CIRCULAR

GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SEVERAL CONTENTS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT FOR EMPLOYEES WORKING AT SUBPROJECTS AND COMPONENTS OF 03 NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAMS DURING 2021 - 2025 PERIOD

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 14/2017/ND-CP dated February 17, 2017, defining the Functions, Tasks, Powers and Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 27/2022/ND-CP dated April 19, 2022 on the Mechanism for Management and Implementation of National Target Programs;

With the aim of implementing the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1719/QD-TTg dated October 14, 2021 on Approval for the National Target Program for Socio-economic Development of Ethnic Minority Areas and Mountainous Regions during the 2021 – 2030 Period, Stage 1: from 2021 to 2025;

In furtherance of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 90/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2022 on Approval for the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Alleviation during the 2021-2025 Period;

In furtherance of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 263/QD-TTg dated February 22, 2022 on Approval for the National Target Program for Construction of New Rural Areas during the 2021-2025 Period;

At the request of the General Director of the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training;

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Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of application

This Circular provide Guidelines for implementation of several contents of vocational education and employment for employees working at subprojects and components of 03 national target programs during 2021 - 2025 period, including:

1. Subproject No. 1 - “Development of Vocational Education for Areas in Poverty or Hardship" as part of the Project No.4 under the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Alleviation for the 2021-2025 period, which was approved under the Prime Minister's Decision No. 90/QD-TTg dated January 8, 2022.

2. Subproject No. 3 “Development of Vocational Education and Employment for Working Age Population at Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Regions" as part of the Project No. 5 under the National Target Program for Socio-economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Regions during the 2021 – 2030 Period, Stage I: from 2021 to 2025, which was approved under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1719/QD-TTg dated October 14, 2021.

3. Item No. 09 – “Ongoing Improvement of Quality of Vocational Education of Rural Workers, Taking into Consideration Market Demands” as part of the Component No. 03 under the National Target Program for Construction of New Rural Areas during the 2021-2025 Period, which was approved under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 263/QD-TTg.

Article 2. Subjects of application

Learners; vocational education institutions; employment service centers, job placement agencies; overseas employment or recruitment agencies; counseling entities and persons for overseas jobs; relevant Ministries, central authorities, local authorities, enterprises, cooperatives and other entities or persons that are assigned to perform items or activities included in subprojects, and components referred to in Article 1 of this Circular.

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GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SUBPROJECT NO. 1 - “DEVELOPMENT OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR AREAS IN POVERTY OR HARDSHIP" AS PART OF THE PROJECT NO.4 UNDER THE NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAM FOR SUSTAINABLE POVERTY ALLEVIATION FOR THE 2021-2025 PERIOD, WHICH WAS APPROVED UNDER THE PRIME MINISTER'S DECISION NO. 90/QD-TTG DATED JANUARY 8, 2022

Article 3. Beneficiaries or Recipients of Financial and/or Other Support

These beneficiaries shall be as specified in III (paragraph a, clause 4) in the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 90/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2022 on approval of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Alleviation for the 2021-2025 Period.

Article 4. Financial and/or other Support aimed at Investing in Facilities, Physical Infrastructure, Equipment or Means necessary for Training Activities of Vocational Education Institutions

1. Financial and/or other Support given in the form of funding for construction, repair or maintenance of property or facilities; purchase of equipment or means intended for training activities shall vary according to the nature of funding sources, principles and criteria under which funds are appropriated to vocational education institutions located in provinces comprising poor district(s). Those offering vocational education in key industries or occupations vital to the local or regional socio-economic development shall be preferred.

2. Based on set goals, objectives and assigned funds, financial or other Support shall be granted in accordance with regulatory provisions of the law on public investment; the Circular No. 46/2022/TT-BTC dated July 28, 2022 of the Minister of Finance, prescribing management, use and final accounting of central budget expenditures intended for implementation of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Alleviation during the 2021 – 2025 Period (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 46/2022/TT-BTC) and other relevant regulatory provisions.

Article 5. Setting National Vocational Qualification and Competency Standards

Setting, updating, revising and modifying National Vocational Qualification and Competency Standards in accordance with the Circular No. 56/2015/TT-BLDTBXH dated December 24, 2015 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, regarding guidance on setting, review and publication of National Vocational Qualification and Competency Standards.

Article 6. Imposing the Minimum Limits on Volume of Learning or Knowledge required, and Post-graduation Capacity of Learners

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Article 7. Setting Economic and Technical Benchmarks

1. Setting, altering and modifying economic and technical benchmarks in training specific to industries or occupations that correspond to vocational education qualifications and levels.

2. Content of economic and technical benchmarks in training shall be defined, reviewed and put to use in accordance with the Circular No. 07/2020/TT-BLDTBXH dated October 12, 2020 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, providing for setting, reviewing and introduce economic and technical benchmarks in training to be applied in the vocational education field.

Article 8. Making the Required Equipment List

1. Compiling, revising and modifying the List of required equipment items specific to industries or occupations that correspond to vocational education qualifications and levels.

2. Content of the aforesaid List shall be defined, evaluated, reviewed and published in accordance with Section I and II of Appendix I hereto.

Article 9. Setting Standards of Facilities Used in Practice, Experimentation or Testing

1. Setting, revising or modifying Standards of Facilities Used in Practice, Experimentation or Testing specific to industries or occupations.

2. Content of Standards of Facilities Used in Practice, Experimentation or Testing specific to industries or occupations shall be defined, revised or modified under Section I or III of Appendix I hereto.

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These Minimum Prices shall be set in accordance with law on prices; the Government’s Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP dated June 21, 2021, prescribing the practice of financial autonomy of state-owned public service providers; instructions of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on the method for pricing of state-owned public service providers funded by the state budget (state-funded public service providers) in the vocational education field under the pricing authority of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affair; and other relevant regulatory provisions.

Article 11. Developing the System for National Assessment and Certification of Vocational Qualification

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) creating, altering, modifying and reviewing the Bank of Theory and Practice Exam Questions for the National Assessment for Certification of Vocational Qualifications (hereinafter referred to as Question Bank).

b) designing, introducing, put to use and updating training programs, curricula and syllabi, and providing training courses in the National Assessment for Certification of Vocational Qualifications; printing and providing officers in charge of the national assessment and certification of vocational qualifications with assessor or examiner credential/identification cards.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) For the former series of activities stated above:

Designing and compiling relevant materials; providing training or retraining courses for the Panel for Design and Compilation of Question Bank in accordance with the Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC dated March 30, 2018 of the Minister of Finance, providing guidance on estimation, management, use and final accounting of state budget appropriations or expenditures intended for training and retraining of state regulators and public employees, and implementation of regulations in force (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC); Circular No. 43/2015/TT-BLDTBXH dated October 20, 2015 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, prescribing continuing training and education (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 43/2015/TT-BLDTBXH), which is and amended and supplemented in the Circular No. 34/2018/TT-BLDTBXH.

Designing, compiling, reviewing and approving the Question Bank in accordance with clause 2, 3 and 4 of Article 20 in the Government's Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP dated March 24, 2015, specifying several Articles of the Law on Employment regarding national vocational qualification assessment and certification (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP) and clause 8 of Article 3 in the Government’s Decree No. 140/2018/ND-CP dated October 8, 2018, amending and supplementing Decrees relating to investment and business conditions, and administrative formalities under the authority of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 140/2018/ND-CP). Detailed procedures for creating, designing, compiling and reviewing the Question Bank specified in Appendix II hereto.

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Designing and compiling relevant materials; providing training or retraining courses for the Panel for Design and Compilation of Question Bank in accordance with the regulations laid down the Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC, the Circular No. 43/2015/TT-BLDTBXH and amended and supplemented in the Circular No. 34/2018/TT-BLDTBXH.

Radically editing, encrypting data on exam questions and inputting them into the IT system for management, retention, shuffling exam questions and creating or forming exams in accordance with clause 4 of Article 20 in the Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP and clause 8 of Article 3 in the Decree No. 140/2018/ND-CP to prepare, design, compile and provide manuals for use thereof in the National Assessment of Vocational Qualifications or vocational qualification exams specific to levels indicated in the national vocational qualification and competency assessment framework in accordance with paragraph a of clause 3 of Article 11 in the Circular No. 19/2016/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 28, 2016 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, providing guidance on implementation of several Articles of the Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 19/2016/TT-BLDTBXH); point a of clause 5 of Article 12 in the Circular No. 41/2019/TT-BLDTBXH dated December 30, 2019 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, amending and supplementing several Articles of the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BLDTBXH dated October 19, 2015, imposing regulations on national vocational qualification certificates, conferment and management of conferment of national vocational qualification certificates; and the Circular No. 19/2016/TT- BLDTBXH dated June 28, 2016 on instructions for implementation of several Articles of the Government’s Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP dated March 24, 2015, imposing detailed regulations on implementation of several Articles of the Law on Employment regarding assessment and conferment of national vocational qualification certificates (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 41/2019/TT-BLDTBXH); and other relevant directives to in order for vocational qualification assessment bodies to make preparation for and conduct the vocational qualification assessment, as well as notify participants and examinees so that they can get ready for such exam-based assessment. Shuffling questions to create vocational qualification exams shall be as provided in the Circular No. 69/2021/TT-BTC dated August 11, 2021, providing guidance on management of funds for preparation, organization of and participation in exams in the general education system.

Editing and publishing literature relating to the guidebook to creating, designing and compiling the Question Bank and the national vocational qualification certification assessment shall be subject to clause 3 of Article 4 in the Circular No. 46/2022/TT-BTC.

b) For the latter series of activities stated above:

Designing or selecting and approving curricula, syllabi and other teaching or learning resources shall be subject to regulations laid down in Article 4 and Article 5 of the Circular No. 43/2015/TT-BLDTBXH and amended or modified under the Circular No. 34/2018/TT-BLDTBXH.

Entities designated to provide training or retraining courses shall design the training program or plan courses included in the training program; define the scope, content, participants, time, location of each course; print and issue ID/credential cards of vocational qualification assessors or examiners as appropriate for training or retraining of public officials or employees under the Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC.

Article 12. Developing the Vocational Education Quality Assurance System

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Developing and applying quality assurance models at vocational education institutions

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b) Conducting training and retraining sessions in the setting up and development of quality assurance systems available for use at vocational education institutions; providing training and retraining sessions for education quality accreditors

Design, publish and revise curricula and syllabi; hold training and retraining sessions in setting up and developing quality assurance systems available for use at vocational education institutions.

Design, publish and revise curricula and syllabi; provide training and retraining sessions for vocational education accreditors.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) For the former task

Building quality assurance models to be applied to vocational education institutions: Survey, evaluate, make general and thematic reports on the current state of quality assurance of vocational education institutions in provinces with poor districts; research and develop quality assurance content and activities varying depending on types of vocational education institutions provided that they are suitable to the conditions of these provinces with poor districts. Building quality assurance models consisting of procedures and tools for quality assurance during the enrolment, training and graduation process.

Experiment on quality assurance models: Allow several vocational education institutions to experiment on models; design curricula and syllabi and provide training sessions for school administrators and teachers designated to participate in the experimentation process; carry out the experimentation process at designated vocational education institutions.

Examine and supervise the design, development and pilot application of quality assurance models by vocational education institutions. Hold conferences, seminars or workshops during the period of design, development and pilot application of models. Assess, review and finalize quality assurance models.

Entities designated to be in charge of designing, developing and applying quality assurance models at vocational education institutions shall act in accordance with the Joint Circular No. 55/2015/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN dated April 22, 2015 of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Science and Technology, providing guidance on setting quotas for estimation, allocation and final accounting of budget expenditures on science and technology assignments funded by the State Budget (hereinafter referred to as Joint Circular No. 55/2015/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN).

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Entities designated to provide training and retraining courses shall design the training program or plan courses included in the training program; define the scope, content, participants, time, location of each course; and conduct these training courses under the provisions of the Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC.

Article 13. Providing Professional Development Courses for Teachers and Administrators

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Designing, compiling, publishing, revising and updating curricula, syllabi and training resources available for use in training and retraining courses, and provide these courses designed to standardize and improve the capacity and repertoire of vocational teachers and administrators; on the pedagogical capacity and teaching qualifications of vocational trainers; on the capacity to develop training programs, curricula, syllabi and training resources; on the professional qualifications and expertise in managing vocational training activities taking place in the workplace or corporate context; on the levels of vocational qualification and question banks intended to test and assess vocational qualifications for use in practice classes taught by vocational educators; on the scientific research capacity for teachers and school administrators; on the capacity to apply information technology to teaching and instruction activities in the vocational education, digital transformation and new technology sectors; on business and entrepreneurship or business startup knowledge for the poor and disadvantaged people; on other professional knowledge and skills as required by the employment position.

b) Designing, publishing and updating curricula and syllabi needed for training and retraining courses provided for vocational education administrators, including: training and retraining courses on the state management, management of vocational education institutions, digital transformation, soft skills, foreign language proficiency levels and other necessary skills.

c) Conducting and providing training and retraining courses intended to ensure vocational education administrators meet required standards, including: training and retraining courses on professional management knowledge and skills, state management qualifications, administration of vocational education institutions; improvement of the competency in digital skills, soft skills, foreign language proficiency levels and other necessary skills; overseas courses on organizational models, governance ability, future skills and/or technology transfer taking place in countries with developed vocational education systems.

d) Designing, offering, updating and conducting training and retraining courses on improvement of the capacity for development of courses, curricula, syllabi, textbooks, materials and other resources needed for training and retraining courses provided for vocational education administrators, teachers and administrators in charge of managing school facilities and equipment.

dd) Designing, developing, offering and updating training and retraining courses, and providing these training and retraining courses for school staff members engaged in legal and inspection work.

e) Designing, developing, offering and updating professional knowledge and skill training and retraining courses on development of training programs, improvement of teaching, managerial and vocational skills, and provide these courses for managers and vocational trainers at enterprises and cooperatives.

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Entities designated to conduct and provide training or retraining courses shall design and plan courses; define the scope, content, trainees or participants, time, location of each course; and conduct these courses in order to comply with regulations on training and professional development courses for public officials and employees laid down in the Circular No. 36/2018/TT-BTC and other regulations currently in force.

Article 14. Development of programs, courses, curricula, syllabi or other learning resources

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Developing training programs, curricula, syllabi and other learning resources for use in a number of key industries or occupations; industries or occupations needing a lot of local personnel. Take charge of carrying out the examination and selection process to decide which vocational education institutions located in disadvantaged areas are entitled to financial or other support for design and development of courses, curricula, syllabi or training materials in conformance to course completion requirements already imposed on several key industries or occupations provided that they are tailor-made for any shift in industries or occupations in the local industrial structure.

b) Researching, designing and developing courses and teaching and learning materials on application of Fourth Revolution technologies in agricultural and tourism occupations to satisfy the socio-economic development needs of workers living in the provinces with poor districts.

c) Researching digital transformation procedures, revising and digitalizing documents on approach to digital transformation, and experimenting with such procedures at a number of vocational education institutions in the provinces with poor districts.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) For designing and developing courses, curricula, syllabi, learning or teaching materials for secondary (intermediate), postsecondary (junior college)-level programs: Complying with the regulations laid down in the Circular No. 03/2017/TT-BLDTBXH dated March 1, 2017 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, prescribing procedures for designing, developing, reviewing or assessing and introducing courses and curricula; leading and carrying out the process of writing, compilation and selection of syllabi and teaching materials for secondary (intermediate), postsecondary (junior college)-level programs; and point a of clause 7 of Article 23 in the Circular No. 15/2022/TT-BTC.

b) For designing and developing elementary-level and under-03-month intensive training programs:

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Content, scope and mapping of courses and curricula or syllabi designed for the under-3-month intensive training programs; the process of design, writing, compilation, review and introduction of continuing education programs shall be as provided in the Circular No. 43/2015/TT-BLDTBXH, and as amended and supplemented under the Circular No. 34/2018/TT-BLDTBXH.

b) Researching, designing and developing courses and teaching and learning materials on application of Fourth Revolution technologies in agricultural and tourism occupations to satisfy the socio-economic development needs of workers living in the provinces with poor districts shall be as instructed under the Joint Circular No. 55/2015/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN. Researching the procedures for revising and digitalizing documents on approach to digital transformation, and experimenting with such procedures at a number of vocational education institutions in the provinces with poor districts shall be as prescribed in the Joint Circular No. 55/2015/TTLT-BTC-BKHCN and clause 9 of Article 23 in the Circular No. 15/2022/TT-BTC.

Article 15. Communication about vocational education

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Creating, designing and issuing publications and leaflets; digital products, digital learning or teaching materials and other products, such as notebooks, books, office equipment, souvenirs, which serve communication purposes.

b) Creating, promoting and advertising vocational education by using billboards, screens, decals, badges, symbols placed in public areas, high traffic areas, road intersections, national highways, means of transport; information-bearing objects, items, booths, shops, stores and galleries.

c) Communicating through press or news agencies, media agencies, mass media, such as audio-visual news resources, print newspapers, electronic newspapers, websites, magazines, social networks; through works of journalism, informative products of journalistic nature, video clips, footage, communication products.

d) Hosting or organizing programs, events, forums, conferences, seminars, contests, movements or campaigns in which participants are encouraged to learn, compose, write or make news, photographic articles, reportages or films about vocational education for communication and message delivery purposes.

dd) Enhancing the capacity of personnel in charge of communication about regulatory policies, laws, and promoters.

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2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) Heads or Directors of entities assigned to be in charge of communication about vocational education shall have the duty to choose the proper form and scope of communication to ensure all communication activities must be carried out in an effective and law-abiding manner.

b) Communication carried out by using both electronic and printed (or physical) publications shall be as provided in point b of clause 2 of Article 11 in the Circular No. 06/2022/TT-BTTTT dated June 30, 2022 of the Minister of Information and Communications, providing guidance on the implementation of the Project on Communication and Information Poverty Alleviation under the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in the 2021 - 2025 period (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 06/2022/TT-BTTTT).

Article 16. Surveys, Statistics and Forecast of Demands for Vocational Education

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Investigating, surveying, statistically estimating and forecasting demands specific to majors; conducting assessments to point out skills that learners or students are short of; providing career counseling and job orientation.

b) Keeping track of trainees completing vocational education courses and conducting surveys on the employment/unemployment status of trainees completing vocational training courses.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners: Designated entities shall formulate the investigation or survey plan and implement this plan in accordance with the Circular No. 109/2016/TT-BTC dated June 20, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance, providing for estimation, management, utilization and preparation of final accounts of expenditures on conducting statistical surveys and national censuses.

Article 17. Career Counseling or Orientation

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a) Designing, offering and updating training or retraining courses designed for career counseling and orientation purposes.

b) Providing training courses or instructional sessions aimed at improving the capacity of school staff and teachers in charge of career counseling and guidance activities; enhancing the soft skill training capacity of school staff and teachers.

c) Hosting seminars, conferences, forums or workshops on career counseling and orientation; career guidance programs, trips and contests in which candidates answer questions about the world of occupations; career counseling days; career orientation and guidance activities for learners after graduation; cooperating with unions and associations in providing union members, the youth and students with access to career counsels.

d) Researching, surveying and creating training models, piloting and widely applying soft skills training models; designing, updating and introducing soft skills training programs; providing soft skills training courses for the youth, learners and students.

dd) Providing students with access to job counsels; organizing job counseling and recruitment programs and days helping connection between learners and employers.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) Comply with the provisions of the Circular No. 14/2022/TT-BLDTBXH dated August 30, 2022 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, providing for career or job counseling and start-up support given to students of vocational education institutions (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 14/2022/TT-BLDTBXH).

b) Designated entities shall put forward and carry out plans in an effective and law-abiding manner.

Article 18. Start-up and job creation support

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a) Providing staff members in charge of start-up support at vocational education institutions with training courses in start-up skills aimed at improving their start-up support capacity.

b) Providing students of vocational education institutions with training courses in knowledge about start-up skills.

c) Organizing seminars and forums to promote entrepreneurial spirit, get connected to various start-up support resources; contests and competitions to search for startup ideas and give support to startup ideas and projects; vocational education start-up days at schools, in provinces, regions and the entire nation.

d) Providing favorable condition and support for students to participate in start-up and job creation activities; creating startup clubs; start-up assistance space; developing programs for development of idea exchanges and start-up projects; business incubator and investor connect programs.

dd) Studying several start-up assistance models and recommending them to students.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in accordance with the Circular No. 14/2022/TT-BLDTBXH.

Article 19. Developing models for linkage between vocational education and enterprises or cooperatives

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Researching and developing do-it-yourself (DIY) training equipment.

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2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) For the former task

Entities assigned to conduct the research and development of DIY equipment needed for training activities shall make assessment and choose equipment winning prizes at the National DIY Training Equipment Contest which will be funded to be further researched and widely used at vocational education institutions.

Establishing the Management Committee or the Appraisal Panel. Each Management Committee or Inspection Panel must have 07 or 09 members whose qualification requirements, assigned duties and powers of members of the Management Committees or members of the Appraisal Panel are decided by entities assigned to conduct the research and development of DIY equipment needed for training activities.

Activities involved in the task of researching and developing DIY training equipment consist of the following: Holistic researches; current state assessments; survey questionnaires used for acquiring information, documents and data; data processing, information, document and data analyses; content of professional researches; hosting scientific seminars, consultations with experts; conducting experiments, tests, manufacture and production process; research and complete development of technology processes; proposed solutions, recommendations, inventions, useful solutions, products, preparations, models, scientific publications and other proposals; review, evaluation and acceptance testing prior to publishing.

Manage the inspection, supervision and provision of guidance on implementation of the task of researching and developing DIY training equipment.

b) For the latter task

Enable school personnel or administrator and teachers in charge of business cooperation at vocational education institutions, and training managers of enterprises and cooperatives, to conduct surveys and researches into training cooperation and development models aimed at connecting training activities and production or business activities of enterprises.

Offer students access to visits, field trips, internship or apprenticeship and start-up orientations organized at enterprises and cooperatives.

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1. Offering secondary (intermediate) or postsecondary (junior college)-level training programs to trainees or workers in families living under or near the poverty line, just escaping from poverty, and low income earners.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) Depending on the training needs of students, labor markets and socio-economic development orientations of specific regions and localities, defining the appropriate professions, occupations, qualifications and training scale.

b) This task shall be performed in accordance with the Circular No. 04/2022/TT-BLDTBXH dated March 30, 2022 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on organization of intermediate-level and college-level training by academic year or according to the method of accumulating modules or credits, and the Circular No. 31/2017/TT-BLDTBXH dated December 28, 2017 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, prescribing college, intermediate and elementary-level training in on-the-job training form (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 31/2017/TT-BLDTBXH) and the Circular No. 34/2018/TT-BLDTBXH.

Article 21. Elementary-level and under-3-month vocational training

1. Offering elementary-level and under-3-month intensive vocational training programs to trainees or workers in families living under or near the poverty line, just escaping from poverty, and low income earners.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) Depending on the training needs of students, labor markets and socio-economic development orientations of specific regions and localities, defining the appropriate professions, occupations, qualifications and training scale.

b) As for elementary-level vocational training programs, complying with the regulations laid down in the Circular No. 42/2015/TT-BLDTBXH and amended or supplemented under the Circular No. 34/2018/TT-BLDTBXH.

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d) If workers participate in elementary-level on-the-job training courses, financial or other Support for this task shall be given in accordance with the regulations laid down in the Circular No. 31/2017/TT-BLDTBXH and amended or supplemented under the Circular No. 34/2018/TT-BLDTBXH.

Chapter III

GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SUBPROJECT NO. 3 “DEVELOPMENT OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT FOR WORKING AGE POPULATION AT ETHNIC MINORITY AND MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS" AS PART OF THE PROJECT NO. 5 UNDER THE NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAM FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ETHNIC MINORITY AND MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS DURING THE 2021 – 2030 PERIOD, STAGE I: FROM 2021 TO 2025, WHICH WAS APPROVED UNDER THE PRIME MINISTER’S DECISION NO. 1719/QD-TTG DATED OCTOBER 14, 2021

Article 22. Beneficiaries or Recipients of Financial and/or Other Support

They shall be as indicated in point c of section 5 of Part III in the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1719/QD-TTg dated October 14, 2021 on approval of the National Target Program for socio-economic development of ethnic minority areas and mountainous regions during the 2021 – 2030 period, stage 1: from 2021 to 2025.

Article 23. Support for Developing Vocational Training Models; Supporting Elementary-level and Under-3-Month Intensive Training

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Implementing vocational training models; providing elementary-level training classes and under-3-month intensive courses for ethnic minority workers and Kinh workers from poor households, near-poor households living in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

b) Providing postsecondary (junior college)-level or secondary (intermediate)-level courses meeting labor needs in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

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Article 24. Granting Workers living in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas Support for Definite-Term Overseas Jobs under Contracts

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Providing ethnic minority workers and Kinh workers from poor households, near-poor households living in ethnic minority and mountainous areas with access to vocational skills and foreign language training courses, and support for conformance to documentation requirements and application procedures for overseas work under contracts.

b) Offering counsels and recommendations on overseas jobs under contracts to workers and their relatives.

c) Improving the capacity of personnel in charge of sending workers to work abroad for a definite time and local promoters in provinces, districts, communes, hamlets or villages.

2. Financial and/or other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) Financial or other Support shall be granted to ethnic minority workers and Kinh workers from poor households, near-poor households living in ethnic minority and mountainous areas as follows: When recruiting workers from ethnic minority and mountainous areas, enterprises or public service providers shall cooperate with local authorities in charge of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (in offering those recommended for overseas jobs under contracts financial or other Support through the bidding and order placing procedures under which vocational education institutions, foreign language schools, businesses and public service providers can bid or offer to send workers to work abroad under contracts.

When establishing that workers applying for overseas jobs to businesses or public service providers that have completed courses in occupational and foreign language skills have fully satisfied exit requirements, local authorities in charge of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall offer direct support to them. Enterprises or public service providers sending workers to work abroad under contracts shall assist them in completing all forms and other documentary evidence requirements to receive support.

b) Financial or other Support for the task of offering counsels and recommendations on overseas jobs under contracts to workers and their relatives shall be granted as follows: Local authorities in charge of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall give support in accordance with point d and dd of clause 2 of Article 4 in the Circular No. 15/2022/TT-BTC.

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Article 25. Support for Standardizing Working Skills and Effectively Connecting Training and Employment

1. Creating, designing and compiling the Question Bank used as a tool for national vocational qualification assessment and certification in accordance with point a of clause 2 of Article 11 herein.

2. Conducting the assessment, recognition and certification of national vocational qualifications; printing and managing blank certificates of national vocational qualifications; implementing the information, reporting, statistics regime and sending ID/Credential Cards of assessors of national vocational qualifications, Certificates of national vocational qualifications to ethnic minority workers and Kinh workers from poor or near-poor households living in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in order to meet their job-seeking demands and find jobs. In reference to support for the above-stated task, jobs requiring certificates of national vocational qualifications as prescribed in the Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP; jobs in the preferential economic sectors, leading industries; jobs needing application of new or high technologies, and adapting to the Fourth Revolution; jobs serving socio-economic recovery and development purposes; jobs that are common or need a lot of workers in ethnic minority and mountainous areas according to the recruitment needs of enterprises; or farming jobs applying advanced technologies, adaptable to natural conditions and practices of locals in ethnic minority and mountainous areas shall be preferred to form the basis for development of vocational training programs and forms.

National vocational qualification assessment and certification shall be subject to the Circular No. 38/2015/TT-BLDTBXH dated October 19, 2015 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, prescribing national vocational qualification certificates, conferment and management of national vocational qualification certification; the Circular No. 19/2016/TT-BLDTBXH; and the Circular No. 41/2019/TT-BLDTBXH.

3. Training in assessment of vocational qualifications in accordance with point b of clause 2 of Article 11 in this Circular.

4. Designing courses, curricula and syllabi aimed at training workers in vocational skills, most updated vocational skills and improving their level of vocational qualification under the National Vocational Qualification and Competency Standards provided they meet the needs of learners, trainees and enterprises; aimed at training workers in applying digital technology and improving their green skills in different forms and according to different methods in accordance with relevant law in force, and be tailored to specific levels of vocational qualification of workers as prescribed in Article 16 in the Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP. Procedures and approaches for designing courses, curricula and syllabi shall be the same as those for designing courses, curricula and syllabi of vocational and higher education currently in use under the Law on Vocational Education, the Government’s Decree No. 24/2022/ND-CP dated April 6, 2022 on amendments and supplements to Decrees stipulating conditions for investing and engaging in vocational education activities (if the aforesaid workers have completed level-1, level-2 and level-3 vocational qualifications specified in Article 16 in the Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP); under the Law on Higher Education and other relevant instructional documents as applied to higher education programs (if the aforesaid workers have completed level-4 and level-5 vocational qualifications specified in Article 16 in the Decree No. 31/2015/ND-CP).

Article 26. Support for Providing Labor Market Information, Job Seeking and Employment Connection Services for Ethnic Minority Workers

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Employment Service Centers for their job counseling, job placement, job seeking, or connection between workers and job vacancies, specifically including: Implementing employment transactions (on employment exchanges/transaction sessions, fairs/days); carrying out communication activities in order to disseminate information about labor markets and encourage employees and employers to participate in job transaction activities; creating handbooks, guidebooks and manuals on employment and labor market.

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2. Financial and other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) For the former task: Financial and/or other Support shall be given in accordance with the Circular No. 15/2022/TT-BTC.

b) For the latter task: Financial and/or other Support shall be given in accordance with the Government’s Decree No. 32/2019/ND-CP dated April 10, 2019 on commissioning, ordering and seeking tenders for public-sector goods and services funded by the state budget's recurrent expenditures, and other regulations in force.

Article 27. Developing and Training Teachers, Administrators and Vocational Trainers

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Designing, revising and updating courses, curricula and syllabi, and conducting training courses to serve the purpose of standardizing and improving the capacity of vocational educators or trainers, including: their pedagogical capacity, teaching skills; their capacity to develop training programs, courses and teaching or learning materials; standardizing and improving student test and assessment methods to ensure they are in line with the graduation standards; standardizing levels of vocational qualifications and question banks for tests and assessments of vocational qualifications that can help in practice subjects taught by vocational educators; improving foreign language usage; improving the capacity to apply information technology to their vocational training and instruction, and apply digital transformation and new technologies; improving their knowledge about business and entrepreneurship; improving other professional knowledge and skills required by job positions.

b) providing vocational education administrators with training courses to standardize their professional management skills and qualifications, improve their digital skills, soft skills, foreign language proficiency and other necessary capabilities.

c) creating packets of manuals for vocational education quality assurance accessible to administrators and teachers of vocational education institutions, senior officers of regulatory vocational education authorities at all levels in ethnic minority and mountainous areas; providing administrators and teachers of vocational education institutions, senior officers of regulatory vocational education authorities at all level with courses in knowledge about quality assurance.

d) Designing, offering and updating professional knowledge and skill training, retraining and mentoring courses to which training managers of enterprises or cooperatives have access; holding training, retraining or mentoring classes in professional skills and qualifications that training managers of enterprises and cooperatives are given.

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2. Financial and/or other Support for this task shall be given in accordance with clause 2 of Article 13 herein.

Article 28. Developing courses, curricula and syllabi

This task shall be performed in accordance with Article 14 herein.

Article 29. Formulating the Standard Code in Vocational Education

1. Formulating, updating, revising and modifying National Vocational Qualification and Competency Standards in accordance with Article 5 herein.

2. Setting the Minimum Limits on Volume of Learning or Knowledge required, and Post-graduation Capacity of Learners (graduation standards) shall be subject to Article 6 herein.

3. Setting Economic and Technical Benchmarks in training shall be subject to Article 7 herein.

4. Making the Required Equipment List shall be subject to Article 8 herein.

5. Setting Standards of Facilities Used in Practice, Experimentation and Testing specific to industries or occupations in accordance with Article 9 herein.

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1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Choosing contents to be digitalized; defining objectives and technical specifications of digital and simulation-based teaching lessons.

b) Creating outlines, contents, and scenarios of electronic teaching lessons appropriate to be digitalized, simulated and offered.

c) Conducting the evaluation and acceptance testing of digital, simulation-based teaching lessons and completely digitalized items.

d) Making sample lesson videos.

dd) Designing virtual or simulation experiments with teaching lessons.

2. Such support for the aforesaid activities shall be given in accordance with clause 9 of Article 23 in the Circular No. 15/2022/TT-BTC.

Article 31. Applying Information Technology and Digital Transformation in Teaching and Learning Management

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

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b) Developing digital infrastructure, platforms, equipment and learning resources.

c) Digitalizing school activities, especially management of student enrolment, training, quality assurance, course or curriculum development, teacher management, student management and connecting with businesses.

2. Financial and other Support shall be given in the following manners:

a) For the task of developing digital training courses, curricula and syllabi, and promoting application of the digital transformation in the management of teaching and learning at all levels of vocational education: Support for this task shall be given in accordance with clause 9 of Article 23 in the Circular No. 15/2022/TT-BTC.

b) For the task of developing digital infrastructure, platforms, equipment and learning resources; digitalizing school activities

If project formulation is required: Formulation of information technology application projects shall be subject to existing regulations on management of information technology application projects; sector-specific limits and unit prices issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Finance and other related ministries or regulatory authorities.

If project formulation is not required: The task shall be performed in accordance with the Circular No. 03/2020/TT-BTTTT dated February 24, 2020 of the Ministry of Information and Communications, prescribing the formulation of detailed proposals and estimates of costs for application of information technology funded by the state budget’s recurrent expenditures.

c) For the task of altering, renovating and repairing IT infrastructure, purchasing IT assets and equipment; hiring IT services: This task shall be performed pursuant to the Law on Bidding and instruments on guidance on implementation of the Law; the Government’s Decree No. 73/2019/ND-CP dated September 5, 2019, regulating the management of investments in application of information technology funded by the state budget.

d) The task of outsourcing the service of maintenance and minor repair of equipment comprising IT infrastructure shall be subject to law on bidding and procurement.

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1. Financial and/or other Support shall be granted for repair and maintenance of several items, production premises, classrooms, dormitories and other facilities meeting daily life and physical activities of students; purchase of training machinery and equipment to vocational education institutions located in provinces consisting of tier-III, II or I communes in ethnic minority and mountainous regions for the 2021 – 2025 period.

2. Based on assigned objectives, tasks and funds, this Support shall be as provided in the Circular No. 15/2022/TT-BTC and other relevant laws.

Article 33. Communication about Vocational Education, Employment, Overseas Employment under Contracts

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Producing, releasing information relating to laws, the Government's policies on labor, vocational education and employment, and broadcasting them via mass media, including:

Creating, designing and issuing publications and leaflets; digital products, digital learning resources and other products, such as notebooks, books, office equipment, supplies and souvenirs serving communication purposes that workers residing in ethnic minority and mountainous area can access.

Creating, promoting and advertising vocational education by using billboards, screens, decals, badges, symbols placed in public areas, high traffic areas, road intersections, national highways, means of transport; information-bearing objects, items, booths, shops, stores and galleries.

Communicating through press or news agencies, media agencies, mass media, such as audio-visual news resources, print newspapers, electronic newspapers, websites, magazines, social networks; through works of journalism, informative products of journalistic nature, video clips, footage, communication products.

b) Hosting or organizing programs, events, forums, conferences, seminars, contests, movements or campaigns in which participants are encouraged to learn, compose, write or make news, photographic articles, reportages or films about vocational education for the purposes of communication and delivery of particular messages in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

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d) Designing, creating, updating and revising or modifying curricula, syllabi and packs of materials used in courses in professional knowledge and skills of communication about laws, the Government’s labor, vocational training and employment policies to be provided for students; teachers, administrators and other staff members working for vocational education institutions, intramural promoters or communicators and consultants of vocational education courses and jobs in ethnic minority and mountainous areas.

2. Such Support for this task shall be given in accordance with regulations laid down in clause 2 of Article 15 herein.

Article 34. Propagating and providing counsels on career, start-up, vocational education and employment

This task shall be performed as prescribed in Article 17 and 18 herein.

Article 25. Inspection, Supervision and Assessment; formulation of KPI indicator set

1. Activities involved in this task:

a) Formulating the Indicator set used for monitoring performance (KPI).

b) Conducting the inspection, supervision and assessment of the Subproject.

2. This task shall be performed in the following manners:

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b) Conducting the inspection, supervision and assessment of the Subproject in accordance with the Circular No. 01/2022/TT-UBDT dated May 26, 2022 of the Minister and Chairperson of the Committee for Ethnic Affairs, prescribing procedures for supervision and assessment of implementation of the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021 - 2030 period, stage I: from 2021 to 2025.

Chapter IV

GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ITEM NO. 09 – “ONGOING IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION OF RURAL WORKERS, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION MARKET DEMANDS” AS PART OF THE COMPONENT NO. 03 UNDER THE NATIONAL TARGET PROGRAM FOR CONSTRUCTION OF NEW RURAL AREAS DURING THE 2021-2025 PERIOD, WHICH WAS APPROVED UNDER THE PRIME MINISTER’S DECISION NO. 263/QD-TTG DATED FEBRUARY 22, 2022

Article 36. Beneficiaries and Scope of Financial and/or other Support

1. Beneficiaries:

People, residential communities, learners, students of vocational education institutions, vocational education institutions, enterprises, cooperatives and socio-economic organizations in rural areas nationwide.

2. Scope of the financial and/or other Support:

a) Propagating and counseling vocational education and employment; investigating, surveying and forecasting training and employment demands.

b) Designing elementary-level and under-03-month training programs, courses, curricula and syllabi.

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d) Designing curricula and syllabi needed for training and retraining courses provided for vocational education administrators and trainers.

dd) Supporting maintenance and repair of assets, purchase of training equipment to make them available for use at vocational education institutions.

e) Granting support for elementary-level and under-03-month vocational training to rural workers.

Article 37. Propagating and counseling vocational education and employment; investigating, surveying and forecasting training and employment demands

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for:

a) Communicating and disseminating information about vocational training and employment to rural workers via mass media, including:

Creating, designing and issuing publications and leaflets; digital products, digital learning resources and other products, such as notebooks, books, office equipment, supplies and souvenirs serving communication purposes; publishing job selection books and employment guidebooks that rural workers can access, and carrying out other related activities.

Creating, promoting and advertising vocational education by using billboards, screens, decals, badges, symbols placed in public areas, high traffic areas, road intersections, national highways, means of transport; information-bearing objects, items, booths, shops, stores and galleries.

Communicating through press or news agencies, media agencies, mass media, such as audio-visual news resources, print newspapers, electronic newspapers, websites, magazines, social networks; through works of journalism, informative products of journalistic nature, video clips, footage, communication products, news bulletins, journals, special issues, portable communication means, exhibitions, etc.

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dd) Enhancing the capacity of personnel in charge of communication about regulatory policies, laws, and promoters.

d) Designing, creating, updating and revising or modifying curricula, syllabi and materials used in courses in professional knowledge and skills of communication about laws, employment and vocational training policies to be provided for students; teachers, administrators and other staff members or employees working for vocational education institutions, intramural promoters or communicators and consultants of vocational education courses.

dd) Providing counsels on vocational education and employment for rural workers.

e) Designing handbooks, guidebooks; specialized handbooks and other types of book intended for vocational education offered to rural workers.

g) Conducting investigations, surveys and forecasts of training and employment demands.

2. This task shall be performed in accordance with regulations laid down in clause 2 of Article 15 herein.

Article 38. Designing elementary-level and under-03-month training programs, courses, curricula and syllabi

Designing and developing training programs, curricula, syllabi and learning resources; designing elementary-level and under-03-month courses and curricula shall be subject to point b of clause 2 of Article 14 herein.

Article 39. Setting Economic and Technical Benchmarks and the Required Equipment List for Elementary-Level and Under-3-Month Training Programs

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Article 40. Develop the Staff of Vocational Teachers, Vocational Education Administrators and Trainers

1. Financial and/or other Support shall be intended for: Designing curricula and syllabi and providing teachers, administrators and trainers with training courses aimed at standardizing and improving their pedagogical capacity, teaching skills; their capacity to develop training programs, courses, curricula, syllabi and training materials; student test and assessment methods to ensure they are in line with the graduation standards; levels of vocational qualifications and question banks for tests and assessments of vocational qualifications that can help in practice subjects taught by vocational educators; foreign language usage; their capacity to apply information technology to their vocational training and instruction, and apply digital transformation and new technologies; vocational training management and counseling; their knowledge about business and entrepreneurship; other professional knowledge and skills required by job positions.

2. Financial and/or other Support for this task shall be given in accordance with clause 2 of Article 13 herein.

Article 41. Supporting maintenance and repair of assets, purchase of training equipment to make them available for use at vocational education institutions

1. Granting financial and/or other Support for repair or maintenance of assets, purchase of equipment or means intended for training activities to vocational education institutions in accordance with regulations in force.

2. Based on the assigned objectives, duties and funds, financial and/or other Support shall be granted in accordance with the Circular No. 53/2022/TT-BTC dated August 12, 2022 of the Minister of Finance, prescribing management and use of central budget funds for implementation of the National Target Program for Construction of New Rural Areas during the 2021 - 2025 period and other relevant regulatory provisions.

Article 42. Supporting Elementary-level and Under-3-Month Intensive Training for Rural Workers

This task shall be as prescribed in clause 2 of Article 21 herein.

Chapter V

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Article 43. Principles

Implementation shall be as stipulated in Article 4 of the Government's Decree No. 27/2022/ND-CP dated April 19, 2022, prescribing the mechanism for management and organization of implementation of national target programs (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 27/2022/ND-CP). Various funds may be pooled to carry out work or activities sharing the same objectives of national target programs, other programs and projects in the same areas to prevent any untargeted or wasted investment.

Article 44. Responsibilities

1. Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

Preside over or cooperate with relevant ministries, central, local authorities and entities in: Give instructions or guidance on and taking charge of implementation of the foregoing; inspecting, supervising and reviewing the implementation progress; making preliminary and final assessment and report on implementation results on a periodic and irregular basis according to regulations in force.

2. Relevant ministries and central authorities

Based on the tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister, cooperate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in guiding the implementation of the contents specified in this Circular.

3. Provincial People’s Committees

Perform their assigned tasks as provided in Article 40 in the Decree No. 27/2022/ND-CP and those specified in the Prime Minister’s Decisions on approval of National Target Programs for the 2021 – 2025 period.

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5. Vocational education institutions and other relevant entities

a) Based on the actual situation, submit proposals for 5-year and annual plans for implementation of Subprojects and Components specified in Article 1 of this Circular to the governing bodies as prescribed.

b) Organize and implement contents and activities under the guidance of competent authorities, ensuring the objectives of the national target programs are met, and take full responsibility for their performance.

c) Submit regular and irregular performance reports to governing bodies in accordance with regulations.

6. Ministries, central authorities, People’s Committees of provinces and relevant entities shall be responsible for inspecting, supervising, preliminarily or finally reviewing, evaluating and making regular or irregular reports on their performance, and submitting these reports to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (via the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training) in accordance with regulations.

Article 45. Entry Into Force

1. This Circular is entering into force as of September 6, 2022.

2. In case the legislative documents used as references in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced with other legal normative documents, updated or new versions shall govern.

3. In the course of implementation hereof, if there is any issue that arises, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (via the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training) should be promptly informed to consider any appropriate modifications.

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PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Le Van Thanh