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Regulations on educational links with foreign establishments

VGP – The Government recently issued Decree No. 86/2018/ND-CP stipulating foreign cooperation and investment in Viet Nam’s education sector, including regulations on educational links with foreign educational establishments.

June 15, 2018 5:12 PM GMT+7

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Specifically, the institutions subject to educational links are the private preschools and the private general education establishments in Viet Nam, and the educational establishments operating lawfully abroad, which have their educational quality accredited by the education quality inspection organizations or authorized agencies of foreign countries.

The foreign educational programs, which are incorporated, must have their educational quality inspected in the native countries or accredited by the authorized education agencies and organizations in the native countries. 

The integrated education programs must ensure the objectives of Viet Nam's education program and meet the requirements of the foreign educational programs. They should not force learners to study the same content again, while having to ensure stability during the entire school grade as well as interconnection between the school grades, for the rights of students. The programs also need to ensure voluntariness in participation and should not cause overload for students.

The integrated education programs must be approved by the authorized agencies. The Minister of Education and Training specifically regulates the integration of Viet Nam's educational programs with foreign educational programs.

The scales of the classrooms and facilities must meet the requirements of the integrated education program and do not affect the general teaching activities of Vietnamese educational institutions engaged in educational links.

Regarding the teaching staff, the Vietnamese teachers teaching integrated education programs must satisfy the training standards of the corresponding school grade as prescribed by Vietnamese law. The foreign teachers teaching integrated education programs must have their higher education qualifications compatible with the teaching major, and pedagogical certificates or equivalent.

The teachers teaching the integrated education programs in foreign languages must have their foreign language proficiency meet the requirements of the integrated programs and not lower than Level 5 of the 6-level foreign language proficiency framework applied for Viet Nam or equivalent.

The assessment of study results, tests, examinations, recognition of program completion, and recognition of graduation will be implemented in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law and the native countries which provide the educational programs. The learners who complete the integrated higher education programs must be granted both Vietnamese and foreign graduation diplomas.

The duration for the educational links should not exceed five years from the date of approval, and may be renewed with a term of no more than five years each time.

The decree takes effect on August 1, 2018.

By Vien Nhu