Joint Circular No. 109/2006/TTLT/BTC-BLDTBXH guiding the content, level of expenditure, and management of funds for the Vocational Teacher Lecture Competition and the Self-made Teaching Equipment Contest.

JOINT CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the content and level of expenditure for teacher vocational training seminars and self-made vocational teaching equipment contests

__________________________________________

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated December 16, 2002, and current guiding documents for the State Budget Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 86/2002/NĐ-CP dated November 5, 2002 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of Ministries and ministerial-level agencies;

To ensure uniformity in financial management regulations for teacher vocational training seminars and self-made vocational teaching equipment contests, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs hereby issue the following guidelines.

A - GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. These Circulars apply to teacher vocational training seminars and self-made vocational teaching equipment contests at the grassroots level; provincial level (hereinafter referred to collectively as the provincial level); and national level.

2. Teacher vocational training seminar (hereinafter referred to collectively as the seminar)

2.1. Grassroots level seminar: Organized annually by vocational training centers, junior college vocational schools, college vocational schools, and other educational institutions registered for vocational training activities (hereinafter referred to collectively as vocational training institutions).

2.2. Provincial level seminar: Organized every two years by the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

2.3. National level seminar: Organized every three years by the General Department of Vocational Training under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

3. Self-made vocational teaching equipment contest (hereinafter referred to collectively as the contest)

3.1. Grassroots level contest: Organized every two years by vocational training centers, junior college vocational schools, college vocational schools, and other educational institutions registered for vocational training activities.

3.2. Provincial level contest: Organized every five years by the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

3.3. National level contest: Organized every five years by the General Department of Vocational Training under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

B - SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

I. CONTENT AND LEVEL OF EXPENDITURE

1. National level seminar and contest

1.1. Expenditure for preparatory work:

a) Expenditure for overall plan development, rules, and regulations; specifically:

- Development of the overall plan for the seminar and contest: Maximum expenditure of 500,000 VND per plan approved by the Head of the seminar and contest organizing committee;

- Development of rules and regulations for the seminar and contest: Maximum expenditure of 500,000 VND per rule or regulation accepted by the Head of the seminar and contest organizing committee;

- Development of evaluation criteria for lectures and self-made vocational teaching equipment: Maximum expenditure of 500,000 VND per set of criteria accepted by the Head of the seminar and contest organizing committee;

- Development of examination questions and answers for the seminar: Maximum expenditure of 500,000 VND per question and answer set (up to four sets to choose from);

b) Organization of symposiums:

- Symposium organization expenses: Venue rental (if the organizing unit does not have its own venue), decoration, printing (or purchasing) materials, drinking water; payment according to contract or actual expenses within the budget estimate;

- Expenses for the symposium chairperson, speakers, and participants, specifically:

+ Chairperson of the symposium: 100,000 VND per session per person;

+ Speakers: 100,000 VND per paper;

+ Participants: 50,000 VND per session per person;

- Expenses for organizing committee meetings and judging panels: Maximum expenditure of 50,000 VND per person per session;

c) Overtime expenses for organizing committee members according to the provisions of Joint Circular No. 08/2005/TTLT-BNV-BTC dated January 5, 2005, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance regarding the implementation of night shift and overtime pay for civil servants, public officials, and employees;

d) Office supplies expenses: Paper, ink, pens, copying of documents, test papers, forms, etc.; badges, signs, pins, certificates of merit, framed certificates, commemorative flags, photography, publicity, etc., based on actual expenses but not exceeding 8% of total seminar and contest expenditures;

1.2. Expenditure for organizing the seminar and contest:

a) Venue rental, hall rental, equipment, machinery, tools suitable for professional requirements. Specific levels of expenditure are determined by the Head of the seminar and contest organizing committee;

b) Opening and closing ceremony expenses: Hall rental, stage decoration, cultural performances, drinking water; expenses based on actual occurrences;

c) Expenses for organizing committee members, chairman, vice-chairman, secretary of the judging panel: 100,000 VND per person per day; head of sub-committees and sub-committee secretaries: 50,000 VND per day (maximum seven days);

d) Food allowance for judges (maximum seven days):

Level of expenditure: 50,000 VND per person per day when held in centrally-administered cities;

Level of expenditure: 40,000 VND per person per day when held in other locations;

e) Room rental, transportation (to and from), travel expenses for organizing committee members, chairman, vice-chairman, secretary of the judging panel, contestants, and judges: Implemented according to Circular No. 118/2004/TT-BTC dated December 8, 2004, issued by the Ministry of Finance regarding travel allowances and conference regulations for administrative agencies and public service units nationwide. Those who do not meet the criteria for air travel as stipulated, but need to travel by air due to necessity, shall be decided by the Head of the seminar and contest organizing committee;

Individuals who have received these allowances from the seminar and contest organizing body shall not be reimbursed travel allowances at their sending organizations or units;

f) Expenses for medical staff, technical personnel, service staff, drivers, and security personnel during the seminar and contest: Level of expenditure 30,000 VND per person per day;

g) Grading, assessing results, and compiling reports:

- Training evaluation criteria and grading sample tests in the seminar; equipment in the contest (not exceeding one day), level of expenditure 100,000 VND per day per trainer or grader;

- Grading:

+ Grading knowledge test papers in the seminar: Level of expenditure 10,000 VND per paper per grader;

+ Grading lesson plans in the seminar; contest equipment files: Level of expenditure 15,000 VND per lesson plan or file per grader;

+ Grading presentation papers in the seminar: Level of expenditure 80,000 VND per paper per grader;

||| The cost for registering devices to participate in the Competition: 30,000 VND per device per evaluator.

||| - Cost for compiling and reporting competition results by sub-committees: 200,000 VND per sub-committee;

||| - Cost for compiling and reporting the results of the Lecture and Competition: 500,000 VND per report.

||| 1.3 Expenses for awards

||| - Awards for collectives and individuals who win in the Lecture and Competition:

||| Individual awards:

||| + First prize: 600,000 VND;

||| + Second prize: 400,000 VND;

||| + Third prize: 200,000 VND;

||| + Encouragement award: 100,000 VND;

||| Team awards:

||| + First prize team: 1,000,000 VND;

||| + Second prize team: 600,000 VND;

||| + Third prize team: 200,000 VND.

||| 1.4 Other expenses:

||| Any other expenses that arise outside the plan and are not specified in this Circular or other regulatory documents shall be implemented according to the decision of the Head of the Organizing Committee of the Lecture and Competition.

||| 1.5 For non-state vocational training institutions participating in national-level Lectures and Competitions, the costs stipulated in this Circular shall be guaranteed by the central government budget.

||| 2. Provincial and institutional-level Lectures and Competitions

||| 2.1 Based on the contents and expense levels prescribed for national-level Lectures for Vocational Teachers and Competitions for Self-made Teaching Equipment, the heads of ministries, sectors, localities, and institutions shall specify the specific contents and expense levels for provincial and institutional-level Lectures and Competitions according to their unit's financial capacity, but they must not exceed the expense levels prescribed for national-level Lectures and Competitions.

||| 2.2 In addition to the expense items and levels applied at the national level, provincial and institutional-level Lectures and Competitions also provide allowances for teachers and experts preparing for the competitions as follows:

||| a) Allowance for teachers during the preparation period for the national-level Lecture and Competition; preparing files and completing equipment for participation in the national-level Competition: 50,000 VND per person per actual day of preparation;

||| b) Allowance for experts preparing teachers for the national-level Lecture and Competition: 200,000 VND per expert per actual day of preparation;

||| c) Food allowance for participants during the days of the national-level Lecture and Competition: 40,000 VND per day per person (maximum not exceeding seven days).

||| 2.3 For non-state vocational training institutions participating in provincial-level Lectures and Competitions, the expenses stipulated in this Circular shall be guaranteed by the local government budget.

||| II. SOURCES OF FUNDS AND BUDGET ESTIMATION, MANAGEMENT, AND USE OF FUNDS

a) The Health Insurance Fund;

||| 1.1 Funds for national-level Lectures for Vocational Teachers and Competitions for Self-made Teaching Equipment shall be guaranteed by the central government budget;

||| 1.2 Funds for provincial-level Lectures and Competitions shall be guaranteed by the provincial and centrally-administered city budgets;

||| 1.3 Funds for institutional-level Lectures and Competitions:

||| a) For state-owned vocational training institutions that self-fund all regular operational expenses as stipulated in Circular No. 71/2006/TT-BTC dated August 9, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance to guide the implementation of Decree No. 43/2006/NĐ-CP dated April 25, 2006, of the Government on the rights of autonomy and responsibility for implementing tasks, organizational structures, staffing, and finance; the costs for Lectures and Competitions as prescribed shall be included in the reasonable operational expenses of the unit;

||| b) For institutions that partially self-fund operational expenses as prescribed, the costs for Lectures and Competitions shall be guaranteed by the state budget according to the current classification of state budget expenditures and shall be allocated and announced in the unit's budget estimate;

||| c) For non-state vocational training institutions: They may apply the contents and expense levels prescribed in this Circular, and the costs for Lectures and Competitions with valid invoices and supporting documents may be included in the reasonable training expenses when calculating the income tax of the unit.

||| 1.4 In addition to state budget funding, organizations and units organizing Lectures and Competitions at various levels are permitted to mobilize and use funds from other legitimate sources to support the Lectures and Competitions.

||| 2. Budget estimation, management, and use of funds:

||| - The preparation, allocation, management, and settlement of funds for the contents of the Lecture for Vocational Teachers and the Competition for Self-made Teaching Equipment shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the State Budget Law and current guiding documents of the Law.

||| - Based on the contents and expense levels for Lectures and Competitions prescribed in this Circular, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (General Department of Vocational Training) shall prepare the budget estimate for national-level Lectures and Competitions; the Departments of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs of provinces and centrally-administered cities shall prepare the budget estimate for provincial-level Lectures and Competitions; units organizing institutional-level Lectures and Competitions and units with members participating in Lectures and Competitions shall develop detailed budget estimates for Lectures and Competitions within their unit's annual budget estimate and submit them to the competent financial authority for approval and allocation according to the provisions of the State Budget Law and its guiding documents.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

||| This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. During the implementation process, if there are any difficulties, please reflect them to the Joint Ministries for timely review, supplementation, and amendment./.