Program No. 34/2002/CT-BGDĐT On Key Tasks for the Entire Education Sector in the 2002-2003 Academic Year

DIRECTIVE

On the key tasks of the entire education sector for the 2002-2003 academic year

^{___________________________}

In the 2001-2002 academic year, with the spirit of competition to celebrate the Ninth National Party Congress, the entire education sector made efforts to fulfill the tasks set out in Circular No. 32/2001/CT-BGD&ĐT of the Minister of Education and Training. The foundation, discipline were rectified and showed positive changes. The preparation for the widespread implementation of new curricula and textbooks at secondary schools was carried out urgently and seriously, creating an important basis for gradually improving educational quality in the coming years. Improvements in examinations, especially the reform of university, college, and vocational high school admissions, were implemented with a strict plan and initially achieved good results. Educational work in ethnic minority areas and training of ethnic minority cadres received appropriate attention. The system of legal normative documents continued to be improved. Inspection and supervision work was strengthened. During the process of implementing the policy of socializing education, all levels of party committees, People's Councils, People's Committees, and the whole society increasingly cared about developing education and achieving fairness in education. Although the entire sector made many efforts and achieved good results on several fronts, the overall quality and effectiveness of education remain low compared to the requirements for training human resources to serve the industrialization and modernization of the country. Many issues regarding the teaching staff and education management cadre; infrastructure, classrooms, equipment; and management work have not been resolved conclusively. In accordance with the spirit of the Ninth National Party Congress Resolution and the conclusion of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Party, the entire education sector must make more efforts to overcome difficulties and weaknesses, overcome challenges, and create more noticeable changes in education development.

Based on the current situation and practical requirements, the Minister of Education and Training instructs the entire education sector for the 2002-2003 academic year to focus on implementing the following tasks thoroughly:

I. GENERAL TASKS

On the basis of thoroughly understanding the spirit of the Ninth National Party Congress Resolution and the conclusion of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Party, continue to rectify foundations and discipline; build a healthy educational environment; expand the scale of education based on ensuring the quality and effectiveness of training; Implement strong reforms in content and methods of education at all levels from preschool, vocational high school, to college, university, and postgraduate levels; Continue to improve examinations and methods of assessing students' learning outcomes and discipline; Care for the development of preschool education; consolidate the achievements of eradicating illiteracy and universal primary education, and promote universal lower secondary education; Implement the planning of higher education networks including universities, colleges, and vocational high schools; Promote the socialization of education and achieve fairness in education; Develop education in ethnic minority regions and economically and socially particularly difficult areas; Strengthen cooperation and seek assistance from other countries and international organizations in education; Create more opportunities for young people to learn, better meet the learning needs of the people, and contribute to building a learning society.

II. KEY TASKS 1. Concentrate all conditions to implement well the teaching and learning of new curricula and textbooks in grade 1 and grade 6; prepare for widespread implementation in grade 2 and grade 7; Prepare pilot programs for grade 10. Accelerate the progress of building and issuing framework curricula at universities, colleges, and vocational high schools. Improve comprehensive educational quality at all levels. Continue to reform examination, admission, and assessment of students' learning outcomes and discipline.

Teachers teaching grade 1 and grade 6 must study and master the new curricula and textbooks; strictly implement professional and vocational requirements. Educational management agencies, primary and lower secondary schools have the responsibility to monitor and resolve emerging issues promptly, creating favorable conditions for teaching and learning in grade 1 and grade 6. The Steering Committee for Reforming Secondary School Curricula has the responsibility to ensure that the implementation of new curricula and textbooks achieves excellent results right from the first academic year.

Cadres, teachers, and scientists assigned the task of drafting, piloting, testing, and publishing secondary school textbooks must follow procedures, ensure quality and schedule, and prepare thoroughly for widespread implementation for grade 2, grade 7, and subsequent grades in primary and lower secondary schools and general secondary schools.

Based on the framework curricula of training groups already issued, schools have the responsibility to organize the construction of specific training curricula and textbooks, implement reforms, modernize, and regularly update content and methods of training, ensuring the requirements of "basics, modernity, and Vietnam," suitable to the context and meeting the demands of national socio-economic development. Link reform of content with reform of training methods; encourage the initiative and proactivity of students; apply information technology strongly; organize practical training well; combine training with scientific research.

Strengthen political ideological education and ethics at all levels. Overcome difficulties to ensure physical education, aesthetic education, and national defense education requirements. Improve the quality of care, nurturing, and education in preschool institutions. Harmonize between studying, practicing, and playing; pay attention to fostering self-study abilities, vocational education, collective activities, and social work at general secondary levels. Encourage university, college, and vocational high school students to participate in scientific research, technology transfer, and social service; prevent and overcome negative phenomena among students.

Improve the method of evaluating learning outcomes

Strengthen political education, ideological education, and moral education at all levels and grades. Overcome difficulties to ensure requirements for physical education, aesthetic education, and national defense education. Improve the quality of nurturing, caring, and educating in preschool educational institutions. Harmonize between studying, training, and playing; focus on fostering self-study abilities, vocational education, collective activities, and social work at general secondary levels. Encourage students at universities, colleges, and vocational high schools to participate in scientific research, technology transfer, and social services; prevent and overcome negative phenomena among students.

Improve methods of evaluating results ||| Continuing to fundamentally and vigorously reform examination and admission work, gradually applying multiple-choice methods in the direction of ensuring quality; reducing difficulties and costs for examinees, their families, and society; strictly, objectively, fairly, and transparently implementing; gradually overcoming the widespread phenomenon of additional tutoring.

||| 2. Developing preschool education in all residential areas. Consolidating and firmly maintaining achievements in eradicating illiteracy and popularizing primary education; intensifying the popularization of lower secondary education; caring for the study of children from ethnic minority groups and policy-targeted groups..

||| Vigorously developing preschool education in rural areas and difficult regions. Continuing to eradicate illiteracy and popularize primary education in communes and districts that have not yet met standards. Intensifying the popularization of lower secondary education, striving for more than ten provinces to be inspected and recognized as meeting national standards within the school year. Expanding educational scale based on ensuring quality, effectiveness, and training structure; reasonably implementing分流后的第4段落的翻译结果如下： -- vocational guidance, national defense education centers; develop vigorously vocational high schools, complete the construction of technical secondary school models, continue to develop community education centers to meet the learning needs of the people and economic-social development requirements.

3. Build a teaching staff, lecturing staff, and educational management cadre sufficient in quantity, synchronized in structure, standardized in training level, to meet the requirements of reforming the general education curriculum, professional education curriculum, university education, and improving comprehensive educational quality.

Educational management agencies at all levels of schools and educational institutions shall immediately review the teaching staff and educational management cadre; develop planning, plans to consolidate, improve, and develop the staff in combination with training, adjustment, arrangement, and recruitment. Urgently implement Directive No. 18/2001/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on urgent measures to build the teaching staff of the national education system; pay attention to resolving pressing issues regarding policies for rural and mountainous area non-public preschool teachers.

Meet the requirements of quality and subject structure in assigning teachers for grade 1 and grade 6 classes; prepare immediately for the assignment of teachers for subsequent grades; ensure a synchronized process linking the implementation of the program and textbooks with the consolidation and improvement of the teacher staff at various levels and grades. Vigorously build the vocational high school teacher staff and university lecturers. Increase the number of university and college lecturers to gradually reduce the student-to-lecturer ratio while raising the proportion of lecturers, especially young lecturers, who have master's, doctoral degrees, and professor and associate professor titles at universities and colleges.

4. Implement the policy of solidifying school buildings; resolutely end the third shift and urgently construct solid classrooms to replace bamboo and thatch classrooms; strengthen conditions for teaching equipment, teaching aids, laboratories, subject rooms, libraries, and shared bookcases to meet the requirements of improving quality during the process of reforming educational content and methods.

Departments of Education and Training shall urgently develop plans to solidify preschool and general education school buildings, eliminate third-shift classes and bamboo and thatch classrooms, submit them for approval by the People's Committee, and organize immediate implementation from this academic year. Allocate at least 6-10% of the annual local education budget for strengthening teaching equipment. Purchasing equipment must be based on the minimum list issued by the Ministry and be synchronized with the widespread implementation of new programs and textbooks, initially for grade 1 and grade 6; prepare for grade 2, grade 7, and subsequent grades in the following academic years. At the same time, general education schools need to develop subject classrooms, laboratories, and libraries; establish appropriate mechanisms to encourage teachers to use and make teaching aids.

Universities, colleges, and vocational high schools shall base their financial mechanisms on Government Decree No. 10/2002/NĐ-CP on financial regulations applicable to revenue-generating public service units, actively build mechanisms combining various sources of capital, and strengthen technical facilities to serve training and scientific research. Simultaneously, develop planning and plans for development to meet current requirements and create conditions for future development.

5. Continue to rectify and strengthen discipline and rules; basically improve the educational management agencies at all levels; enhance inspection and supervision work; improve the effectiveness of state management over education.

All cadres, civil servants, and contractual employees in education sector agencies, teachers, and students of schools and other educational institutions must strictly comply with state laws, industry regulations, agency regulations, and school rules; resolutely combat and prevent and overcome any manifestations of lack of discipline and order and violations of the law within educational agencies and schools; build a healthy educational environment.

Educational management agencies, schools, and other educational institutions must conduct reviews, supplements, and improvements to administrative and professional management procedures and regulations; correct, prevent, and strictly handle violations in the implementation of professional regulations; financial management; target achievement; report to higher authorities and seek guidance to resolve pending cases.

Heads of agencies and units within the sector must take advantage of the leadership of the Party's Central Committee, closely coordinate with mass organizations, promote democracy at the grassroots level, enhance the effectiveness of state administration and professional management; strengthen inspections, identify, correct, and prevent negative manifestations within agencies and units; be responsible for shortcomings and weaknesses within their assigned scope and field; resolutely prevent negative manifestations from developing into serious incidents.

Educational management agencies must improve the organization of inspection bodies, ensuring that all inspection staff possess the necessary qualities, capabilities, and integrity, effectively performing their assigned tasks. Inspection bodies at all levels must intensify activities, assist leaders in concluding and strictly handling incidents within their jurisdiction; propose measures to prevent violations of laws within the sector.

The improvement of educational management agencies at all levels, primarily at the central level, must be promptly carried out based on clearly defined functions and responsibilities, enhancing state management functions. Clearly define the organizational model of local educational management; Departments of Education and Training must proactively coordinate with government organizational bodies and related departments to improve the structure of the Department and District Education and Training Offices, resolving issues regarding functions, responsibilities, organization, and staffing.

The 2002-2003 academic year holds special significance for the implementation of political tasks. The entire education sector must continue to promote the two-good competition movement, striving for clear progress in education development according to the Resolution of the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the conclusions of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Party, meeting the increasingly high demands of national industrialization and modernization. The Ministry of Education and Training requests all ministries, agencies equivalent to ministries, People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities to direct, inspect, and urge subordinate agencies and sectors to cooperate in resolving difficulties in implementing policies for education, creating favorable conditions for educational management agencies, schools, and educational institutions to effectively perform the aforementioned tasks.

Directors of Departments of Education and Training are responsible for organizing and directing the implementation of tasks for the academic year, inspecting and urging local educational management levels, schools, and educational institutions to focus on completing their tasks; advising Provincial Party Committees, Municipal Party Committees, People's Councils, and People's Committees on creating favorable conditions

for educational development. Directors of universities, academies, rectors of universities, colleges, and specialized secondary schools are responsible for concretizing and organizing the implementation of the above tasks within their assigned responsibilities, while actively participating in resolving difficulties within the sector, contributing to the vigorous development of the education cause.

Heads of units within the Ministry have the responsibility to assist the Ministry's leadership in guiding, inspecting, and urging local educational management levels and schools to implement academic year tasks; promptly reporting and reflecting situations, proposing solutions for guidance to address issues arising during the implementation process.

This Directive shall be disseminated to all cadres and civil servants in educational agencies and teachers at

all levels and types of public and private institutions throughout the sector for thorough understanding and implementation. all levels and grades of both public and private sectors throughout the education sector to thoroughly understand and implement.