CIRCULAR

ON ISSUANCE OF THE REGULATION ON ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOLS, LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLS, UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND COMBINED SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Pursuant to Law on Education dated June 14, 2005; Law on amendments to Law on Education dated November 25, 2009;

Pursuant to Government’s Decree No. 178/2007/NĐ-CP dated April 03, 2007 defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of Ministries and ministerial-level agencies;

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

Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 75/2006/ND-CP dated August 02, 2006 providing guidance on the implementation of Law on Education;

Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 115/2010/NĐ-CP dated December 24, 2010 on state management of education;

At the request of the Director of Secondary school education department,

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Article 1. Enclosed herewith this Circular the Regulation on organization and operation of private primary schools, lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools and combined secondary schools.

Article 2. This Circular takes effects from May 15, 2011. Any regulations contrary to this Circular shall be annulled.

Article 3. The chief officers, Director of Secondary school education department, Director of primary school education department, the heads of the relevant units of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Presidents of the People’s Committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces, the Directors of education and training departments, the principals of private primary schools, lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools, high schools and combined secondary schools, and the directors of private general technical - career centers shall implement this Circular.

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Nguyen Vinh Hien

REGULATION

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Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and regulated entities

This Regulation promulgates organization and operation of private primary schools, lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools, combined secondary schools, general technical - career centers (hereinafter referred to as private schools), relevant organizations or individuals, including: general provisions; organization and operation of private schools; teachers, officials, employees and students; facilities, finance and property; inspection and education quality assessment, commendation and actions against violations.

Article 2. Position of private schools in national education system

1. Private schools shall be educational institutions of national education system which are invested by social organizations, socio-professional organizations, economic organizations or individuals and operated by capital derived from loans, bonds, funds, etc; and are established and operated under permission of competent agencies.

2. Each school shall have its own legal status, seal and account opened at a State Treasury or a commercial bank.

Article 3. Duties and rights of private schools

1. Private schools have similar duties and rights to public schools as prescribed in the Charter of primary schools; the Charter of lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools and combined secondary schools; the Regulation on organization and operation of general technical-career centers equivalent to each level (hereinafter referred to as the School charter) in implementation of objectives, programs, education methods and regulations on teaching, learning, examinations, tests, graduation recognition, award of degrees/certificates and this Regulation.

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3. Private schools must send regular or irregular reports as prescribed and at the request of the managing authorities.

4. Private schools shall fulfill other duties and exercise other rights as prescribed in regulations of law.

Article 4. Incentive policies

Private schools shall be allocated or leased land or facilities by the State, allocated budget when performing tasks assigned by the State; and benefited from incentive policies on tax, credit and other incentive policies as prescribed in regulations of law.

Article 5. Decentralization

Private schools shall be under state management of People’s Committees as prescribed in the Law on Education and relevant provisions; particularly, primary schools, lower secondary schools and combined secondary schools (in which the lower secondary school is the highest level) shall be under direct management of Committee division of education and training, and upper secondary schools and combined secondary schools (in which the upper secondary school is the highest level) shall be under management of Services of Education and Training.

Chapter II

ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION

Article 6. Organizational structure of private schools

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1. The Board of Directors (if any);

2. The Control Board;

3. The Principal and the Deputy Principals or the Director and the Deputy Directors (for general technical-career center);

4. Professional teams;

5. Office teams;

6. Party organizations and unions;

7. Grades, classes and student teams;

8. The Board of emulation and commendation; the Discipline committee and other advisory boards established by the Principal at the request of each task.

Article 7. General meeting of capital contributing partners

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2. The General meeting of contributing partners has the following rights and obligations:

a) Determine the school’s development objectives and orientation.

b) Elect and dismiss members of the Board of Directors and Controllers; deal with irregular request for addition or replacement of members of the Board of Directors in the term of office, and request the competent agency to make a decision on recognition.

c) Rarify the Regulation on organization and operation and annual financial statements of the school.

d) Exercise other rights and fulfill other obligations as prescribed in the Regulation on organization and operation of the school.

dd) Ratify internal regulations of the school on criteria for selection of Board of Directors, the Control Board and the Principal.

3. An annual general meeting shall be held once per year and extraordinary general meetings may be held as decided by the Board of Directors. A General meeting of contributing partners shall be chaired by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors and it is shall be considered valid when it is attended by a number of contributing partners represent at least 51% of votes.

In case the Board of Directors commits serious violations against the Regulation on organization and operation of the school, the Control Board may convene an extraordinary general meeting and notify the Board of Directors.

4. The general meeting must be recorded in writing and ratified, and the meeting minutes must be signed by the chairperson and the secretary of the meeting. Each resolution of the meeting must be ratified in the form of voting or by secret ballot and it may only take effect when it is approved by at least 51% of votes of attending contributing partners.

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1. The Board of Directors is required in any private school having at least two contributing partners.

2. The Board of Directors is a regulatory body and the only representative organization for ownership of the school. It shall take responsibility for implementation of resolutions of the General meeting of contributing partners and have rights to decide issues concerning organization, personnel, finance, property, planning, plans and orientation of development of the school in accordance with regulations of law.

3. The Board of Directors shall be elected by the General meeting of contributing partners and recognized by the competent agency. The Board of Directors shall consist of 2 through 11 members, including the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors (if necessary) and other members.

Each member of the Board of Directors is a contributing partner or a representative of the contributing partner as prescribed in the Regulation of organization and operation of the school.

The term of office of the Board of Directors is 5 years from the date on which the decision on recognition is made by the competent agency.

4. The Board of Directors of the first term of office is nominated by the organizations or individuals requesting for establishment of the school. From the second term of office, the Board of Directors shall be established by secret ballot at the General meeting of contributing partners;

5. The Board of Directors shall hold regular meetings every 3 months. Extraordinary meetings shall be convened by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors when it is requested by at least one-third of members of Board of Directors.

The meeting of the Board of Directors shall be considered valid when it is attended by at least three-fourths of members of the Board of Directors. All members of the Board of Directors have equal voting right.

The meeting must be recorded in writing and the meeting minutes must be ratified and signed by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors and the secretary of the meeting. Each resolution of the Board of Directors must be ratified in the form of voting or by secret ballot and it may only take effect when it is voted for by more than half of the attending members. If the number of affirmative votes equals to negative votes, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors shall have the casting vote.

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If the number of members of the Board of Directors is reduced by more than one third of the number prescribed by the Regulation on organization and operation of the school, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors must convene the General meeting of contributing partners for additional election of members of the Board of Directors within 30 days from the date on which the number of members of the Board of Directors is reduced by more than one third

Regarding the school having two contributing partners, if the number of contributing partners decreases by one member and become a school invested and operated by one individual or organization, it shall comply with regulations on private school without the Board of Directors as prescribed in Article 11 of this Regulation.

7. The members of the Board of Directors shall be discharged from duty if they commit serious violations against regulations of law leading facing criminal prosecution or commit serious violations against the Regulation on organization and operation of the school and are requested for discharge from duty by the General meeting of contributing partners; or they shall be dismissed in the event of dead, limitation of civil capacity or resignation.

Article 9. Duties and rights of the Board of Directors:

The Board of Directors has duties and rights to:

1. Formulate development orientation strategies and annual operation plans of the school then submit to the General meetings of contributing partners.

2. Formulate the Regulation on organization and operation of the school then submit to the General meeting of contributing partners for ratification; request the General meeting of contributing partners to consider amending regulations of the school when necessary or request for addition, dismissal or discharge of members of the Board of Directors.

3. Formulate and promulgate regulations on regime, standards, quotas on receipts and expenditures of the school; regulations on payback, withdrawal and transfer of funds in accordance with regulations of law on financial management regime.

4. Mobilize capital sources to build the school; approve the annual estimates and budget settlement submitted by the Principal; observe the management of finance and property of the school; and submit annual financial statements to the General meeting of contributing partners for ratification.

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6. Approve plans for organizational structure, payroll and personnel of the school at the proposal of the Principal.

7. Make plans and observe the implementation of democratic regime in the school activities, observe the implementation of decisions of the Board of Directors, observe the Principal and Chief accountant in implementation of regulations of the State, the Ministry of Education and Training and superior agency.

9. Convene annual meeting and extraordinary meetings of the General meeting of contributing partners at the request of the Chairperson of the Board of Directors.

Article 10. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors

1. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors is the head of the Board of Directors, elected by the Board of Directors by secret ballot and recognized by the competent authority.

2. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors must acquire at least qualifications equivalent to the standard qualifications meeting by the teachers corresponding to each level.

3. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors may concurrently hold the Principal position if he/she meets all requirements pertaining to the Principal position as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 13 of this Regulation.

4. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors has following duties and rights:

a) Direct and manage the operation of the Board of Directors; convene the meetings of the Board of Directors; take primary responsibility for the resolutions of the Board of Directors, observe the implementation of the resolutions of the Board of Director; and chair the General meetings of contributing partners.

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c) Conclude labor contracts with the Principal and the Deputy Principal after they are recognized by the competent agency.

d) Administrate the organizational structure and use the seal of the school within the competence of the Board of Directors and signs documents and decisions of the Board of Directors.

dd) Exercise other rights and fulfill other obligations as prescribed in the Regulation on organization and operation of the school.

5. If the Chairperson of the Board of Directors has been absent for at least 3 months, he/she must make a written authorization to the Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors (if any) or a member of the Board of Directors to exercise his/her rights and fulfill his/her duties. The authorization must be made in writing, announced, and reported to the superior authority. The term of authorization may not exceed 6 months and two-consecutive authorizations are not applied.

If the Chairperson of the Board of Directors is discharged or dismissed, the competent agency recognizing the Chairperson shall convene the meeting of the Board of Director to elect one of the members as the Acting The Chairperson of the Board of Directors. The election and recognition of the Acting The Chairperson of the Board of Directors shall be carried according to the rules for election of the Chairperson. The term of office of the Acting The Chairperson of the Board of Directors may not exceed 6 months from the date on which decision on recognition is made and a person may not hold the Acting President position for two consecutive times.

Article 11. Private schools without the Board of Directors

1. The private school fully invested by an individual or organization shall have no Board of Directors.

2. The investor shall have similar rights and duties to the Board of Directors, and comply with Article 9 and Clause 4 Article 10 of this Regulation. The investor may hold the Principal position if he/she meets all requirements prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 13 of this Regulation.

3. If the Principal is not an investor, the Principal must take responsibility for his/her rights and duties to the investor as prescribed in Clause 4 Article 13 of this Regulation.

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1. The Control board of a private school shall be established by the Board of Directors, consist of 3 through 5 members, including representatives of contributing partners, teachers, employees, and parents of students. The Control board must have at least one member proficient in accounting. The Chief of the Control board shall be elected directly by the Board of Directors.

2. The Controller may not concurrently hold the position of the member of the Board of Directors, the Principal or the Chief accountant; may not be the parents, spouses, or children of the member of the Board of Directors, the Principal, and the Chief accountant.

3. The term office of the Control board is as long as the term office of the Board of Directors.

4. The Control board has following rights and duties:

a) Inspect and observe the operation of the school, the Board of Directors, the school administrator board and units and organizations in the school.

b) Inspect and observe all financial activities of the school and carry out the public financial regime.

c) Send their regular notifications of operation results and reports, decisions, requests to the Board of Directors before they are ratified at the General meeting of contributing partners.

d) Send reports on results of inspection and observation of operation of the school to the General meetings of contributing partners.

dd) Exercise other rights and fulfill other obligations as prescribed in the Regulation on organization and operation of the school.

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1. The Principal of the private school must meet all requirements as prescribed in the School charter, not be older than 70 years of age when he/she is nominated and not be an official or civil servant of the state personnel.

2. The Principal shall directly manage and administrate the operation of the school; take legal responsibility and take responsibility to the education authority and the Board of Directors (if any) for organization and administration of professional activities, education quality assurance and the school operation within their rights and duties. The term of office of the Principal is 5 years.

3. Regarding the private school having the Board of Directors, the Principal shall be nominated and elected by the Board of Directors by secret ballot when he/she is voted for by more than half of affirmative votes; ratified by the General meeting of contributing partners and recognized by the competent agency.

4. Regarding the private school without the Board of Directors, apart from the rights and duties prescribed in the School charter and Clause 2 of this Article, the Principal of the private school also has following rights and duties:

a) Implement resolutions of the Board of Directors;

b) Mobilize, manage and use resources, conduct teaching activities and other activities of the school as prescribed, ensure quality, and comply with regulations of law and the plan approved by the Board of Directors in order to gain the development objectives.

c) Give plan for expected organizational structure and personnel of the school then submit it to the Board of Directors for approval; directly sign labor contracts with teachers and employees; appoint, dismiss, commend and impose discipline to teachers, employees and students as prescribed according to approvals issued by the Board of Directors.

d) Make estimates and annual budget settlement then submit them to the Board of Directors for approval; carry out the financial plan of the school; and send regular reports to the Board of Directors and competent agencies related to financial activities and operation of the school;

dd) Ensure order, security, environment protection and safety in the school;

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4. Each person may not hold the Principal position concurrently in two private schools.

Article 14. Education programs

1. The private school must carry out the education programs, teaching plans and school year plans as prescribed in regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training.

2. The private school must provide adequate programs for each grade and class on schedule; and provide adequate comprehensive education activities for the students.

3. The private school, including lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools, shall apply similar duration of duty to the public schools in the same grades, in addition, it may extend the duration of duty provided that it does not exceed 4 weeks per year.

Chapter III

TEACHERS, OFFICIALS, EMPLOYEES AND STUDENTS

Article 15. Standards, rights and duties of teachers, officials and employees

1. Each teacher of the private school must achieve standards for virtue, qualifications and health as prescribed in the Law on Education and School charter.

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a) Fulfill all duties as mentioned in the labor contracts concluded with the school; have rights and duties as prescribed in the Law on Education and the School charter.

b) Receive wages, salaries and bonuses from the school according to the labor contracts, buy social insurance, medical insurance and participate in social organizations and unions as prescribed.

c) The teachers shall be commended when they record achievements as prescribed in regulations of education authorities, they may also be granted Teacher of Merit awards, People's Teacher awards and education medals.

Article 16. Requirements pertaining to tenured teacher rate and quota on teachers and employees

1. The private school must ensure that the ratio of number of tenured teachers to total number of teachers in the first school year shall comply with the regulations on the public schools as follow: primary schools: 100%; lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools: at least 40%.

2. The number of teachers and employees of the private school may not be smaller than the quota on teachers for each grade as prescribed in regulations of the State.

Article 17. Recruitment of administrative officials, tenured teachers and employees

Administrative officers, tenured teachers and employees of the private school shall not be officials and civil servants of the state; they shall be recruited by the school and conform to working conditions and policies as prescribed in law on labor.

Article 18. Duties and rights of students

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Chapter IV

FACILITIES, FINANCE AND PROPERTY

Article 19. Facilities

The private school must ensure conditions for facilities and equipment as prescribed in the School charter and regulations on education equipment promulgated by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Article 20. Finance and property

1. Financial regime: The private school shall operate according to the principle of voluntary capital contribution, exercising financial autonomy; comply with regulations of law on accounting, auditing, liabilities to government budget and relevant provisions.

2. Financial sources of private schools include:

a) Contributed capital of the organizations or individuals establishing the school and the additional financial source from the annual income of the school;

b) Tuition fees and charges collected from students as prescribed;

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d) Investments, grants, aid and gifts from domestic and foreign organizations or individuals;

dd) Loans received from the bank, institutions and individuals;

e) Assistance from the budget when performing tasks assigned by the State;

g) Other lawful receipts.

3. Expenditures include:

a) Salaries, allowances, wages, bonuses and payments for social insurance and health insurance to employees; expenditures on training courses for teaching staff, officials and employees of the school;

b) Administrative management;

c) Investments in construction and repair of facilities, rents for facilities (if any); purchase of materials and teaching equipment;

d) Depreciation of fixed assets;

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e) Tax liabilities to the regulatory agency;

g) Expenditures on community welfare, commendation; humanitarian and charitable activities;

h) Other expenditures as prescribed and regulations on internal expenditures not contrary to regulations of law.

4. Property of private schools includes:

a) Initial property of contributing partners;

b) Property acquired during the operation of the school;

c) Property acquired from donation, gift or grant, non-refundable aid.

5. Management of finance and property:

a) Finance and property of the private schools acquired from the receipts as prescribed in Clause 2 and Clause 4 of this Article. Finance and property acquired from donation, gift, grant, or non-refundable aid during the operation of the school shall not be distributed to any individual, they are only used for common interests of the school;

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c) The annual estimates and financial settlement shall be submitted to the Board of Directors for approval by the Principal, and then they shall be announced in the General meeting of contributing partners;

d) Annually, the school shall establish a committee on physical inventory and evaluation of property and reinvestment and supplement of property. If the property is conversed or transferred or the teaching activities are suspended, the school shall establish a board of asset liquidation, carry out the physical inventory, and refund capital to contributing partners as prescribed in regulations of the Board of Directors;

dd) The school must comply with regulations of the State on mobilization and use of capital, receipts and expenditures, distribution of income; execute the inspection of the superior financial agency as prescribed by the State on use of funding and increases and decreases in capital source of the school. The capital withdrawal and transfer shall comply with regulations of the Board of Directors and ensure the development and stabilization of the school;

e) Every year, the private school shall carry out the financial disclosure regime and send financial statements to the superior agency, financial authority and the tax authority at the same level according to the current accounting policies; and do accounting and release statistics as prescribed;

g) The school must disclose its finance, property and operation capacity as prescribed.

Chapter V

EDUCATION QUALITY INSPECTION AND ASSESSMENT, COMMENDATION AND ACTIONS AGAINST VIOLATIONS

Article 21. Education quality inspection and assessment

1. The private schools must carry out the self-inspection of its operation as prescribed.

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3. The private school must carry out the education quality assessment as prescribed in regulations of the Minister of Education and Training.

Article 22. Prohibiting from making use of a private school

The private school may not allow any individual or organization to make use of the school to commit violations against regulations of law, or commit self-seeking that is inconsistent with the principal of educational operation purposes of the school.

Article 23. Commendation

Any group or individual of the private school contributing the development of the education of the school shall be commended as prescribed in the state.

Article 24. Actions against violations

If there are enough bases to conclude that the private school violates regulations of law, regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training; fails to ensure education quality assurance, fails to meet requirements pertaining to facilities, teaching and learning equipment, hygiene and safety, according to the seriousness of the violations the superior agency must:

1. Direct, inspect the implementation, eliminate negative consequences and take actions against to violations.

2. Make decisions on cancellation of recognition of the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Principal or the Deputy Principal.

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4. Request the competent agency to decide the dissolution of the school.

5. Take actions against organizations or individuals violating regulations of law.