Circular No. 120/2012/TT-BTC guiding the training allowance for Laotian and Cambodian overseas students (under the Agreement) studying in Vietnam

 

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Training Allowance for Laotian and Cambodian Students Studying in Vietnam

(under the Agreement) studying in Vietnam

 

Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to Decree No. 60/2003/NĐ-CP dated June 6, 2003 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on State Budget;

Implementing the directive of the Prime Minister in Document No. 4986/VPCP-QHQT dated July 6, 2012 regarding the adjustment of training standards for Laotian and Cambodian students studying in Vietnam;

Considering the proposal of the Director of the Department of Debt Management and External Finance;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular to guide the allowance system for training Laotian and Cambodian students (under Agreements) studying in Vietnam as follows:

Article 1. Scope of application

The subjects eligible for the training allowance are Laotian and Cambodian students sent by the Government of Laos and the Royal Government of Cambodia to study at secondary schools and universities in Vietnam under agreements signed between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of Laos and between the Government of Vietnam and the Royal Government of Cambodia on cooperation in education, training, culture, science, and technology (hereinafter referred to as Laotian and Cambodian students).

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms shall be understood as follows:

1. Agreement: refers to the Agreement on Economic, Cultural, Educational, Scientific, and Technological Cooperation between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Minutes of the Joint Committee Meeting between Vietnam and Cambodia on economic, cultural, educational, scientific, and technological cooperation.

2. Student: refers to foreign students coming to Vietnam for study or Vietnamese students going abroad for study; in this Circular, it refers to Laotian and Cambodian students coming to Vietnam for study under agreements signed between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of Laos and the Royal Government of Cambodia.

Article 3. Principles of Management

1. Ensure transparency and clarity in the financial management of training institutions. Do not use training funds for Laotian and Cambodian students for other purposes.

2. Training institutions must ensure the quality of admissions, the quality of incoming students, and the quality of training to make cooperative training programs effective.

Article 4. Structure of Training Allowance

The training allowance for Laotian and Cambodian students guaranteed by the state budget according to this Circular includes:

1. Training expenses directly allocated to training institutions

2. Living expenses and initial support directly allocated to Laotian and Cambodian students through training institutions (except when the training institution organizes centralized meals as required, then the centralized meal allowance will be provided to the training institution according to the current standard of the institution).

Article 5. Training Expenses Directly Allocated to Training Institutions, including the following items

1. Training expenses allocated to each level of education at the rate of VND 2,240,000 per Laotian or Cambodian student per month (for intermediate, university, and postgraduate programs), and VND 4,770,000 per Laotian or Cambodian student per month (for short-term courses), including:

a) Monthly regular expenses, including teaching and learning costs such as salaries for staff (including overtime teaching allowances), materials, experiments, practical exercises, course internships, and other related expenses for teaching and learning of Laotian and Cambodian students; Administrative expenses, including office supplies, cultural and sports activities, electricity, water, fuel, insurance as prescribed (health insurance for students, health insurance for the institution...), comprehensive medical check-ups at the beginning of the course, purchasing supplementary inexpensive consumables, hospitality, and other related expenses.

b) One-time expenses for the entire course: expenses for supporting equipment for teaching and practice, and equipment for the daily life of Laotian and Cambodian students residing in dormitories, expenses for field trips, expenses for admission procedures, expenses for final exams and graduation thesis defense, gift expenses, expenses for welcoming and seeing off Laotian and Cambodian students at Vietnam International Airport.

c) Expenses arising during the year: annual comprehensive medical check-ups, National Day celebrations of Vietnam and the partner country, Tet celebrations of Vietnam and the partner country.

d) Based on the above expenditure items, schools should manage their expenditures actively but not exceed the limits set out in Clause 1 of this Article. Settlement of accounts shall be based on actual expenditures with full invoices and supporting documents proving the expenditures in accordance with regulations. Schools should organize health insurance for Laotian and Cambodian students according to the prescribed regime.

đ) For regular full-time graduate students who are present in Vietnam for a particular month, the training allowance for that month shall be implemented.

e) In cases where the school does not have sufficient conditions to provide accommodation and living services for foreign students, the universities and service providers for students shall negotiate and sign contracts regarding the conditions for ensuring accommodation, living, and daily services for students within the specified limit.

g) Training institutions under the Defense, Security, Cryptographic, Sports, and Arts sectors may increase their training expenses by 10% for each level of education to cover teaching and learning expenses.

2. In addition to the standards mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article, the state budget supports:

a) Each Laotian student: one round-trip economy class air ticket (for Laotian students) and one return air ticket (if graduating) in economy class, airport fees, excess baggage charges beyond the ticket weight limit (20kg) based on the most cost-effective route. If students choose other means of transportation (not air travel), they will be reimbursed the actual fare recorded on the receipt of the means of transportation, but not exceeding the lowest economy class airfare from the departure point to the destination. For non-concentrated regular graduate students, each period of concentrated study, students will be supported one round-trip ticket. If the training institution organizes centralized pick-up/drop-off from/to border gates for students and obtains their agreement, the actual travel expenses from/to the border gate will be reimbursed, but not exceeding 50% of the lowest economy class airfare from the departure point to the destination.

b) Interpreting fees for short-term courses of three months or less with fewer than twenty students and unable to arrange interpreters among the students, at a rate of VND 150,000 per hour per class, equivalent to VND 1,200,000 per day for an eight-hour class. For short-term courses of three months or less that can arrange interpreters among the students, the interpreter will receive a 50% interpreting allowance based on the aforementioned rate.

c) Support costs for translation to cover the translation expenses of presentation materials directly serving short-term course teaching activities. The specific rate for translating documents from Vietnamese to the language of the host country shall not exceed 150,000 VND per page (350 words). Training institutions are only allowed to allocate translation costs for standardizing presentation materials that can be reused for subsequent similar courses; no allocation for translating reference materials, overlapping expenditures, or retranslating presentation materials of identical courses previously funded for translation.

3. Ministries, sectors, and units must base their acceptance and organization of tasks related to training Lao and Cambodian exchange students on their current actual physical facilities, ensuring convenience in accommodation, food, study, and daily life for the exchange students.

Article 6. Living expense allowance and initial provision support for exchange students:

a) Long-term secondary education exchange students: 2,140,000 VND per exchange student per month.

b) Long-term university-level exchange students: 2,530,000 VND per exchange student per month.

c) Postgraduate exchange students: 2,860,000 VND per exchange student per month.

d) Short-term exchange students (under 12 months): 3,350,000 VND per exchange student per month.

a) Long-term secondary education exchange students: 1,110,000 VND per exchange student per month.

b) Long-term university-level exchange students: 1,340,000 VND per exchange student per month.

c) Postgraduate exchange students: 1,670,000 VND per exchange student per month.

d) Short-term exchange students (under 12 months): 2,050,000 VND per exchange student per month.

3. Initial personal provision support: Provided once per exchange student for the entire duration of the course (if lost or damaged, it will not be replaced again), including essential items such as blankets, mosquito nets, washbasins, clothes, etc., specifically as follows:

a) Long-term concentrated exchange students are provided with: 3,900,000 VND per person.

b) Short-term concentrated exchange students are provided with: 3,120,000 VND per person.

c) Specifically, for exchange students in the defense, security, cryptology sectors, in addition to the amount provided under point a or b of Clause 3 of this Article, they are additionally provided with a difference in military uniforms worth 55,000 VND per person per month.

d) Exchange students who have already received initial personal provision support when studying Vietnamese to take entrance exams for various levels of study will not receive initial personal provision support when entering the formal level of study.

Article 7. Exchange students coming to study Vietnamese to take entrance exams for various levels of study.

For students coming to study Vietnamese to take entrance exams for various levels of study, during the period of studying Vietnamese, the specific application standards for funding for these subjects are stipulated as follows:

1. Direct training funding allocated to training institutions: Apply the cost standards of the level of study that the student will participate in taking the entrance exam as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

2. Living expense allowance and initial provision support for exchange students:

a) Living expense allowance

- For those taking the entrance exam for postgraduate level (or equivalent level) shall enjoy the rate of: 2,530,000 VND per person per month.

- For those taking the entrance exam for secondary school, university level (or equivalent level) shall enjoy the rate of: 2,140,000 VND per person per month.

b) Initial provision support: Apply the cost standards stipulated in Article 6 of this Circular.

Article 8. Budget preparation, allocation, and settlement

1. Based on the Prime Minister's documents regarding the implementation of the annual cooperation agreements between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of Laos, between the Government of Vietnam and the Royal Government of Cambodia, and the training plan index for Laotian and Cambodian students, the training institution tasked with receiving and training exchange students shall prepare the budget for training expenses based on the number of exchange students assigned and the stipulated training expense allowance set forth in this Circular, to be submitted to the supervising authority for review and then forwarded to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and submission to the competent authority for decision-making on the allocation of the budget from the government assistance funds of Vietnam allocated annually to the Governments of Laos and Cambodia.

2. The training institution shall submit the approved annual budget to the State Treasury at the transaction location for the basis of disbursement.

3. The disbursement of training funds for exchange students studying in Vietnam as stipulated in this Circular shall be carried out through the withdrawal of the budget via the State Treasury.

4. Annually, no later than March 31, the training institutions shall prepare the final account report on the training expenses for Laotian and Cambodian exchange students of the previous year to be submitted to the supervising authority for consolidation in the final account report on the assistance funds provided to Laos and Cambodia by the supervising authority. The supervising authorities and ministries shall prepare the expenditure report on assistance to Laos and Cambodia to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for consolidation no later than June 30 each year to ensure the progress of the state budget settlement as prescribed. The procedures for settling the training expenses for exchange students (under the Agreement) funded by the state budget shall be implemented according to current regulations.

Article 9. Effective Date

This Circular takes effect from September 1, 2012, and is applicable starting from the 2012-2013 academic year, replacing Circular No. 16/2006/TT-BTC dated March 7, 2006, issued by the Ministry of Finance, which stipulates the allowance system for training Laotian and Cambodian students studying in Vietnam, and Circular No. 41/2008/TT-BTC dated May 22, 2008, issued by the Ministry of Finance, guiding the adjustment of increased meal allowances for Laotian and Cambodian students studying in Vietnam. Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for timely supplementation and amendment./.