Resolution No. 90/CP on the direction and policy for socializing educational, healthcare, and cultural activities.

RESOLUTION

Regarding the direction and policy on socializing educational, healthcare, and cultural activities (approved by the Government at its regular session in March 1997)

I - RAISING THE GENERAL ISSUE

Socializing educational, healthcare, and cultural activities involves mobilizing and organizing broad participation from the people and the entire society in the development of these endeavors to gradually enhance the level of enjoyment of education, healthcare, and culture, and promote physical and spiritual development among the people.

Socialization entails building a community of responsibility among various strata of the people for creating and improving a healthy and favorable economic and social environment for educational, healthcare, and cultural activities. In each locality, this is a community of responsibility involving the Party Committee, People's Council, People's Committee, state agencies, mass organizations, economic organizations, enterprises operating in the locality, and every individual citizen.

Socialization and diversification of forms of educational, healthcare, and cultural activities are closely interrelated. While reinforcing state organizations, it is necessary to widely develop forms of activities conducted by collectives or individuals within the framework of the Party's policies and state laws. Diversification means expanding opportunities for all strata of the people to actively and equally participate in such activities.

Socialization involves expanding investment sources, tapping human, material, and financial resources within society. Leveraging and effectively utilizing the resources of the people to create conditions for faster and higher-quality development of educational, healthcare, and cultural activities is a long-term policy and guiding principle for implementing social policies by the Party and State, not a temporary measure due to insufficient funds from the state budget. Even when our people have high incomes and the state budget is abundant, socialization must still be implemented because education, healthcare, and culture are long-term endeavors of the people that will continue to develop with the substantial resources of the entire population.

Socialization does not mean reducing the state's responsibility or decreasing the portion of the state budget; rather, the state consistently seeks additional revenue sources to increase the proportion of the budget allocated to these activities while managing them well to enhance the effectiveness of their funding.

Implementing socialization in educational, healthcare, and cultural activities is also a key solution to realizing the policy of social equity in the Party and State's strategy for socio-economic development. Social equity is not only reflected in terms of enjoyment, i.e., the people being cared for by society and the state, but also in terms of contributions and dedication to society according to each person's and each locality's actual capabilities.

Achieving equity in social policy must apply principles of adjustment and prioritization; it is essential to prioritize those who have made contributions, assist the poor and impoverished regions, and provide more care from society and the state to those who have contributed more.

Social equity in mobilizing people's resources for cultural and social activities is not about equal mobilization, but rather applying methods and levels of mobilization based on different actual conditions and income levels of various groups. Those covered under social policies of the Party and State are exempted or given reductions in their contributions.

Social equity is also realized through promoting the tradition of "the healthy leaf covering the broken leaf," where the wealthy help the poor, and prosperous regions support impoverished ones. Developing various funds voluntarily contributed by the people for charitable purposes, such as scholarship funds, charity funds, etc. The state promulgates regulations on establishing and managing these funds in a way that enhances the self-management and oversight capabilities of contributors, and implements transparency in revenue and expenditure.

Implementing socialization in the fields of education, healthcare, and culture with a correct understanding of social equity is the realization of socialist orientation according to the Party's guidelines.

II - SOCIALIZING THE FIELD OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

1. The content of the nationwide movement to participate in the educational cause includes:

Creating a widespread learning movement throughout society in various forms; mobilizing the entire population, primarily those of working age, to engage in lifelong learning to work better, earn more, and live a better life, thereby transforming our society into a learning society.

Mobilizing the entire population to care for the younger generation, creating a healthy educational environment, closely coordinating school education with family education and social education; strengthening the responsibility of Party committees, People's Councils, People's Committees, mass organizations, enterprises, etc., towards the educational cause.

Enhancing the sense of responsibility and participation of the entire population in education to consolidate and improve the effectiveness of the education system to better serve the learning needs of the people.

2. Some policies and measures to implement the socialization of educational and training activities:

a) Alongside reinforcing public schools which play a leading role and serve as the core, it is necessary to open up many forms of education, develop various types of non-public schools, providing opportunities for everyone to improve their qualifications, access new knowledge, and modern science and technology to apply in their work and daily life; using mass media to develop distance education... Improving mechanisms for evaluating results and quality of education.

Encouraging and creating favorable conditions for the development of semi-public, private, and民办非企业单位在城镇和经济条件较好的地区发展。对于城市、市镇和镇，非公立幼儿园的比例（具有指导性，不具强制性）为：大部分；小学阶段为10-15%；初中阶段为25%；高中阶段为50%。

The ratio (of a guiding nature, not mandatory) for the development of semi-public, private, and民办非企业单位在城镇和经济条件较好的地区发展。对于城市、市镇和镇，非公立幼儿园的比例（具有指导性，不具强制性）为：大部分；小学阶段为10-15%；初中阶段为25%；高中阶段为50%。

Transfer vocational high schools specializing in narrow fields to State-owned corporations directly managed by them, linking training with employing units. For large corporations with rapid human resource development needs, upgrading their affiliated schools to college level based on self-financing by the corporations.

Gradually transform public vocational training centers into semi-public forms, develop private and non-state vocational training centers; link vocational training with the market and enterprises.

Strengthen existing private universities, allow for the establishment of additional private universities in localities with demand and management capacity.

Enact specific policies to support the operation of non-public educational institutions such as: Provincial People's Committees provide support and create conditions regarding land for non-public institutions to build campuses; state agencies lease existing facilities to non-public institutions for educational purposes; citizens contribute shares to build non-public institutions; banks provide loans to non-public institutions under preferential conditions for investment in infrastructure and teaching equipment; allow teachers from public schools and scientists from Institutes to teach at non-public institutions. Public school teachers who transfer to semi-public, private, or non-state institutions continue to enjoy social insurance benefits.

b) Effectively utilize social resources to develop education. Along with increasing and effectively using state budget, improve tuition fee systems and mobilize contributions from parents and production and business organizations.

Mobilizing citizen participation in education contributions must be carefully considered based on living standards and capabilities in each region and locality, ensuring social equity, appropriate tuition fees, and social assistance and loan policies for education.

Adjust tuition fees at general secondary schools in urban areas, towns, and regions with higher average income (above the national average income); lower tuition fees for regions with lower average income (below the national average income); exempt tuition fees for remote and mountainous regions. Increase tuition fees at vocational training, specialized high schools, colleges, and universities.

Tuition fees collected from public schools, together with state budget funding, must meet expenditure requirements and ensure reasonable salaries for teachers; end arbitrary charges from students, including unethical and unprofessional extra-curricular fees.

The Prime Minister shall stipulate the framework for tuition fees, mechanisms for collection and utilization of tuition fees, and delegate authority to provincial People's Committees and university principals to determine specific tuition fees in each locality and university. In addition to tuition fees, all schools may only collect two items: campus construction contributions and examination fees. The Ministry of Education and Training shall provide guidance and define the authority to decide on these two items.

c) Reasonably distribute the education network according to economic geographic regions, based on local development needs and capabilities.

Clearly define the responsibilities and management authorities of local People's Committees over education and training within their jurisdiction, and the autonomy and responsibilities of centrally-managed training institutions.

d) Improve the quality of educational activities, properly handle the relationship between scale, quality, and effectiveness.

Enact a system of standards for educational and training activities. Any new educational and training reform proposals must be evaluated for their social and financial impacts.

Enhance the quality of textbooks, improve textbook content and printing methods to enable long-term use.

Rapidly increase the quality of teacher recruitment and training, focusing on strengthening teacher numbers in mountainous, remote, and far-flung areas.

đ) Efficiently allocate and utilize the state budget for education and training in accordance with the guiding principles of the 2nd Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee.

Prioritize concentrated state budget allocation for requirements such as teacher training, salary policy improvement, elementary and junior secondary compulsory education, key training sectors, and talent cultivation; enhancing education and training quality.

Improve the method of budget allocation and management for education:

- Allocate budgets for local education and training based on local characteristics (education development needs, geographical conditions, population density, local economic capability, and people's contribution capacity). The central budget for training is allocated based on training fields and student enrollment size.

- Reduce administrative expenses, limit meetings, and allocate funds for direct teaching and learning services.

- Continue improving scholarship, social assistance, and educational loan systems to ensure that the poor have access to education. Increase scholarships for excellent students and those in encouraged fields.

- Develop voluntary educational support funds contributed by the people, which the state may partially sponsor to assist the poor in education.

- Define the obligation of enterprises to contribute to educational and training activities based on enterprise revenue and the number and level of training of their workforce. Voluntary contributions from enterprises for educational and training activities are not included in taxable revenue and profit. The Ministry of Finance will prepare for the Government to issue a Decree on this matter.

e) Seek international organization support and foreign educational cooperation to increase resources for the education and training cause.

Allow some universities or foreign educational organizations, overseas Vietnamese, to establish schools in Vietnam in accordance with Vietnamese law.

Permit domestic universities to invite foreign teachers and Vietnamese teachers living abroad to teach.

Using part of the budget and foreign aid to send our teaching staff abroad for supplementary training, and sending selected students abroad to study necessary fields and levels.

g) Organizing close and regular coordination between state management agencies for education and training with the United Front and mass organizations to mobilize the people's effective participation in the educational cause.

III. SOCIALIZATION OF HEALTH CARE AND PROTECTION WORK FOR THE PEOPLE

1- Health care and protection are essential needs of each individual and the entire community. This is not only the responsibility of the health sector but also of the Party committees and authorities at all levels, mass organizations, and social organizations. Therefore, implementing the socialization of health care and protection work for the people is necessary and in line with the trend of the times.

The content of socializing health care and protection work involves motivating and organizing the active and proactive participation of everyone both as individuals and as members of the community, in both service provision and contribution activities; enhancing inter-sectoral cooperation and reinforcing the core role of the health sector.

Socialization includes diversifying forms of health care service provision (state, collective, private, etc.), with the state health sector playing a leading role. Permitting various forces with knowledge and professional experience to participate in health care services under state management, aiming to provide more convenient medical services to the people and reduce financial pressure on the state budget. Encouraging domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to establish charitable clinics and hospitals. Expanding home health care services, private pharmacies, medicine counters, and cabinets at commune health stations serving the community.

Mobilizing the people to voluntarily participate in health care activities: hygiene movements, physical exercise, disease prevention, environmental protection, social evil prevention, building civilized and healthy lifestyles; increasing the use of traditional medicine, breeding and growing medicinal plants and animals.

People participate in contributing and paying for health care services through hospital fee systems and voluntary health insurance.

2. Some policies and measures to implement the socialization of health activities.

a) Diversifying health care models: allowing the establishment of semi-state hospitals, private hospitals, joint venture hospitals, or fully foreign-owned hospitals, private pharmaceutical enterprises, or joint-stock companies. Effectively managing state-owned pharmacies, private clinics, and diagnostic centers, including traditional medicine treatment facilities.

b) Adjusting hospital fee collection systems at public health facilities to be consistent with current economic and social conditions, based on the principle that hospital fees should cover direct costs for patient care, while gradually implementing them to ensure public acceptance.

Adjusting the health insurance system to align with hospital fees, eliminating differences in treatment between those who pay hospital fees and those covered by health insurance. Diversifying contribution levels and setting corresponding amounts payable from the health insurance fund according to contribution levels and duration. Implementing appropriate payment mechanisms to prevent abuse of health insurance cards. Improving the quality of medical examinations and treatments to attract a large number of people to join health insurance.

c) Organizing good medical care for the poor. The government will subsidize part of the cost, while encouraging the Red Cross, charitable associations, mass organizations, state and private economic organizations to contribute to establishing funds to assist the poor in accessing medical care and purchasing health insurance for families with meritorious service and the poor.

d) Local authorities shall direct the implementation of the campaign "Improving the Quality of Household Sanitation Facilities and Proactive Disease Prevention," making the establishment of herbal gardens in households a widespread movement at the grassroots level.

đ) Enhancing the quality of the primary health care network, first by ensuring sufficient training of village nurses, midwives, and pharmacy technicians at the commune level; implementing policies to encourage doctors, pharmacists, and other health professionals to work at commune health facilities.

IV. SOCIALIZATION OF CULTURAL ACTIVITIES.

1- Socializing cultural activities aims to attract the whole society and various economic sectors to participate in creative, supply, and dissemination activities, creating favorable conditions for cultural activities to develop strongly and widely, gradually improving the cultural enjoyment level of the people, based on strengthening the leadership of the Party and state management in the cultural field.

2- Some policies and measures to implement the socialization of cultural activities.

a) Reorganizing artistic units funded by the state budget towards concentrating at the central level to build representative art troupes (such as Tuong, Cheo, Cai Luong, Circus, Drama, Ethnic Music and Dance, Symphony, Ballet, Puppetry, etc.); at the local level, maintaining only those units representing the traditional arts of the locality. Permitting some family-based, private, or collective art troupes to operate within legal frameworks, subject to state management over content and artistic quality.

b) In addition to state-set quotas, allowing music, dance, theater, film, craft, and fine arts schools to expand enrollment based on student contributions; state art troupes can accept state training quotas through apprenticeship programs within their units. Encouraging the establishment of privately-run art and craft schools.

c) Besides state entities, other economic sectors are permitted to distribute films under state management. Allowing cultural agencies, film distribution and screening companies to form joint ventures with economic sectors to upgrade and renovate cinema and theater infrastructure.

d) Expand the network of cultural product distribution involving various economic sectors. Allow some state printing facilities to be corporatized, with the proportion of shares sold determined based on the characteristics of each important facility. To adopt advanced technology, modernize the printing industry, improve the quality of printed products, allow joint ventures with domestic and foreign investors in certain printing stages such as electronic typesetting, packaging printing, brand labels, etc.

đ) The State focuses investment on building museums, preserving and restoring national-level historical and cultural relics, collecting, editing, disseminating, and preserving intangible cultural values; other relics are entrusted to the people for protection and repair under the professional guidance of the Ministry of Culture and Information. Allow the establishment of collection rooms by collectives or individuals.

e) Develop the system of Cultural Houses, Information Centers from central to provincial and municipal levels and districts; strengthen Mobile Information Teams, establish comprehensive inter-sectoral Cultural Centers: culture-information, education, health, sports, etc., in residential areas.

g) Strengthen leadership to promote the construction of civilized lifestyles, civilized families, and civilized villages, linked with the eradication of social evils and superstitious customs.