Decision No. 85/2010/QD-TTg Issuing Certain Support Policies for Boarding Students and Ethnic Boarding Secondary Schools

Pursuant to …;

Issuing certain support policies for boarding students

and general secondary schools for ethnic minorities with boarding facilities

_______________

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

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

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Education and Training,

Pursuant to …;

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

This Decision stipulates certain support policies for:

- Primary and lower secondary boarding students studying at general secondary schools for ethnic minorities in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions and boarding students studying at other public primary and lower secondary schools in these regions;

- General secondary schools for ethnic minorities with boarding facilities.

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

1. General secondary schools for ethnic minorities with boarding facilities are specialized schools established by competent state authorities to provide education for children of ethnic minorities and families permanently residing in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions, aiming to contribute to training cadres for these regions, including primary general secondary schools for ethnic minorities where more than 50% of the students are from ethnic minority groups and at least 25% of the students board, general secondary schools for ethnic minorities with both primary and lower secondary levels where more than 50% of the students are from ethnic minority groups and at least 50% of the students board, and lower secondary general secondary schools for ethnic minorities where more than 50% of the students are from ethnic minority groups and at least 50% of the students board.

2. Boarding students are students currently studying at general secondary schools for ethnic minorities in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions; public primary and lower secondary schools in these regions, approved by the People's Committee of the district to stay at school during the week due to inability to travel to and from school daily.

3. Areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions refers to the areas defined in Decision No. 135/1998/QĐ-TTg dated July 31, 1998 of the Prime Minister approving the Program for Socio-Economic Development of Particularly Difficult Communes in Mountainous Areas and Remote Areas; Decision No. 164/2006/QĐ-TTg dated July 11, 2006 of the Prime Minister on the approval of the list of particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe area communes to be invested in the Socio-Economic Development Program for the period 2006-2010 (Phase II of Program 135); Decision No. 69/2008/QĐ-TTg dated August 25, 2008 of the Prime Minister on the approval of the supplementary list of particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe area communes to be invested in Phase II of Program 135 and the list of communes exiting the investment scope of Phase II of Program 135; Decision No. 1105/2009/QĐ-TTg dated July 28, 2009 of the Prime Minister on the approval of the list of particularly difficult communes, border communes, safe area communes to be invested in Phase II of Program 135 and the list of communes completing targets and exiting the investment scope of Phase II of Program 135; Resolution No. 30a/2008/NQ-CP dated December 27, 2008 of the Government on certain support policies to reduce poverty quickly and sustainably in 62 poor districts and other Decisions of the Prime Minister supplementing (if any).

Article 3. Recipients of Support Policies and Levels of Support

1. Recipients of Support Policies

a) Boarding students studying at general secondary schools for ethnic minorities in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions and at other public primary and lower secondary schools in these regions due to their homes being far from the schools, difficult terrain, and challenging transportation, making it impossible to travel to and from school daily;

b) General secondary schools for ethnic minorities as specified in Clause 1 of Article 2 of this Decision.

2. Level of Support

a) Boarding students are supported:

- Food allowance: boarding students receive a monthly allowance equivalent to 40% of the national minimum wage and can benefit for up to 9 months per academic year per student;

- Accommodation allowance: boarding students reside in the dormitory area of the school; for those who must arrange their own accommodation, they receive a monthly allowance equivalent to 10% of the national minimum wage and can benefit for up to 9 months per academic year per student;

- For boarding students in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions, if there are multiple levels of support for the same policy, the boarding students will only receive the highest level of support.

b) General secondary schools for ethnic minorities are supported and invested in infrastructure and equipment, including:

- Dormitories, beds, kitchens, dining rooms, bathrooms, sanitation facilities, clean water facilities, and accompanying equipment for boarding students, constructed according to current school design standards;

- Annually, the school purchases, supplements, and repairs physical education and sports equipment, musical instruments, televisions, and cultural and sports activities for boarding students at a rate of VND 100,000 per boarding student per academic year;

- Annually, the school establishes a shared medicine cabinet for the dormitory area, containing common medicines sufficient to meet preventive health care needs and emergency treatment requirements at a support rate of VND 50,000 per boarding student per academic year.

Article 4. Sources, management, and utilization of funds

1. The funds for implementing the policy to support boarding students and for basic construction and equipment procurement for boarding secondary schools shall be ensured from the state budget and balanced within the annual budget allocated for education and training activities according to the principle that the central budget will fully cover the funding needs for the aforementioned support policies for localities receiving additional balance adjustments from the central budget and those with a central budget sharing ratio of 5% or less. The remaining localities shall independently balance their local budgets to implement these policies.

2. The management, utilization, and settlement of accounts for the support funds shall be carried out in accordance with the current provisions of the State Budget Law.

State-owned enterprises that have been assigned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to conduct offshore wind power project surveys before the effective date of this Circular shall continue to implement according to the assigned documents; any new matters arising after the effective date of this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

1. Ministry of Education and Training

a) To take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to direct and guide localities in implementing the support policy for boarding students and boarding secondary schools;

b) To inspect, evaluate, compile, and annually report to the Prime Minister on the implementation situation nationwide.

2. Ministry of Finance:

a) To allocate regular expenditure funds to support localities in implementing the boarding student support policy stipulated in this Decision in the annual state budget estimate and submit it to the competent authority for decision-making in accordance with the State Budget Law;

b) To take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training and relevant ministries and sectors to inspect the use of funds by localities.

3. The Ministry of Planning and Investment:

a) To allocate the source of funds for basic construction to implement the support policy for boarding secondary schools and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval;

b) To take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training and relevant ministries and sectors to inspect the use of funds for constructing facilities for boarding secondary schools by localities.

4. Provincial People's Committees:

a) To direct the Department of Education and Training, related agencies, and the People's Committee at the district level to plan the network and develop plans for developing boarding secondary schools in the locality;

b) To approve the number of boarding students annually, serving as the basis for preparing the budget estimate and implementing the policy;

c) To mobilize local resources, domestic and foreign organizations to support boarding students and boarding secondary schools;

d) To regularly inspect and supervise to ensure that policies are implemented correctly, preventing waste and corruption, and to annually report the results of implementation to the Ministry of Education and Training and the Prime Minister.

Article 6. Effectiveness and Responsibility for Implementation

1. This Decision shall take effect from February 8, 2011.

The boarding student support and boarding secondary school support regime stipulated in this Decision shall be effective from January 1, 2011.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-affiliated agencies, and Chairmen of provincial People's Committees are responsible for implementing this Decision./.