Thông tư 13/2023/TT-BGDĐT quy định giám sát, đánh giá tổ chức kiểm định chất lượng giáo dục đại học và cao đẳng sư phạm do Bộ trưởng Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo ban hành

CIRCULAR

SUPERVISION AND ASSESSMENT OF ORGANIZATIONS ACCREDITING THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND PEDAGOGICAL COLLEGE TRAINING

Pursuant to the Law on Education of Vietnam dated June 14, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Higher Education dated June 18, 2012; the Law on Amendments to a number of articles of the Law on Education dated November 19, 2018;

Pursuant to Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CP dated December 30, 2019 of the Government on elaborating and providing guidelines for a number of articles of the Law on Amendments to a number of articles of the Law on Higher Education;

Pursuant to Decree No. 86/2022/ND-CP October 24, 2022 of the Government of Vietnam on functions, tasks, entitlements, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam;

At the request of the Director of the Quality Control Department;

The Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam hereby promulgates the Circular on the supervision and assessment of organizations accrediting the quality of higher education and pedagogical college training.  

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and regulated entities

1. This Circular provides for the supervision and assessment of organizations accrediting the quality of higher education and pedagogical college training, including purposes and principles of the supervision and assessment; contents, operations, and the use of supervisory results of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam; assessment standards, periods, and procedures; self-assessment of education quality accreditation organizations; assessment and use of assessment results of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

2. This Circular applies to:

a) Education quality accreditation organizations permitted to perform their operations or have their operations recognized by the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam regarding the education quality accreditation of higher education establishments, pedagogical colleges, training programs at all levels of higher education, college-level training program in preschool education in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as “education quality accreditation organizations”);

b) Higher education establishments and colleges that have preschool education training majors (hereinafter referred to as “educational establishments”) and relevant organizations and individuals.

3. Domestic education quality accreditation organizations shall be subject to supervision and assessment according to regulations prescribed in Chapters II and III and other relevant regulations hereof. Foreign education quality accreditation organizations shall be subject to supervision according to regulations prescribed in Chapter II and relevant regulations hereof; the assessment of foreign education quality accreditation organizations in Vietnam shall be performed based on the annual supervision results and other relevant regulations of laws in Vietnam.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

 For the purpose of this Circular, the following terms shall be construed as follows:

1. “Supervision of education quality accreditation organizations” means the regular monitoring and consideration for compliance with regulations of laws in operations of education quality accreditation organizations performed by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

2. “Assessment of education quality accreditation organizations” means the periodic consideration and judgment in a systematic manner on compliance with regulations of laws and quality in operations of education quality accreditation organizations performed by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam according to this Circular.  

Article 3. Supervision and assessment purposes

1. Supervision purposes:

a) To ensure early detection and prevention of violations; 

b) To assist education quality accreditation organizations in the timely adjustment of their operations to ensure compliance with laws;

c) To serve as the basis for assessing education quality accreditation organizations and encourage the development and adjustments to policies on quality assurance and education quality accreditation.

2. Assessment purposes:

a) To ensure compliance with laws and carry out the accountability of education quality accreditation organizations;

b) To serve as the basis for education quality accreditation organizations to enhance and improve their quality;

c) To serve as the basis for educational establishments to select education quality accreditation organizations;

d) To serve as the basis for renewing operational licenses or recognizing education quality accreditation operations of education quality accreditation organizations. 

Article 4. Supervision and assessment principles 

1. Ensuring compliance with laws.

2. Ensuring objectivity, honesty, publicity, and efficiency.

3. Ensuring the confidentiality of information and not obstructing the normal operations of supervision and assessment subjects.

Chapter II

SUPERVISION OF EDUCATION QUALITY ACCREDITATION ORGANIZATIONS 

Article 5. Supervision contents

1. Compliance with regulations on conditions for education quality accreditation operations.

2. Procedures and results of education quality accreditation operations.

3. Compliance with regulations on reporting and disclosing responsibilities. 

Article 6. Supervision of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam 

1. The Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam shall collect data and summarize information from:

a) The software to manage the system of higher education quality assurance and accreditation; information on the websites of education quality accreditation organizations and educational establishments;

b) Periodic reports and other reports of education quality accreditation organizations sent to the Ministry of Education and Training as per regulation; feedback of educational establishments following the form prescribed in Appendix I enclosed hereof; feedback of organizations and individuals; relevant information and documentation;

c) Direct observation of several education quality accreditation operations of education quality accreditation organizations;

d) Results of the review of several assessment reports outside of educational establishments and assessment reports outside of training programs of education quality accreditation organizations.

2. Information analysis and assessment

a) Review the reasonableness of information by comparing and contrasting collected information to detect unusual and illogical issues;

b) Review, compare, or contrast the implementation of education quality accreditation operations with regulations and guidelines of competent authorities to detect unusual issues;

c) In case of detecting information that is inadequate, corrupted, incorrect, or subject to clarification as required by the supervision or issues related to improper compliance with laws, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam shall request education quality accreditation organizations to provide written explanations and supplements to such information.

3. Supervision report preparation

a) The Quality Control Department shall prepare the annual report before January 31 of the following year for submission to the head of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam;

b) Irregular supervision reports are made at the request of competent authorities or upon written requests, feedback, or detection of signs of law violations.

Article 7. The use of supervision reports

1. Annual reports are the information resource that serves the assessment of education quality accreditation organizations; results of the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam shall be sent to education quality accreditation organizations as the basis for them to promptly rectify their limitations and enhance their operations for quality improvement.

2. During the supervision, if education quality accreditation organizations are detected to have signs of violations of regulations on education quality accreditation, the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam shall, following the request of the Director of the Quality Control Department, decide on the review of the results of education quality accreditation operations or establishment of inspection delegations and apply measures to handle relevant organizations and individuals as prescribed by laws.

Chapter III

ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATION QUALITY ACCREDITATION ORGANIZATIONS

Article 8. Assessment standards 

1. Standard 1: Organization and management

a) Criterion 1.1: Education quality accreditation organizations must ensure the maintenance of permitting conditions for education quality accreditation operations;

b) Criterion 1.2: Vision, mission, strategy, and culture of education quality accreditation organizations must be developed, implemented, assessed (regarding the implementation results), and adjusted in conformity with the development objectives of a juridical person with the primary function is education quality accreditation;

c) Criterion 1.3: Education quality accreditation organizations must develop and issue internal organizations to organize and implement their operations, including documents on organization and operations; internal expenses; functions and tasks of units under their management; management and use of officials and employees; assessment and recognition of educational establishments and training programs meeting the quality standards;

d) Criterion 1.4: Education quality accreditation organizations must develop and issue internal documents to implement the management of accreditors to ensure independent, objective, and honest operations, preventing conflicts of interest with related parties, including code of ethics of accreditors; Regulations on the assessment of accreditors; regulations on accountability, settlement of suggestions and feedback of citizens on accreditors or results of education quality accreditation operations;

dd) Criterion 1.5: Education quality accreditation organizations must prepare and submit reports to the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam as per regulation; enhance their quality to meet the requirements and satisfaction of related parties;

e) Criterion 1.6: Every year, education quality accreditation organizations must proactively contribute together with the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam to the development, supplement, completion, and implementation of policies on the development of higher education and pedagogical college training and policies on quality assurance and education quality accreditation.

2. Standard 2: Leaders, accreditors, and education quality accreditation councils

a) Criterion 2.1: Directors and Deputy Directors must ensure compliance with standards and implementation of tasks as per regulation;

b) Criterion 2.2: Education quality accreditation councils must ensure compliance with regulations on quantity, composition, and standards of their members and be subject to periodic assessment;

c) Criterion 2.3: The number of accreditors must be maintained and developed to meet the requirements for the scale, operational scope, and strategic plans of education quality accreditation organizations;

d) Criterion 2.4: Accreditors participating in education quality accreditation operations together with education quality accreditation organizations must ensure compliance with current regulations on accreditors, be enabled to participate in advanced training in capacity improvement, and be subject to the regular assessment performed by education quality accreditation organizations as per regulation;

dd) Criterion 2.5: Foreign education quality accreditation organizations must have full-time accreditors participating in their operations.

3. Standard 3: Physical facilities and equipment

a) Criterion 3.1: Education quality accreditation organizations must ensure and develop physical facilities for their operations according to their roadmaps and development;

b) Criterion 3.2: Education quality accreditation organizations must develop and operate their websites to disclose information as per regulation;

c) Criterion 3.3: Education quality accreditation organizations must ensure conditions for technical infrastructure to apply information and technology to education quality accreditation operations; operational information and data must be adequately and scientifically archived, ensuring information confidentiality.

4. Standard 4: Education quality accreditation operations

a) Criterion 4.1: Education quality accreditation organizations must ensure compliance with accreditation subjects and scope displayed in their operational licenses, standards on education quality assessment, education quality accreditation procedures stipulated by the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam, and their internal documents;

b) Criterion 4.2: Assessment delegations must, aside from performing tasks and working principles as prescribed by laws and internal documents of education quality accreditation organizations, ensure the quality of the preparation of external reports and provide accurate judgments on actual situations and helpful and valuable recommendations for educational establishments;

c) Criterion 4.3: Education quality accreditation councils must perform tasks and working principles as prescribed by laws and internal documents of education quality accreditation organizations; ensure independence and objectivity in the review of assessment results; provide valuable information for related parties;

d) Criterion 4.4: Education quality accreditation organizations must issue and revoke certificates of education quality accreditation as per regulation;

dd) Criterion 4.5: Education quality accreditation organizations must provide advanced training in the improvement of capacity and specialty for their leaders, managers, employees, and accreditors;

e) Criterion 4.6: Education quality accreditation organizations must provide advanced training in accreditor practice (if any) as per regulation; assess the implementation results and make adjustments for conformity with the objectives of advanced training programs;

g) Criterion 4.7: Education quality accreditation organizations must participate in the network of international quality assurance organizations or have international agreements on the recognition of education quality accreditation results.

5. Standard 5: Operational publicity and transparency

a) Criterion 5.1: Education quality accreditation organizations must disclose the following information on their websites: licenses to perform education quality accreditation; their establishment and development; their vision, mission, and development strategy; their regulations on organization and operations; their detailed guidelines for the implementation of education quality accreditation;

b) Criterion 5.2: The following information must be disclosed on the websites of higher education assurance and accreditation of education quality accreditation organizations and updated on the software to manage the system: their organizational structure, lists of Directors, Deputy Directors, full-time accreditors, public employees, employees, lists of education quality accreditation councils, and lists of accreditors participating in the accreditation of education quality and physical facilities;

c) Criterion 5.3: Assessment operations and education quality accreditation results must be disclosed on the websites of education quality accreditation organizations and updated on the software to manage the system of higher education assurance and accreditation;

d) Criterion 5.4: Education quality accreditation organizations must disclose their finance as prescribed by laws.

Article 9. Assessment periods and procedures 

1. Assessment period

a) An assessment period of a domestic education quality accreditation organization is 5 years, performed before the operational license of such organization expires;

b) An assessment period of a foreign education quality accreditation organization operating in Vietnam is displayed on the decision on recognition of education quality accreditation operations in Vietnam.

2. Assessment procedures

a) Self-assessment of education quality accreditation organizations;

b) Assessment of education quality accreditation organizations performed by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

Article 10. Self-assessment of education quality accreditation organizations; 

1. Education quality accreditation organizations shall perform self-assessment until the assessment period or upon written requests of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

2. Education quality accreditation organizations shall perform self-assessment according to the standards prescribed in Article 8 hereof; prepare reports on self-assessment following the form prescribed in Appendix II enclosed hereof and submit them to the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam via the Quality Control Department.

Article 11. Assessment of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam 

1. Establishment of assessment delegations

a) The Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam shall decide the establishment of delegations to assess education quality accreditation organizations at the request of the Director of the Quality Control Department;

b) Quantity and composition: An assessment delegation shall have 5 or 7 members; the leader is the head of the Quality Control Department; the vice leader (if any) is the head of the relevant unit affiliated with the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam; other members are officials of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam, accreditors, and persons knowledgeable about quality assurance and education quality accreditation from educational establishments;

c) Within the last 5 years up to the establishment of the assessment delegation: persons working for the education quality accreditation organization subject to assessment; relatives of persons working for the education quality accreditation organization subject to assessment; persons with rights and obligations related to the education quality accreditation organization subject to assessment shall not be permitted to join the assessment delegation.

2. Operational principles of assessment delegations

a) The assessment delegation shall operate on the principle of centralization and democracy; perform tasks assigned by its leader;

b) Members of the assessment delegation shall adequately participate in the operations of the delegation; ensure honest and objective assessment performance; in case they fail to participate in any operation, they must report to their leader for consent to their absence.

3. Steps to perform the assessment

a) The leader of the assessment delegation shall prepare an assessment plan following the form prescribed in Appendix III enclosed hereof and present it to the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam for approval; during the implementation of tasks under the approved plan, the leader shall use the seal of the Quality Control Department;

b) Delegation meets shall be held to implement the approved plan; the leaders shall transfer self-assessment reports of the education quality accreditation organization and relevant documentation to other members for study in advance;

c) The assessment delegation shall send the assessment decision and plan to the education quality accreditation organization before beginning the assessment; collect feedback and comments on the education quality accreditation organization from other educational establishments that have been assessed by such organization;

d) The assessment delegation shall work in person or via online methods (according to the approved working plan) with the education quality accreditation organization and relevant organizations and individuals; the assessment delegation shall prepare a working minute following the form prescribed in Appendix IV enclosed hereof after the assessment;

dd) The assessment delegation shall develop a draft report on assessment results following the form prescribed in Appendix V enclosed hereof and send it to the education quality accreditation organization to exchange recommendations and complete the assessment report and send it to the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam via the Quality Control Department;

e) The Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam shall sign the notification of assessment results at the request of the Director of the Quality Control Department or assign the Director of the Quality Control Department to sign the notification of assessment results on behalf of the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam following the form prescribed in Appendix VI enclosed hereof;

g) In necessary cases, the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam shall consult specialists about the professional contents of the reports on assessment results before signing the notification.

4. Assessment methods

a) Studying documents and self-assessment report of the education quality accreditation organization;

b) Performing practical surveys, verifying, and collecting information to assess based on standards prescribed in Article 8 hereof.

Article 12. Assessment levels for criteria, standards, and education quality accreditation organizations 

1. Criteria assessment

a) Criteria in each standard are assessed as “passed” or “failed”;

b) Criteria are assessed as “passed” when the education quality accreditation organization meets every requirement of the criteria.

2. Standard assessment

a) Standards are assessed as “passed” or “failed”;

b) Standard 1 is assessed as “passed” when criteria 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 are assessed as “passed”; Standard 2 is assessed as “passed” when criteria 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 are assessed as “passed”; Standard 4 is assessed as “passed” when criteria 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 are assessed as “passed”;

c) Standard 3 and Standard 5 are assessed as “passed” when every criterion in the 2 standards is assessed as “passed”.

3. Assessment of education quality accreditation organizations

a) Education quality accreditation organizations are assessed as “passed”, “level 1 passed”, or “level 2 passed”;

b) Education quality accreditation organizations are assessed as “failed” when they have 1 or more standards assessed as “failed”;

c) Education quality accreditation organizations are assessed as “level 1 passed” when they have every standard assessed as “passed”, but there are criteria that are assessed as “failed”;

d) Education quality accreditation organizations are assessed as “level 2 passed” when every criterion is assessed as “passed”.

Article 13. Use of assessment results 

1. Assessment results and suggestions of assessment delegations are the basis for the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam to consider renewing licenses to perform education quality accreditation for education quality accreditation organizations according to regulations of the Government of Vietnam and are the basis for education quality accreditation organizations to develop and perform enhancement plans to develop their organizations and improve the quality of education quality accreditation.

2. If the education quality accreditation organization is assessed as “failed”:

a) Immediately after the notification of “failed” assessment results, the education quality accreditation organization shall not perform the conclusion of the contract for education quality accreditation until there is a document confirming that it has achieved “level 1 passed” from the competent authority;

b) Education quality accreditation organizations shall improve their quality to ensure that they achieve “level 1 passed” and submit applications and reports to the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (via the Quality Control Department). The Minister of Education and Training shall, based on the submitted applications and reports, decide to re-perform specific necessary steps prescribed in Clause 3 Article 11 hereof.

3. Assessment results shall be disclosed on the Web Portal of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 14. Units of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam 

1. Quality Control Department shall:

a) Take charge of the supervision and cooperate with relevant units of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam in developing and performing plans to assess education quality accreditation organizations according to this Circular;

b) Submit reports on supervision and assessment results and provide counseling for the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam for handling measures when detecting violations against regulations of education quality accreditation organizations;

c) Cooperate with Offices in disclosing supervision and assessment results on the Web Portal of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

2. Relevant units of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam shall cooperate with the Quality Control Department in performing tasks of assessing education quality accreditation organizations according to this Circular.

Article 15. Education quality accreditation organizations shall: 

1. Comply with this Circular.

2. Regularly update information on the organization and operation of education quality accreditation on the software to manage the system of higher education assurance and accreditation.

3. Proactively review, enhance, and improve the quality and efficiency of their operations.

4. Manage and archive documents, information, and data on their assessment as prescribed by laws; documents, information, and data containing information included in the list of state secrets following laws on state secret protection; ensure the confidentiality of information and data of relevant organizations and individuals as prescribed by laws.

Article 16. Educational establishments subject to education quality accreditation shall: 

1. Immediately after completing the education quality accreditation contract, summarize feedback following the form prescribed in Appendix I enclosed hereof from their units and individuals related to education quality accreditation and send it to the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (via the Quality Control Department).

2. Ensure the objectivity and honesty of feedback.

3. Ensure the confidentiality of the information provided by relevant units and individuals when collecting, summarizing, and submitting feedback to the Quality Control Department and the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

Article 17. Entry into force

1. This Circular comes into force as of August 11, 2023.

2. Chief of the Office, Director of the Quality Control Department, directors of affiliates of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam; directors of education quality accreditation organizations and relevant individuals and organizations shall implement this Circular./.