Joint Circular No. 05/2003/TTLT-BGDĐT-BNV-BTC guiding certain policies for the development of preschool education

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Certain Policies on Early Childhood Education Development

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Pursuant to Decree No. 86/CP dated November 5, 2002 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of Ministries and ministerial-level agencies;
Pursuant to Directive No. 18-2001/CT-TTg dated August 27, 2001 of the Prime Minister on urgent measures to build up the teaching staff of the national education system;
Pursuant to Decision No. 201-2001/QĐ-TTg dated December 28, 2001 of the Prime Minister approving the Strategy for Education Development 2001-2010;
Pursuant to Decision No. 161-2002/QĐ-TTg dated November 15, 2002 of the Prime Minister on certain policies for early childhood education development;

The Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issue guidelines for certain policies on early childhood education development as follows:

1. Developing plans and planning the network for early childhood education development:

Provincial People's Committees (hereinafter referred to as provincial People's Committee) shall direct:

1.1. To develop programs, projects, and orientations for the development of early childhood education within the overall development plan of education and training in their respective localities, prioritizing the development of kindergartens for five-year-olds in the short term.

1.2. To plan the network of public and private early childhood education institutions in accordance with the socio-economic conditions of the locality and implement socialization of early childhood education services on the territory in the direction:

1.2.1. To establish public early childhood education institutions mainly in communes with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions in mountainous areas, border regions, and remote areas included in the list decided by the Prime Minister; communes in island areas, communes located in areas with regional allowances of 0.5 or more as prescribed in Decree No. 25/CP dated May 23, 1993 of the Government "Provisional Regulations on the New Salary System for Civil Servants, Administrative and Public Service Staff, and Military Forces" and other relevant state documents.

1.2.2. To establish semi-public early childhood education institutions mainly in rural areas not mentioned in Point 1.2.1 and in urban districts, towns, and market towns with limited socio-economic development conditions.

1.2.3. To encourage the establishment of private and independent early childhood education institutions in urban districts, towns, market towns, industrial zones, and places with favorable socio-economic conditions. Private and independent early childhood education institutions are entitled to preferential policies as prescribed in Decree No. 73-1999/NĐ-CP dated August 19, 1999 of the Government on policies to encourage socialization in education, health care, culture, and sports activities.

Circular No. 18-2000/TT-BTC dated March 1, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of Decree No. 73-1999/NĐ-CP dated August 19, 1999; Joint Circular No. 26-2000/TTLT-BLĐTBXH-BTC dated October 20, 2000 of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance guiding the implementation of social insurance policies for workers in non-public institutions in the fields of education, health care, culture, and sports.

The State encourages and creates favorable conditions for public early childhood education institutions to convert to semi-public institutions. The conversion roadmap is determined by the provincial People's Committee. During the process, localities need to have supportive policies regarding infrastructure to ensure the development of this type of institution.

1.2.4. The conversion of public early childhood education institutions in economically and socially developed areas, urban districts, towns, and industrial zones to operate under the semi-public model shall be implemented according to the regulations on the organization and operation of non-public institutions (annexed to Decision No. 89-2001/QĐ-BGDĐT dated August 28, 2001 of the Minister of Education and Training).

1.3. To implement plans for building early childhood education institutions, enhance teaching aids, educational materials, and toys for early childhood education institutions according to the local planning.

2. Training and retraining of early childhood educators:

2.1. The Ministry of Education and Training and provincial People's Committees continue to invest in enhancing material facilities, teaching equipment, and improving the qualifications of teachers at teacher training institutions under their jurisdiction to implement training, retraining, standardization of early childhood educators and management staff, meeting the requirements for reforming the content, curriculum, and teaching methods of early childhood education.

2.2. Central and local early childhood teacher training universities, colleges, and high schools invest in improving the quality of faculty and lecturers, develop plans, and find optimal solutions to train new teachers and upgrade standards for existing early childhood educators.

3. Teacher staffing in early childhood education:

3.1. The number of administrative staff (principal, vice-principal) of early childhood education institutions is implemented in accordance with Circular No. 13/TT dated September 4, 1993 of the Minister of Education and Training guiding the classification of schools and the allowance for leadership positions appointed in schools:

A level I early childhood education institution has 1 principal and 2 vice-principals.
A level II early childhood education institution has 1 principal and 1 vice-principal.

3.2. Teachers in early childhood education institutions, regardless of the type of institution (public, semi-public, private, independent), must meet the training standards as prescribed in Article 32 of the Charter of Early Childhood Education Institutions (annexed to Decision No. 27-2000/QĐ-BGDĐT dated July 20, 2000 of the Minister of Education and Training).

3.3. The staffing ratio for teachers in public and semi-public early childhood education institutions established through conversion is implemented in accordance with Decision No. 304/CP dated August 29, 1979 of the Council of Ministers on the organizational structure and staffing of state-run kindergartens; Decree No. 17/HĐBT dated January 31, 1984 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government) on the organizational structure and staffing of kindergarten schools.

3.4. Recruitment into the state civil service for:

3.4.1. Principals and vice-principals of public and semi-public early childhood education institutions.

3.4.2. Preschool teachers at public preschool schools and classes (newly established schools or reinforced and reorganized schools) located in communes with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions in mountainous areas, border regions, and remote areas as decided by the Prime Minister. For preschool teachers who have been implementing indefinite-term contracts within the quota of staff positions in the aforementioned communes, they will continue to implement such contracts.

3.4.3. Core teachers in terms of professional skills at public preschool schools located in island communes, communes in areas with regional allowances of 0.5 or more as stipulated in Decree No. 25/CP dated May 23, 1993 of the Government "Provisional Regulations on New Salary System for Civil Servants, Administrative and Public Service Staff, and Armed Forces Personnel" and other relevant documents issued by competent state agencies.

In areas without preschool schools but having from one to two preschool classes within primary schools, teachers responsible for these preschool classes shall be recruited into state staff positions.
A preschool school with three to four groups or classes shall recruit one core teacher position.
A preschool school with five to six groups or classes shall recruit two core teacher positions.

3.4.5. Recruitment into state staff positions according to current regulations.

3.5. For preschool teachers under state staff positions at semi-public preschool schools in rural areas; public preschool schools in cities, towns, industrial zones, and places with developed economic and social conditions when these schools and classes convert to semi-public status, they will remain in state staff positions until retirement or transfer to other jobs.

From 2003, these schools and classes will not recruit additional or replacement staff positions. If there is a shortage of teachers compared to the quota, they can be recruited through labor contracts. The signing of labor contracts is the responsibility of the School Principal after obtaining written approval from the Director of the Department of Education and Training. Short-term labor contracts are directly signed by the Principal with the employee.

4. Treatment and policies for preschool teachers:

4.1. Preschool teachers (regardless of school type) enjoy preferential treatment:

4.1.1. Educational training and professional development programs;

4.1.2. Reward systems for outstanding achievements in economic and social tasks and national defense as stipulated in Resolution No. 56-1998/NĐ-CP dated July 30, 1998 of the Government, Circular No. 25-2001/TT-BTC dated April 16, 2001 of the Ministry of Finance "Guidelines for Financial Management in Implementing Reward Systems for Outstanding Achievements in Economic and Social Tasks and National Defense" and current guiding documents;

4.1.3. Honorary titles for educators (People's Teacher, Distinguished Educator);

Criteria for awarding these titles are annually guided by the Ministry of Education and Training.
Monetary rewards accompanying these honorary titles are guided by the Ministry of Finance.
The state budget, according to current classification, allocates funds for the above awards as stipulated in Decree No. 56-1998/NĐ-CP dated July 30, 1998 of the Government and Circular No. 25-2001/TT-BTC dated April 16, 2001 of the Ministry of Finance.

4.2. Regarding salary, allowances, social insurance, and health insurance.

4.2.1. Preschool teachers in state staff positions and those in contracts within the quota of staff positions at public preschool schools, or those in state staff positions at public schools that converted to semi-public status from the date this Circular takes effect, shall enjoy salary systems, allowances, social insurance, and health insurance according to the provisions of Decree No. 25/CP dated May 23, 1993 of the Government "Provisional Regulations on New Salary System for Civil Servants, Administrative and Public Service Staff, and Armed Forces Personnel" and current documents.

4.2.2. Preschool teachers working at semi-public, private, or privately-run preschool schools (excluding those specified in Point 4.2.1) may participate in social insurance and health insurance according to state regulations and agreements between the school and the teachers regarding contribution levels.

5. Financial sources for public and semi-public preschool schools:

5.1. State budget.

Localities allocate reasonable financial resources within their local budgets to invest in preschool education. From now until 2005, efforts should be made to allocate at least 10% of the total state budget expenditure on education for preschool education; priority should be given to allocating capital for building public preschool schools in communes with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions in mountainous areas, border regions, and remote areas as decided by the Prime Minister.

5.2. Tuition fees and contributions for school construction as stipulated by current regulations.

5.3. Donations, aid, and gifts from organizations and individuals both domestically and internationally.

5.4. Capital contributions from organizations and individuals for new construction, renovation, expansion, and upgrading of facilities.

5.5. Loans from banks and credit institutions with preferential interest rates.

5.6. Other lawful sources of income.

6. Tuition fees and contributions for school construction:

Based on the tuition fee framework set by the Government and guiding documents; based on the Decision of the Prime Minister and guiding documents of relevant agencies on contributions for school construction; Provincial People's Committees decide the level of tuition fees and contributions for school construction for each educational level (kindergarten, nursery) suitable for each type of school (public, semi-public) and in accordance with actual conditions in each region and locality, subject to approval by the same-level People's Council.

7. Public preschool schools operate under the financial mechanism applicable to revenue-generating public service units as stipulated in Decree No. 10-2002/NĐ-CP dated January 16, 2002 of the Government, Circular No. 25-2002/TT-BTC dated March 21, 2002 of the Ministry of Finance, and other guiding documents on financial mechanisms for revenue-generating public service units. The use of tuition fees, contributions for school construction, donations, and other lawful income follows general regulations on the collection and use of tuition fees and contributions in public schools within the national education system.

8. The financial management of public-private partnership kindergartens (including: newly-built kindergartens funded initially by the State for infrastructure; kindergartens in rural areas previously invested in by agricultural cooperatives now directly managed by the People's Committee of communes, wards, towns; kindergartens established through conversion of types) shall be implemented as follows:

8.1. Public-private partnership kindergartens implement a self-financing mechanism, permitted to use the entire amount of tuition fees and contributions for school construction, sponsorships, loans, and other lawful revenues to fund regular activities of the institution, maintain and develop its physical facilities.

8.2. Public-private partnership kindergartens must use revenues from student meal fees; contributions for school construction; targeted aid and sponsorships for their intended purposes.

8.3. For public-private partnership kindergartens and classes where tuition fees and other lawful revenues (excluding contributions for school construction; meal fees; targeted aid and sponsorships) are insufficient to cover salaries and social insurance, health insurance, trade union fees for contractual teachers within the staffing plan, the shortfall will be subsidized by the state budget (according to current budget management levels) to ensure payment of social insurance, health insurance, trade union fees, and salaries for these teachers at least at the minimum level prescribed by the State.

The budget subsidy for this purpose shall be determined as follows:

8.5. The state budget (according to current budget management levels) allocates funds to public-private partnership kindergartens to pay salaries and deductions according to wages (social insurance, health insurance, trade union fees) for the following categories:

Management staff (principals, vice-principals) recruited into state positions at public-private partnership kindergartens; kindergarten teachers recruited into positions in particularly difficult economic conditions in communes listed in the Prime Minister's Decision No. 161-2002/QĐ-TTg without distinction between pre-existing and post-December 1, 2002 positions; core kindergarten teachers in mountainous, border, and island regions as stipulated in the Prime Minister's Decision No. 161-2002/QĐ-TTg.

Kindergarten teachers recruited into state positions before December 1, 2002. These individuals receive salary and allowances from the state budget until retirement according to regulations.

8.6. Based on the local government budget balance (according to current budget management levels), localities consider providing funding to public-private partnership kindergartens to ensure educational quality in the following areas:

Training, professional development, and experience exchange for teachers and managers.

Promoting knowledge about child care, feeding, and education to parents and the community.

Organizing early childhood education competitions.
Purchasing equipment and supplies for child care, feeding, and education (teaching aids, learning materials; toys).
Field trips for kindergarten students.
8.7. Budget preparation, allocation, and settlement of funds subsidized by the state budget shall be carried out in accordance with current financial management regulations.
9.1. This joint circular takes effect from December 1, 2002.

9.2. Local People's Committees at all levels are responsible for directing relevant agencies and subordinates to implement the Prime Minister's Decision No. 161-2002/QĐ-TTg dated November 15, 2002, and the guidance provided in this joint circular.

Implementation Organization:

Based on the local preschool education development plan approved by the provincial People's Committee, the Department of Education and Training collaborates with the Organization Department, the Department of Finance and Prices, the Department of Planning and Investment, and local departments to develop investment plans and implement them.

The Department of Education and Training and the Organization Department develop and implement plans for the preschool teacher workforce in the locality.

Based on the approved tuition fees and contributions for public-private partnership and public kindergartens by the Provincial People's Council, the People's Committee decides, and the Departments of Finance and Prices, Planning and Investment, and Education and Training implement plans for building kindergartens and classes according to planning; strengthen equipment and supplies for kindergartens and classes; ensure sufficient funds for regular operations and implementing policies for preschool teachers, including salary support, social insurance, and health insurance for preschool teachers.
The district-level People's Committee is responsible for developing programs and plans for preschool education development according to provincial directives; organizing the implementation of land use and basic construction planning for preschool education facilities and ensuring compliance with standards for teacher policies after approval by competent authorities.
On the basis of tuition fees and contributions for the construction of public and semi-public kindergartens approved by the Provincial People's Councils, the People's Committees of provinces and cities shall decide; the Departments of Finance and Prices, Planning and Investment, and Education and Training shall implement plans to build schools and classes according to the planning; enhance equipment and toys for kindergarten schools and classes; ensure sufficient funds for regular operations, implementation of policies and benefits for kindergarten teachers, support salaries, social insurance, and health insurance for kindergarten teachers.
The People's Committee at the district level is responsible for developing programs and projects to develop preschool education according to the directives of the provincial People's Committee; organizing the implementation of land use planning and basic construction plans for preschool educational facilities and implementing them after approval by the competent authority to ensure the implementation of standards for policies and benefits for kindergarten teachers in the area.
The People's Committee of communes, towns, and wards shall directly direct the construction of public and semi-public kindergartens within their respective communes, towns, and wards.
Kindergartens have the responsibility to ensure the quality of childcare and education for children in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.

During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties or feedback, they should be promptly reported to the relevant ministries for consideration and resolution.