Circular No. 57/2012/TT-BGDĐT Amending and supplementing certain Articles of the Regulation on University and College Training under the Credit System issued together with Decision No. 43/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Regulation on university and college education under the credit system issued together with Decision No. 43/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT
dated August 15, 2007
of the Minister of Education and Training on August 15, 2007
of the Minister of Education and Training
__________________

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 the Higher Education Law on June 18, 2012;

Pursuant to Decree No. 75/2006/NĐ-CP dated August 2, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Education Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 31/2011/NĐ-CP dated May 11, 2011 of the Government amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 75/2006/NĐ-CP dated August 2, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain articles of the Education Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 36/2012/NĐ-CP dated April 18, 2012 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of ministries and ministerial-level agencies;

Pursuant to Decree No. 32/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 19, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Higher Education,

The Minister of Education and Training issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Regulation on university and college education under the credit system issued together with Decision No. 43/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Regulation on university and college education under the credit system issued together with Decision No. 43/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT dated August 15, 2007 of the Minister of Education and Training as follows:

1. Clause 2 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 2. Curriculum, detailed syllabus of each course

1. The curriculum (hereinafter referred to as the curriculum) must clearly reflect: level of training; target group, admission conditions, and graduation conditions; training objectives, knowledge and skill standards for graduates; theoretical and practical workload, internship workload; training schedule according to designed time; teaching methods and forms; assessment methods; and conditions for implementing the curriculum.

2. Each curriculum is associated with a single major (single-major type) or several majors (double-major type, main-major and minor type, two-degree type) and structured from courses belonging to two knowledge blocks: general education and professional education.

3. The detailed syllabus of each course must clearly reflect the number of credits, prerequisite conditions (if any), theoretical and practical content, assessment methods for the course, textbooks, reference materials, and experimental, practical, and internship conditions serving the course.

4. The rector promulgates the curriculum to be implemented in their school, with the workload of each curriculum not less than 180 credits for a six-year undergraduate program; 150 credits for a five-year undergraduate program; 120 credits for a four-year undergraduate program; 90 credits for a three-year college program; and 60 credits for a two-year college program."

2. Clause 4 of Article 3 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"4. The rector stipulates the calculation of teaching hours for lecturers for each course based on classroom teaching hours, practical and internship hours, preparation hours for self-study for students, evaluation of self-study results of students, and contact hours outside class time."

3. Clause 1 of Article 7 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. When registering for admission, students must submit documents as prescribed in the current Regulation on university and college admissions. All documents when students register for admission must be filed in individual folders and managed at units designated by the rector."

4. Clause 1 of Article 11 and point c of Clause 2 of Article 11 are amended and supplemented:

a) Clause 1 of Article 11 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. The reduction of courses within the registered study load can be carried out two weeks after the start of the regular semester and one week after the start of the supplementary semester. Depending on specific conditions of the school, the rector specifies the maximum period for reducing courses within the registered study load. Beyond the specified period, the course remains in the registration form, and if the student does not attend the course, it will be considered as voluntarily dropping out and will receive an F grade."

b) Point c of Clause 2 of Article 11 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"c. Not violating Clause 3 of Article 10 of this Regulation."

5. Clause 1, Article 14 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. After each semester, based on accumulated knowledge load, students are classified into academic years: first-year students, second-year students, third-year students, fourth-year students, fifth-year students, sixth-year students. Depending on the workload of each curriculum as stipulated in Clause 4 of Article 2 of this Regulation, the rector specifies the specific limits of knowledge load for transferring academic year classification."

6. Article 16 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 16. Academic warning, compulsory withdrawal

1. Academic warning is conducted after each semester to help students with poor academic performance know and develop appropriate learning plans to graduate within the maximum permitted time for the program. The academic warning of students is based on the following conditions:

a) Cumulative GPA below 1.20 for first-year students, below 1.40 for second-year students, below 1.60 for third-year students, or below 1.80 for subsequent years and final year;

b) Semester GPA below 0.80 for the first semester of the program, below 1.00 for subsequent semesters;

c) Total credits of courses with F grades remaining from the beginning of the program to the review date exceed 24 credits.

Depending on the characteristics of each school, the rector applies one or two of the above conditions to issue academic warnings to students and specifies the number of times academic warnings can be issued, but not exceeding two consecutive times.

2. After each semester, students will be compulsorily withdrawn if they fall into any of the following cases:

a) Exceeding the number of academic warnings as stipulated by the rector;

b) Exceeding the maximum permitted time to study at the school as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 6 of this Regulation;

c) Being disciplined twice for proxy examination or having someone take the exam on their behalf as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 29 of this Regulation, or being disciplined to have their name removed from the student list of the school.

3. Within one month after the decision on compulsory withdrawal, the school must notify the local authority where the student has permanent residence.

In cases where the student is enrolled at a school that offers programs at a lower level or equivalent continuing education programs, students subject to compulsory withdrawal as stipulated in Points a and b, Clause 2 of this Article have the right to apply for transfer to those programs and retain part of their academic results from the previous program. The Rector shall consider and decide on retaining academic results for each specific case.

7. Article 17 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"Article 17. Concurrent Enrollment in Two Programs

1. Students who meet the conditions specified in Clause 2 of this Article and wish to concurrently enroll in a second program to obtain two diplomas upon graduation may do so.

2. Conditions for concurrent enrollment in two programs:

a) The main field of study in the second program must be different from the main field of study in the first program;

b) After completing the first semester of the first year of the first program and not being classified as having weak academic performance;

c) During the period of concurrent enrollment in two programs, if the overall semester GPA falls below 2.00, the student must stop enrolling in the second program in the following semester.

3. The maximum time allowed for students concurrently enrolled in two programs is the maximum time prescribed for the first program as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 6 of this Regulation. When studying the second program, students can retain credits for courses with equivalent content and volume of knowledge included in the first program.

4. Students can only be considered for graduation from the second program if they meet the conditions for graduation from the first program."

b) When performing duties and discovering events with signs of crime or receiving reports and accusations of crime as stipulated in Articles 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, and 281 of Part I of Chapter XXI of the Penal Code 2015, the Head of the Provincial Public Security Agency's Road Traffic and Railway Traffic Police Division shall perform the duties and powers set out in Article 38 of the Law on the Organization of Investigative Agencies 2015 for these crimes;

"Article 25. Evaluation of Graduation Projects and Theses

1. Depending on each program, the Rector shall specify the method of evaluating graduation projects and theses. Each project and thesis must be evaluated by at least two lecturers.

2. The score for graduation projects and theses is graded according to the scale specified in Point a and Point b, Clause 2, Article 22 of this Regulation. The score for graduation projects and theses is included in the cumulative overall GPA of the entire program.

3. Students whose graduation projects and theses receive an F grade must re-register to complete the project or thesis again; or must register to take additional specialized courses to replace them, such that the total number of credits for the additional specialized courses equals the number of credits for the graduation project or thesis."

9. Clause 1 of Article 27 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. Students will be recognized by the school as having graduated when they meet the following conditions:

a) Up to the date of graduation review, they are not under criminal investigation or currently undergoing disciplinary action at the level of suspension from studies;

b) They have accumulated the required number of courses and volume of the training program as specified in Article 2 of this Regulation;

c) Their cumulative overall GPA for the entire program is 2.00 or higher;

d) They satisfy certain requirements regarding academic performance for the main field of study group and other conditions specified by the Rector;

e) They hold a certificate of national defense and security education for non-military fields and have completed physical education courses for non-sports fields;

f) They submit an application to the Training Department requesting to be reviewed for graduation in cases where they meet the conditions for early or delayed graduation compared to the designed duration of the program."

10. Chapter V is supplemented and amended as follows:

a) The chapter name is amended as follows:

"Chapter V. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION";

b) Article 29a is added as follows:

"Article 29a. Implementation Organization

1. Schools shall develop plans and establish implementation schedules for credit-based training systems suitable for their specific conditions.

2. Based on the provisions of this regulation, depending on their specific conditions and progress towards a complete credit-based training system, schools shall formulate specific regulations for credit-based training for regular programs, part-time programs, distance learning, and joint training programs.

3. Schools shall periodically review and evaluate the implementation process, supplementing and amending training programs and credit-based training regulations to align with actual conditions and the implementation schedule for the credit-based training system of the school.

4. Schools are permitted to evaluate and recognize each other regarding training procedures, training content, and credit values, serving as a basis for recognizing accumulated knowledge of students in cases of transferring schools, joint training, or advancing to higher levels between educational institutions.

Article 2. 5. For recruitment purposes, the results of university and college programs between credit-based and annual system training are converted equivalently based on the graduation ranking (as guided)."

Article 3. This Circular takes effect from February 10, 2013.