need for lifelong learning. 

2. Authorities and organisations shall facilitate the frequent learning and lifelong learning of officials, public employees and labour workers with a view to developing their abilities and improving quality of life.

3. Institutions of vocational education and of higher education shall be responsible for cooperating with continuing education institutions in providing learning material sources to continuing education institutions following learners’ learning need; teachers’ training institutions shall be responsible for conducting research on educational science, training and upgrading teachers of continuing education institutions.