Chương I: Thông tư 35/2021/TT-BGDĐT Quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and regulated entities

1. This Circular provides for the compilation, selection, appraisal, approval, and use of teaching materials, textbooks for higher education.

2. This Circular applies to higher education institutions, other institutions that are permitted to train higher-education levels; academies, academies founded by the Prime Minister in accordance with the Law on Science and Technology which are permitted to train doctoral levels (hereinafter referred to as “training institutions”), and related organizations, individuals.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall organize the compilation of the general textbooks for subjects of political theory and defense - security for higher education institutions.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

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

1. Teaching materials include textbooks, lectures of lecturers, and reference materials

2. Textbook means the main material for teaching, learning, researching of a course, compiled, selected, appraised, approved, and used by a training institution in accordance with regulations of this Circular and other relevant laws.

3. Lecture means the material compiled by a lecturer for teaching for an assigned course, based on the detailed syllabus, official textbooks, output standards of the course, and training programs.

4. Reference material means reference books, monographs, translation books, manuals, exercise books, and other materials that have been published; articles, scientific works, and materials announced domestically and internationally, also including digital materials used by lecturers and students during their process of teaching, learning, or scientific researching; materials that help lecturers and students learn and improve their knowledge or learn about each section or the entire course in the training program.

Article 3. General requirements 

1. The compilation, selection, appraisal, approval, and use of teaching materials, textbooks for higher education shall comply with regulations of the Law on Intellectual Property, Publishing Law, and other relevant laws.

2. Teaching materials are published for lecturers and students to use in teaching, learning, and researching a course of the training program in a training institution. Such materials shall not have names that cause confusion in their uses.

Article 4. Textbook requirements

1. A textbook is the main teaching material of lecturers and students of a training institution in teaching, learning, and researching a course in the training program. Such textbooks shall be published in writing with names that do not cause confusion for the general textbooks in training institutions.

2. A textbook shall concretize the requirements for knowledge, skills, and attitudes prescribed in each course of the training program, field, and level; satisfy the requirements for the innovation of teaching method, examination, evaluation of learning outcomes, and training quality assurance.

3. The content of a textbook shall be consistent with the target and content of the training program, ensuring the standard of knowledge, skills and satisfying the output standard of the course.

4. The knowledge in a textbook shall be presented in a manner of science and logic, ensuring the balance between the theory and practice; be appropriate with the reality; be updated with new knowledge in terms of science, technology, and socio-economic development that is certified and approved.

5. The content cited from reference materials for the compilation of textbooks shall have its origins and notes specified. Such content shall be consistent and meet the requirements for the targets of textbooks, ensuring compliance with regulations of relevant laws.

6. The language used to compile the textbooks is Vietnamese or a foreign language. Such a language shall be consistent with the teaching language of the course.  

7. A training institution shall stipulate the content, structure, form, and specific requirements for its textbooks, ensuring the uniformity and consistency in accordance with regulations of relevant laws.

Article 5. Lecture requirements

1. A lecture shall have content that is appropriate and consistent with the content prescribed in the detailed syllabus of the course and the official textbook, satisfying the output standard of the course and requirements of the training program.   

2. A lecture shall have specific content, lists of references, examples, learning questions, discussion orientations, and practical exercises; be regularly updated with new knowledge to ensure it is more scientific, modern, and highly practical, satisfying the training requirements. Lecturers shall compile their lectures in the teaching language of the course and take responsibility for the professional content of the lectures.

3. A training institution shall stipulate the content, form, and specific requirements for lectures of each course of the training program, field, and level; stipulate the entitlements and responsibilities of its own and its lecturers, ensuring the uniformity and consistency in accordance with regulations of relevant laws.

Article 6. Reference requirements

1. Reference materials shall specify full names of the authors, publishers, publishing years, specific origin notes, and content consistent with the training field and program; and be regularly supplemented with new materials, helping lecturers and students learn and improve their knowledge or learn about each section or the entire related courses in the training program.

2. The language of the reference materials shall be suitable for lecturers and students to conveniently use in teaching, learning, and researching.

3. A training institution shall stipulate the specific requirements for reference materials of each course of the training program, field, and level, ensuring uniformity and consistency in accordance with regulations of relevant laws.

Article 7. Use of textbooks and materials for teaching

1. With regard to published textbooks, training institutions may provide, distribute, gift, lease, trade, lend, use them as general textbooks, or contribute them to open educational resources in order to bring published products to users. Such processes shall comply with regulations of relevant laws.

2. Approved textbooks of training institutions shall be used as the main materials for lecturers and students in teaching, learning, and researching the courses. A textbook may be used for many courses with suitable or similar content.

3. With regard to higher education training, training institutions shall ensure each course has at least one textbook used as the main material for lecturers and students to use in teaching, learning, researching the course. The content of such a textbook shall satisfy at least 70% of the knowledge content of the course. 

4. With regard to master’s degree training, training institutions shall have textbooks as the main materials for lecturers and students to use in teaching, learning, and researching each course of the training program; If a course does not have its textbooks, training institutions shall have teaching materials used as replacements for the textbooks. The content of such replacements shall satisfy at least 70% of the knowledge content of the course.

5. With regard to doctoral education training, training institutions shall have textbooks or materials (as replacements for textbooks) for students and lecturers to use in teaching, learning, and researching of each content or major of the training program. Such textbooks or materials shall include announced monographs, scientific works related to the content, major of teaching, learning, and researching of lecturers and students, satisfying the requirements of the training program; ensuring conformity with the target and content of the training program, knowledge standard, skills; and ensuring the output standard of the training program.

6. Textbooks used in training institutions shall be compiled, selected, appraised, and approved in accordance with this Circular and other relevant laws. Materials (as replacements for textbooks) for teaching, learning, and researching for lecturers and students used in training institutions shall be approved in accordance with regulations of the department of training, ensuring conformity with regulations of relevant laws.

7. Training institutions shall rely on their target, teaching content, output standard of the training program, and field of teaching to disclose their textbooks, materials for teaching, learning, researching for each content, major, and course in the training program, arranged in order of preference in use.

8. A training institution shall stipulate the entitlements and responsibilities of its affiliates, lecturers, and students in using textbooks and materials for the teaching of each content, major, course of the training program, field, and level.

Article 8. Use of lectures and reference materials

1. Lectures of lecturers shall be provided for students before, during, or after teaching hours in order to serve their purposes of learning and researching.  Directors or principals of training institutions (hereinafter referred to as “principals of training institutions”) shall stipulate the content, form of lectures, and provision of lectures for students.

2. Reference materials shall be made public on their names, publishing years, places of publication, or addresses to access data sources on the internet; be regularly updated with new materials for lecturers and students to know and use in their process of teaching, learning. Such materials shall be easily and conveniently accessed and used by lecturers and students.

3. Training institutions shall specifically stipulate the process of incorporating lectures, reference materials into teaching and learning; stipulate the use, supervision, entitlements, responsibilities of lecturers, students, and related parties in providing and approaching lectures compiled by lecturers, reference materials for each course of the training program, field, and level; stipulate the publicity and degree of publicity of lectures of lecturers.

Article 9. Cost of compilation, selection, appraisal, approval, and use of teaching materials, textbooks

1. Training institutions shall be responsible for allocating legal sources of income, sponsorship, and aid to pay the cost of the organization of compilation, selection, appraisal, approval, and use of teaching materials and textbooks.

2. Specific expenditures and expenditure rates for organizing the compilation, selection, appraisal, approval, and use of teaching materials, textbooks shall be in accordance with regulations of the current law and specified in the regulations of training institutions.