Circular No. 02/2002/TT-BLDTBXH guiding the working regime of vocational school teachers

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the working regime of vocational school teachers

Pursuant to the Labour Code, Decision No. 188/1999/QĐ-TTg dated September 17, 1999 of the Prime Minister on the 40-hour work week; Decree No. 02/2001/NĐ-CP dated January 9, 2001 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Labour Code and the Education Law regarding vocational training; after considering opinions from relevant ministries and sectors, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs issues guidelines on the working regime of vocational school teachers as follows:

I. SCOPE OF APPLICATION:

1. Teachers directly teaching at public, semi-public, private, and privately-owned vocational schools; teachers teaching vocational courses in secondary vocational schools, colleges, and universities with long-term vocational programs;

2. Management staff at vocational schools who also teach.

II. WORK REGIME OF VOCATIONAL SCHOOL TEACHERS:

The work regime of vocational school teachers is stipulated as follows:

1. Working hours:

The working hours for vocational teachers are 44 weeks per academic year, including: teaching 40 weeks; enhancing their qualifications and conducting scientific research for 4 weeks.

The 40-week fund per academic year is the time during which teachers perform the following tasks: teaching in class or guiding practical exercises; performing preparatory and post-teaching activities (studying textbooks and teaching materials; preparing lesson plans; grading regular and periodic tests; participating in professional meetings; observing classes and exchanging professional knowledge; preparing models, teaching aids, and teaching equipment) and carrying out other tasks according to the professional standards for civil servants and public officials as stipulated by the State for vocational teachers.

The 4-week fund per academic year is allocated for teachers to enhance their qualifications and conduct scientific research. If the study period exceeds 4 weeks, the excess time will be deducted from the teaching time (40 weeks) and converted to study time. In cases where teachers do not utilize the full 4 weeks for studying and enhancing their qualifications, the remaining time will be used for teaching duties.

2. Teaching hour standard for teachers:

The teaching hour standard is the number of standard hours (number of periods/week) that each teacher must fulfill for theoretical or practical instruction as specified in Appendix 1 attached hereto, applicable to theoretical classes with a maximum of 35 students and practical classes with a maximum of 18 students for ordinary trades and 10 students for heavy, hazardous, and dangerous trades. In cases where theoretical classes need to be combined with more than 70 students, one period of actual teaching in such a class is calculated with a factor of 1.5.

Notation: One theoretical teaching period of 45 minutes equals one standard hour; one theoretical teaching period equals 1.5 hours of practical teaching (one hour of practical teaching is 60 minutes).

For military teachers and physical education teachers, the time spent organizing sports activities and military training for school staff is counted as teaching time.

The teaching hours specified in Appendix 2 are the minimum teaching hours per academic year for management staff involved in teaching. The principal shall determine specific standards for each individual based on the actual workload of the management staff.

3. Provisions on converting certain types of working hours to standard hours:

a. Preparing examination questions, invigilating, and grading examinations:

- Preparing examination questions:

+ One written examination question with answers is equivalent to one standard hour; one oral examination question with answers is equivalent to 0.25 standard hours;

+ One practical examination question with answers is equivalent to 0.5 standard hours.

- Grading examinations:

+ Theory: 0.1 standard hour per paper;

+ Oral: 0.2 standard hour per student;

+ Practical: the actual time spent grading practical examinations is equivalent to practical teaching hours.

- Invigilating examinations (theory or practical): one hour of invigilation is equivalent to 0.25 standard hours.

b. Preparing final examination questions, invigilating, and grading final examinations:

- Preparing examination questions:

+ One written final examination question with answers is equivalent to two standard hours; one oral final examination question with answers is equivalent to 0.5 standard hours;

+ One practical final examination question with answers is equivalent to 1.5 standard hours.

- Invigilating final examinations (theory or practical): one hour of invigilation is equivalent to 0.5 standard hours.

- Grading final examinations:

+ Grading theory papers: 0.2 standard hour per paper;

+ Grading practical examinations: the actual time spent grading practical examinations is equivalent to practical teaching hours multiplied by a factor of 1.2.

c. Guiding off-campus internships:

Internship guidance time includes: time spent contacting internship sites, travel time, time spent guiding internships, and time spent preparing internship reports.

The time spent by teachers guiding internships is counted as teaching time.

d. Compiling textbooks and teaching materials:

Compiling textbooks and teaching materials is carried out under contractual arrangements.

4. Reduction in teaching hours for teachers:

a. General reduction in teaching hours:

- Teachers teaching two different subjects alternately within the same period (each subject is determined in the training plan and has a total number of teaching hours exceeding 10-30% of the weekly teaching hour standard): reduced by 1.5 standard hours per week.

- Newly graduated teachers during their probationary period are reduced by 2 standard hours per week.

- Teachers teaching practical subjects in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous conditions (listed in the Catalogue issued by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health): reduced by 1 hour per day.

b. Reduction in teaching hours for teachers engaged in management work:

- Class advisors: reduced by 2 standard hours per week.

- Heads of specialized classrooms: reduced by 2 standard hours per week.

- Subject department heads:

+ Departments with five teachers or fewer are reduced by 1 standard hour per week.

+ Departments with six teachers or more are reduced by 2 standard hours per week.

- Department heads, station chiefs, and equivalents: reduced by 30% of the teaching load.

- Deputy positions of the above roles: reduced by two-thirds compared to the head position.

c. Reduction in teaching hours for teachers engaged in Party and mass organization work:

- Teachers concurrently serving as Party Secretary or Branch Secretary of the Communist Youth Union, Trade Union Chairperson, or Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth League of the school: reduced by 20-30% of the teaching load.

- Deputy positions of the above roles: reduced by two-thirds compared to the head position.

- Teachers concurrently holding two or more positions (for example, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Trade Union of the school...): shall have their teaching workload reduced by 30 to 45 percent.

Depending on the scale of the School and the number of members in each organization, after negotiating with the Party Executive Board, the Youth Union, and the Principal, the Principal shall decide the number of hours to be reduced for each position within the prescribed limits.

In practice, teachers may have additional tasks assigned by the Principal that are specific to each school. Based on the specific tasks, the Principal shall set standards for each task to ensure a reasonable correlation with the standards stipulated in this Circular.

III. REST PERIODS

The rest period for vocational school teachers in one academic year is eight weeks, including summer break, Tet holiday, public holidays, and semester break.

1. Summer break: six weeks.

Teachers who have completed at least 80% of their assigned tasks shall be entitled to a six-week summer break. For teachers who complete less than 80% of their assigned tasks, the Principal shall determine the duration of the summer break based on the extent of task completion, but must ensure that the minimum summer break for each teacher is three weeks.

- Teachers responsible for student management duties who complete their assigned tasks shall enjoy the general summer break benefits as other teachers.

- Management staff who also teach and meet the professional requirements and teaching hour standards shall be entitled to a four-week summer break.

2. Tet holiday, public holidays, and semester break: two weeks.

3. Other holidays for vocational school teachers shall be implemented according to current State regulations.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION

1. This Circular shall take effect fifteen days from the date of signature. All previous regulations concerning the working conditions of vocational school teachers that conflict with this Circular are hereby abolished.

2. During implementation, if there are any difficulties, the relevant Ministries, sectors, localities, and vocational schools are requested to report to the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs for study and resolution./.