Circular No. 34/2017/TT-BGDĐT amending and supplementing certain articles of the Regulation on managing Vietnamese citizens studying abroad promulgated together with Circular No. 10/2014/TT-BGDĐT dated April 11, 2014 of the Minister of Education and Training.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain articles of the Regulation on managing Vietnamese citizens studying abroad promulgated together with Circular No. 10/2014/TT-BGDĐT dated April 11, 2014, issued by the Minister of Education and Training On the proposal of the Director of the International Cooperation Department,

Pursuant to the Education Law on June 14, 2005; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Education Law on November 25, 2009;

Pursuant to Decree No. 69/2017/NĐ-CP dated May 25, 2017 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

The Minister of Education and Training issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of the Regulation on managing Vietnamese citizens studying abroad promulgated together with Circular No. 10/2014/TT-BGDĐT dated April 11, 2014, issued by the Minister of Education and Training.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain articles of the Regulation on managing Vietnamese citizens studying abroad promulgated together with Circular No. 10/2014/TT-BGDĐT dated April 11, 2014, issued by the Minister of Education and Training as follows:

"a) Strictly comply with Vietnamese laws, laws, and customs of the host country; implement internal regulations and rules of foreign educational institutions and regulations of the supervising authority (if any); maintain and develop friendly relations with organizations, individuals, and local communities in the host country;"

"1. Scholarship students must submit progress reports on their studies along with academic results or research progress reports with comments from their advisors to the supervising authority (for scholarship students who have a place of work) and the dispatching authority after each semester or academic year. Progress reports on studies or research progress reports serve as the basis for granting scholarships to scholarship students during subsequent periods of study. Progress reports on studies shall be carried out according to Model No. 01 attached to this Regulation."

"a) Reviewing and examining files:

3. Amending and supplementing point b, Clause 2, Article 6 as follows:

2. Amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 5 as follows:

"b) Documents from foreign educational institutions including both the sending and receiving institutions regarding the transfer of scholarship students between schools, countries, or fields of study. In cases where scholarship students provide and self-translate documents into Vietnamese, they will bear full responsibility for the accuracy of both the original document and the translation. If there is any complaint, accusation, or discovery of errors in the content of the document, scholarship students will be fully responsible under the law;"

4. Amending and supplementing Clause 1, Clause 4, and Clause 5, Article 9 as follows:

"1. Scholarship students, upon completion of their study period abroad as decided by the dispatching authority, if they have not completed their study program, must submit an application for extension of the study period to the dispatching authority for consideration and issuance of a decision allowing the scholarship student to extend their study period. During the extended study period, scholarship students will not receive funding from the state budget."

"4. Scholarship students applying for an extension of the study period late by more than 60 working days from the date of expiration of the study period stated in the dispatching decision or failing to apply for an extension with the dispatching authority will not be provided with return air tickets."

"5. The total time allowed for scholarship students to extend their study period shall not exceed 36 months for doctoral programs; 24 months for master's and bachelor's programs; and at the same time, shall not exceed the maximum duration of the course as stipulated by the foreign educational institution."

"In cases of force majeure, the Minister of Education and Training will consider and decide."

5. Amending and supplementing Clause 1, Article 10; adding Clause 4, Article 10 as follows:

"1. Returning scholarship students include:

a) Scholarship students who have completed their training program, met the conditions to receive a degree, or received a graduation certificate;

b) Scholarship students who have not completed their training program but have returned home;

c) Scholarship students who have completed their studies but are awaiting thesis defense and temporarily returning home."

"4. Scholarship students temporarily returning home while awaiting thesis defense

a) Scholarship students are permitted to temporarily return home while awaiting thesis defense. For those scholarship students with a supervising authority, approval from the supervising authority is required. Scholarship students are responsible for reporting to the supervising authority (if any) and the dispatching authority every three months about their plan for thesis defense and receipt of the graduation certificate;

b) Scholarship students must bear all travel expenses and will not receive funding during the period of return and waiting for thesis defense;

c) Scholarship students must submit their graduation certificates to the dispatching authority within no more than 36 months for doctoral programs; 24 months for master's and bachelor's programs, calculated from the initial dispatching decision expiration date; and at the same time, shall not exceed the maximum study period as stipulated by the foreign educational institution."

"Article 11. Rewarding scholarship students

1. Scholarship students who have registered information in the electronic database system for managing scholarship students as prescribed in Article 4 of this Regulation, comply with the law, and have confirmation from the Vietnamese representative office in the host country or the Vietnamese representative office acting concurrently shall be considered for rewards when achieving one of the following achievements:

"1. Returning scholarship students include:

6. Amending and supplementing Article 11 as follows:

a) Outstanding achievements in studies and scientific research;

b) Outstanding achievements in promoting friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries;

c) Self-funded scholarship students can only be considered for rewards for achievements specified in points a and b of this clause if the educational institution is recognized or certified for quality by the competent authority of the host country."

2. Responsibility for proposing rewards

Annually, the International Cooperation Department will coordinate with relevant agencies to review and accept information from organizations and individuals, propose outstanding role models for the Ministry of Education and Training's Commendation Council to consider and implement in accordance with the Law on Commendation."

7. Adding point d, Clause 1, Article 14 as follows:

"d) Take the lead and cooperate with Vietnamese representative offices abroad to verify the quality and reputation of foreign educational institutions accepting scholarship students."

8. Amending Model No. 08 and Model No. 09 in the Appendix promulgated together with Circular No. 10/2014/TT-BGDĐT dated April 11, 2014, issued by the Minister of Education and Training in the Appendix promulgated together with this Circular.

1. Repealing Article 8 and point b, Clause 2, Article 14 of this Regulation.

8. Amend Model No. 08 and Model No. 09 attached as the Appendix to Circular No. 10/2014/TT-BGDĐT dated April 11, 2014, issued by the Minister of Education and Training, as set forth in the Appendix attached to this Circular.

Article 2. Abolition and change of wording

1. Repeal Article 8 and point b, Clause 2, Article 14 of this Regulation.

2. Replace the phrase "Cục Đào tạo với nước ngoài", "Cục Đào tạo với nước ngoài và Vụ Hợp tác quốc tế", "Vụ Hợp tác quốc tế, Cục Đào tạo với nước ngoài" at points a and b of Clause 2, Article 13, and Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 14 of this Regulation with the phrase "Cục Hợp tác quốc tế".

3. Change the phrase "Cục Khảo thí và Kiểm định chất lượng giáo dục" to "Cục Quản lý chất lượng" at point c of Clause 2, Article 14 of this Regulation.

This Circular takes effect from December 25, 2025/.

The Head of the Office, Director of the International Cooperation Department, Heads of relevant units under the Ministry of Education and Training; Heads of educational institutions; related organizations and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular.

Article 4. Effective date

This Circular takes effect from February 9, 2018./.