Thông tư 25/2021/TT-BGDDT

CIRCULAR

PROVIDING GUIDELINES ON PROVISION OF DOCTORAL AND MASTER DEGREE COURSES FOR FACULTY OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS UNDER PRIME MINISTER’S DECISION NO. 89/QD-TTG DATED JANUARY 18, 2019 ON APPROVAL OF THE PROJECT FOR ENHANCEMENT OF COMPETENCIES OF LECTURERS AND ADMINISTRATORS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS MEETING REQUIREMENTS FOR RADICAL CHANGES IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING DURING THE PERIOD OF 2019 – 2030

Pursuant to the Law on Education dated June 14, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Higher Education dated June 18, 2012; the Law on Amendments and Supplements to certain Articles of the Law on Higher Education dated November 19, 2018;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 69/2017/ND-CP dated May 25, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CP dated December 30, 2019, elaborating and providing guidance on the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Education;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister's Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019 on approval of the Project for enhancement of competencies of lecturers and administrators of higher education institutions meeting requirements for radical changes in education and training during the period of 2019 – 2030;

Upon the request of the Director of the Higher Education Department;

The Minister of Education and Training herein promulgates the Circular providing guidelines on provision of doctoral and master degree courses for faculty members of higher education institutions under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019 on approval of the Project for enhancement of competencies of lecturers and administrators of higher education institutions meeting requirements for radical changes in education and training during the period of 2019 – 2030.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and subjects of application

1. This Circular provides guidelines on provision of doctoral and master degree courses for faculty members of higher education institutions under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 89/QD-TTg dated January 18, 2019 on approval of the Project for enhancement of competencies of lecturers and administrators of higher education institutions meeting requirements for radical changes in education and training during the period of 2019 – 2030 (hereinafter referred to as Project), including: general regulations; eligible candidates and recruitment or candidacy standards, rights and responsibilities of graduate students; requirements and criteria for review or consideration for approval or recognition of receiving institutions, responsibilities and authority of receiving institutions, sending institutions and for implementation of the Project.

2. This Circular applies to higher education institutions, organizations and individuals involved in implementation of objectives and duties of providing doctoral and master degree courses for faculty members of higher education institutions falling within the Project’s ambit.

Article 2. Interpretation

1. Sending institution refers to a domestic higher education institution (except foreign-invested private higher education institutions) wishing to build up repertories and aptitudes of its faculty with doctoral or master degrees within the Project's ambit.

2. Educational institution refers to a higher education institution, research institute or educational institution, whether in-country or offshore, accredited by competent authorities of a host country to deliver doctoral and master degree courses, and confer doctoral and master degrees; meeting regulations of this Circular, reviewed, approved, recognized and listed by the Ministry of Education and Training, within the ambit of this Project (sometimes interchangeably referred to as receiving institution).

3. Full-time tenured faculty member refers to any faculty member of a sending institution that meets regulations laid down in subparagraph e, paragraph 1, Article 10 in the Government's Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CP dated December 30, 2019, elaborating and providing guidance on the implementation of a number of Articles of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Higher Education.

4. Tenure-eligible faculty member refers to any person, by or as at the effective date of this Circular, who has already gained admission to or is taking a doctoral course at an in-country or offshore educational institution; is not a full-time tenured faculty member but aspires to be; is guaranteed a full-time tenured position after graduating from a doctoral course under terms and conditions of a tenure-track agreement.

5. Student refers to any full-time tenured or tenure-eligible faculty member meeting regulations of this Circular, recruited by a sending institution and offered grants or stipends funded through the Project by the Ministry of Education and Training when taking a doctoral or master degree course. As separately defined, a doctoral student is a person studying a doctoral degree course and a master’s student is a person studying a master degree course.

Article 3. Training levels, majors and formats

1. Training levels and majors falling within the Project’s ambit, including:

a) Doctoral degree courses in all majors; the disciplines that need to be concentrated on according to the strategy for development of full-fledged human resources in Vietnam over periods of time by 2030 and in the subsequent period should be preferred;

b) Master’s degree courses in majors belonging to arts, sports and physical activity fields.

2. Program formats, including:

a) Onshore full-time programs;

b) Offshore full-time programs;

c) Doctoral degree training association involving two stages of study, such as a period of time during which students study full-time onshore and a period of time during which students study full-time offshore. The latter shall not last for a maximum of 02 years.

Article 4. Student support policies

1. Funding to full-time onshore students, including:

a) Tuition fees paid to receiving institutions;

b) Study and research grants or stipends;

c) Grants or stipends paid on a one-off basis to doctoral students for their participation in overseas workshops or seminars or short-term internship programs that do not extend beyond 03 months during the duration of study and research.

2. Funding to full-time onshore students, including:

a) Tuition fees paid to receiving institutions;

b) Study and research grants or stipends.

3. Students taking doctoral degree courses are entitled to funding referred to in subparagraph a and b of paragraph 1 of this Article when studying or researching in-country and in paragraph 2 of this Article when studying or researching abroad.

4. Grants, stipends or other funding packages shall be granted to students within the time limits stipulated in the approval decisions of the Ministry of Education and Training referred to in paragraph 5 of Article 12 herein; are calculated as from the dates on which these students formally enter their courses at receiving institutions or from the dates on which these approval decisions have influence upon doctoral students; the maximum time limits of funding to doctoral students and master’s student shall be 04 years (48 months) and 02 years (24 months), respectively.

5. As provided in paragraph 1, 2 and 3 of this Article on payment details and amounts of funding derived from the state budget for implementation of the Project under the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, such funding shall not cover costs of foreign language training or tutoring programs (if any) delivered to students prior to formally entering doctoral and master degree courses.

Chapter II

CANDIDATES AND SELECTION OR CANDIDACY STANDARDS, RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF GRADUATE STUDENTS

Article 5. Qualified candidates and recruitment standards

1. Full-time tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members may register for recruitment of candidates for grants, stipends or support packages provided by the Project if they meet the following requirements:

a) They are Vietnamese citizens, under 40 years old in the year of registration for recruitment; have political credentials and are of good moral character; are in good health to study; are not facing disciplinary action in the form of warning or more severe sanction; are not subject to border entry or exit bans imposed under legislation when registering for recruitment of candidates for offshore full-time courses;

b) They are registering for recruitment of candidates for any doctoral or master degree course, or are taking doctoral degree programs, for the first time;

c) They are full-time tenured faculty members who meet enrolment requirements of training programs, are included in formal admission plans in the registration or subsequent year; if they are tenure-eligible or full-time tenured faculty members who are taking doctoral degree programs, their remaining duration of study or research must be at least 18 months until the date of participation in the recruitment process;

d) They have not yet received or been committed to receiving full-ride scholarships from the state budget or other funding sources to pay for their study or research at the registered levels until the date of being recruited as candidates for the Project’s funding.

2. Candidates eligible for the Project's funding for master degree courses must be full-time tenured faculty teaching majors in arts fields or the range of sport or physical activity disciplines at sending institutions specialized in providing cultural, arts, sport and physical education programs.

Article 6. Rights and responsibilities of students

1. Students reserve the following rights:

a) Receive the Project’s grants, stipends or other funding packages by the deadlines approved by the Ministry of Education and Training during predetermined durations for their taking doctoral or master degree courses;

b) Demand sending institutions to give necessary conditions and spare time in order for them to complete training courses and be reinstated in their job positions after graduation;

c) Have access to more financial aid from other institutional or individual sponsors during their study or research durations provided that such financial aid is not granted in the form of full-ride scholarships, and any conflict between rights and responsibilities of students receiving the Project’s funding and those of students receiving financial aid under regulations of these sponsors does not arise;

d) Enjoy Vietnamese citizenship rights when studying or researching abroad under regulations in force.

2. Students assume the following responsibilities:

a) Comply with regulations and submit to the receiving institution’s control during their study or research duration; send sending institutions study and research progress and performance reports every 06 months or at the end of each academic term or year within the training duration and upon graduation;

b) Complete training courses by due dates and receive doctoral or master degrees conferred in accordance with regulations of receiving institutions;

c) During the period of study, research or 12 months after graduation at maximum, doctoral students must publish their research results directly related to dissertation topics that are supported by at least 02 research papers published by a student taking the offshore full-time course, or at least 01 research paper published by a student taking a course provided in other training format in any publication on the list of publications approved by Web of Science or Scopus (shortly called WoS/Scopus), as the first author or the corresponding author. In particular, doctoral students of majors within the range of arts, sport or physical activity disciplines may replace academic publications with 01 formal award won in national or international competitions recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

d) Continue to study, research and complete courses at their own expense when the duration of the training course provided by the receiving institution is longer than the maximum time limit for entitlement to the Project's funding prescribed in paragraph 4 of Article 4 herein;

dd) Fulfill responsibilities of students prescribed in domestic laws of host countries and current regulations applied to Vietnamese citizens when studying and researching abroad;

e) Return to sending institutions promptly after graduation and work there for a minimum period prescribed in the Government's Decree No. 143/2013/ND-CP dated October 24, 2013 on repayment of scholarship and course money with regard to students that are not civil servants or public employees (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 143); in the Government’s Decree No. 101/2017/ND-CP dated September 1, 2017 on training and mentoring policies for public officials, civil servants and public employees (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 101) with regard to students that are civil servants or public employees, and other relevant regulations currently in effect;

g) Repay grants, stipends or other support packages from the Project during the duration of study or research under the Decree No. 143 with regard to students that are not civil servants or public employees and the Decree No. 101 with regard to students that are civil servants or public employees, and other relevant regulations currently in force in case where students commit any breach of regulations laid down in Article 3 in the Decree No. 143, Article 7 in the Decree No. 101, and fail to fulfill other responsibilities stipulated in this Article.

Article 7. Regulations for students during the training process

1. Any student wishing to get and having good and sufficient grounds for study or research leave must submit their application to seek approval from both the sending institution and the receiving institution. During their study or research leave, the student submitting application for leave shall not receive any funding from the Project. He/she may continue to be granted the Project's funding when returning to his/her study or research at the receiving institution if such leave taken by the doctoral student or the master’s student lasts no more than 12 months or 06 months in total, respectively. Total length of time for a student’s entitlement to the Project’s funding shall not exceed the maximum time limit prescribed in clause 4 of Article 4 herein.

2. Any student wishing to change his/her major or move to another receiving institution not because of being disciplined by or expelled from the receiving institution must submit their application to seek approval from the sending institution. The Project’s grants, stipends or other funding packages shall continue to be granted to that student if the following requirements are met:

a) The change to another major or the movement to another receiving institution occurs once in the entire study or research process when the remaining duration for entitlement to the Project’s funding is equal or greater than half of the period stated in the approval decision issued by the Ministry of Education and Training;

b) The Project’s grants, stipends or other funding packages paid to the student taking a course in a new major or studying at a new receiving institution need to be equal to or less than total funding that the student expects to receive according to the approval decision of the Ministry of Education and Training minus the funding amount granted to the student during the period of his/her studying the primary major or at the referring institution; in case where the former is greater than the latter difference, the student must pay the excess at his/her own expense and fulfill his/her responsibilities referred to in this Circular;

c) The period of entitlement to the Project’s funding shall not exceed the maximum time limit stated in paragraph 4 of Article 4 herein from the date of official admission to the course that varies according to the major or the referring institution in which he/she has enrolled as provided in the approval decision issued by the Ministry of Education and Training.

3. All grants, stipends or funding packages shall cease being offered to students committing breach of laws to the extent of being prosecuted for penal liability, imprisoned or expelled from school due to any breach of regulations of receiving institutions during their study or research period.

4. Master’s students can apply for the immediate transition to doctoral courses and receive the Project's funding when meeting the following requirements:

a) completed and are awarded master degrees or certificates of graduation from master degree courses in the same year of registration for recruitment for doctoral courses;

b) have attained total grade for at least 60% of modules of a master degree course that indicates that the applicant is ranked as one of the top students;

c) obtain permissions from receiving institutions for prompt admission to doctoral degree courses appropriate for the specializations that they study at the master degree training level.

5. In view of demands from students and sending institutions, the Ministry of Education and Training shall consider issuing decisions concerning matters stipulated in paragraph 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

Chapter III

REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA FOR REVIEW OR CONSIDERATION FOR APPROVAL OR RECOGNITION OF RECEIVING INSTITUTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITY OF RECEIVING INSTITUTIONS, SENDING INSTITUTIONS

Article 8. Requirements and criteria for review or consideration for approval or recognition of receiving institutions

1. Any educational institution wishing to get involved in providing training courses within the Project's ambit must meet the following requirements:

a) In-country educational institutions organize courses in the majors listed in the worldwide rankings of reputable disciplines or fields of study recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training at least once in the last 05 years until the pre-approval review or consideration date; or have already enrolled candidates for and organized courses in doctoral degree majors for at least 05 years, and have at least 05 graduate students that have graduated from these courses and been awarded degrees in the past 05 years; have at least 05 courses from which students have graduated and have been awarded degrees upon graduation;

b) Offshore educational institutions organize doctoral degree majors, except those within the range of arts, sport and physical activity disciplines, are ranked among the best 500 educational institutions in the rankings of reputable majors or disciplines in the world (recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training) at least once in the past 05 years until the date on which the Ministry of Education and Training announces the list of educational institutions within the Project’s ambit. The list of educational institutions providing (both doctoral and master degree) training courses in majors falling within the range of arts, sports and physical activity disciplines shall be recommended by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

c) In-country educational institutions entering into doctoral degree training association need to meet the requirements specified in subparagraph a, paragraph 1 of this Article while offshore educational institutions entering into doctoral degree training association need to meet the requirements set out in subparagraph b, paragraph 1 of this Article. Additionally, all of these educational institutions must comply with current regulations on foreign cooperation and investment in the education sector.

2. Training majors of in-country educational institutions meeting the regulations laid down in subparagraph a, paragraph 1 of this Article must be eligible for pre-approval review or consideration based on criteria arranged in the following order of preference:

a) Those ranked high in the international rankings recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training;

b) Those taught by faculty with great qualification and expertise. This criterion involves the number of professors, associate professors, the number of international publications, or the number of national research projects, or the number of national or international awards per a faculty member;

c) Balance between majors or fields and region-specific ones of accredited in-country educational institutions must be maintained.

Article 9. Responsibilities of educational institutions

1. In-country educational institutions shall assume the following responsibilities:

a) Formulate detailed regulations on enrollment and provision of training courses for students within the Project's ambit on the basis of the current regulations on enrollment and provision of doctoral degree training courses of the Ministry of Education and Training, regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, regulations of educational institutions and other relevant regulations in this Circular;

b) Enroll, receive, manage and support students to help them complete their learning and research tasks during the training process; assign faculty members having scientific research experience and reputation to teach and instruct students;

c) Provide information for sending institutions and competent authorities about student's learning outcomes and progress upon request;

d) Notify sending institutions when students violate or fail to comply with regulations of educational institutions;

dd) Refuse to manage, handle or deal with violations or expel students when students fail to meet academic requirements or do not comply with regulations of educational institutions;

e) Take charge of and cooperate with sending institutions in deciding to send students to attend seminars or workshops or short-term internships abroad to support students in carrying out their research tasks, completing their research reports or scientific papers related to dissertations published in publications on the list of WoS/Scopus publications;

g) Observe regulations on reporting and archival of relevant documents and records in accordance with this Circular and other relevant current regulations.

2. Offshore educational institutions shall manage students during the training process; cooperate in communication with and provide information on the learning progress and results of students to sending institutions upon request and according to the regulations of educational institutions and the domestic laws of the host country.

Article 10. Responsibilities of sending institutions

1. Develop plans to train full-time tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members with doctorate and master degrees under the Project in the current year to 2030 in line with the sending institution's human resource development strategy.

2. Carry out foreign language and other repertoire or skill mentoring and coaching activities to seek potential academic personnel, support full-time tenured or tenure-eligible faculty members to ensure that they meet enrollment conditions of onshore and offshore educational institutions with a view to enhancing the ability to accomplish their study and research tasks.

3. Formulate and issue in-house detailed rules and regulations on recruiting full-time tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members as candidates for training courses provided under the Project, including those on application documents, evidence for academic and research capacity requirements (if any), commitments between sending institutions and full-time tenured faculty members, training agreements with tenure-eligible faculty members, recruitment process, regulations on repayment of the Project’s grants, stipends and other funding packages in case where students fail to fulfill their commitments with sending institutions as prescribed in this Circular and other relevant current regulations.

4. Ensure recruitment sessions are organized in an open, transparent and fair manner; assume responsibility for the recruitment process to ensure right and qualified full-time tenured or tenure-eligible faculty members are recruited; settle any problem that may arise within their competence in the course of implementing the Project at each sending institution.

5. Support students in contacting or connecting them with onshore and offshore educational institutions that meet regulations set forth in Article 8 of this Circular, depending on their registered training formats.

6. Cooperate with educational institutions in managing, supporting students in the learning and research process, including considering changes that students may make during the training duration, sending students to seminars, workshops or short-term internship abroad; receiving and assigning work to students who have graduated from training courses for a maximum period of 12 months from the date of graduation, and press students to fulfill their agreed-upon responsibilities and obligations.

7. Carry out regimes on reporting and archival of relevant documents and records in accordance with current regulations and regulations of this Circular; manage information about students of sending institutions, update the Project’s database with information about students and changes in the training process under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training.

8. Cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training in offering grants, stipends and other funding packages to students; take responsibility for data and information related to students in the learning and research process; recover grants, stipends or funding packages that students are offered from the Project when they commit breach of the regulations laid down in subparagraph g, paragraph 2, Article 6 of this Circular, or repay the funding to the State in case of refusal to accept it or failure to employ students after their graduation as specified in paragraph 6 of this Article according to current regulations.

9. Perform other tasks involved in the Project.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 11. Registration for Project-appropriate training courses

1. In order to apply for provision of onshore full-time training courses, educational institutions satisfying the requirements set out in subparagraph a, paragraph 1, Article 8 of this Circular shall prepare a copy of the project by using the Sample given in Appendix I to this Circular, enclosing proofs, for submission to the Ministry of Education and Training ahead of September 30 every year.

2. In order to apply for permission for provision of courses in the form of educational association, training institutions that meet the requirements specified at subparagraph c, paragraph 1, Article 8 of this Circular shall finalize their dossiers of doctorate level educational association in accordance with the Government’s regulations on foreign cooperation and investment in the education sector, and send 01 set of documents, enclosing proofs, to the Ministry of Education and Training before September 30 every year.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall conduct review for approval or recognition of in-country educational institutions, doctoral training association programs and publish the list of onshore educational institutions and doctoral level training association programs and titles of international rankings by training majors or fields endorsed within the Project’s ambit on the web portal of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Article 12. Recruitment plan development and student recruitment

1. Based on the needs to improve qualifications of faculty members, sending institutions shall develop their plans to recruit and appoint full-time tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members to study doctorate or master degree courses within the Project’s ambit for the next year, and send these plans prepared using the Sample given in Appendix II to this Circular to the Ministry of Education and Training before April 15 every year, as well as update the Project database.

2. The Ministry of Education and Training shall consolidate these plans and cost estimates of sending institutions specified at subparagraph a, paragraph 1, Article 14 of this Circular, and send a consolidated report on them to the Ministry of Finance before June 15 every year for verification and assessment purposes.

3. In view of total estimated costs that has been reviewed and approved, the Ministry of Education and Training shall issue and notify sending institution of decisions on the number of students classified by major groups, training levels and training formats who are entitled to the Project’s funding before January 15 each year, and update the Project’s database.

4. Sending institutions shall recruit the number of full-time tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members classified by major groups, training levels and training formats as notified by the Ministry of Education and Training and complete their recruitment tasks by March 15 each year, and update the Project’s database.

5. On a periodical basis or upon receiving information from educational institutions, sending institutions shall send the list of students who are formally admitted to courses by using the Sample given in Appendix III to this Circular to the Ministry of Education and Training. Based on this list, the Ministry of Education and Training shall issue approval decisions for specific students to sending institutions in order for them to finalize financial documentation and completely carry out regulatory procedures for sending students to study their registered courses.

Article 13. Retention of recruitment results

1. Students may reserve recruitment results of sending institutions for later use according to paragraph 4, Article 12 herein from the date of receipt of recruitment results to the date on which they receive notices of official admission to courses within the maximum period:

a) up to 06 months with regard to students taking onshore full-time courses and students taking doctoral level training association programs;

b) up to 12 months with regard to students taking offshore full-time courses.

2. After 03 months with respect to onshore full-time courses or 06 moths with respect to offshore full-time courses within the retention period prescribed in paragraph 1 of this Article, students not yet or not formally admitted to their registered educational institutions may request sending institutions and the Ministry of Education and Training to allow students to move to other educational institutions or change to other training formats if they meet the following requirements:

a) They are formally admitted to study by receiving institutions;

b) Funding offered to students at receiving institutions is equal to or less than proposed total funding offered to these students that varies according to recruitment results of sending institutions as provided in clause 4 of Article 12 herein.

3. After expiry of the permitted retention period stated in paragraph 1 of this Article, if students do not formally enter courses at their registered educational institutions or at receiving educational institutions permitted by the Ministry of Education and Training, they shall be omitted from the list of recruited students of sending institutions according to paragraph 4, Article 12 herein. If students wish to re-register for recruitment of candidates for courses at sending institutions, they can do so in the following recruitment sessions.

4. The period for entitlement to the project’s funding starts from the date of students' official admission to courses at the registered educational institutions or at the educational institutions to which their referrals are permitted by the Ministry of Education and Training.

5. Any change or referral to other educational institutions prescribed in this Article do not fall within the range of change or deferral activities stipulated in Article 7 herein.

Article 14. Management and allocation of the Project’s funding

1. Sending institutions:

a) Produce annual estimates of funding offered to students within the Project’s ambit which are consistent with the plans specified in paragraph 1, Article 12 herein under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training. These estimates should describe payment details and amounts in detail as required by the Ministry of Finance and shall be sent to the Ministry of Education and Training;

b) On a periodical basis and when necessary, finalize financial profiles of the students who have obtained approval decisions from the Ministry of Education and Training and have been formally admitted to courses under the instructions and guidance of the Ministry of Education and Training; monitor and synthesize information on the granting of the Project’s funding to students during the training duration and regularly update the Project’s database;

c) Implement other relevant regulations under the Ministry of Finance’s instructions regarding financial regulations for implementation of the Project.

2. Ministry of Education and Training:

a) Finalize annual estimates of all costs for the implementation of the Project according to the Ministry of Finance's instructions on formulation of state budget estimates on the basis of consolidating all estimates of funding to students received from sending institutions and send a consolidated estimate to the Ministry of Finance for its verification and review prior to proceeding to carry out the approval process according to regulations;

b) Allocate funding to the students who have obtained approval decisions from the Ministry of Education and Training and have been officially admitted to courses in accordance with current regulations on control of payments when receiving complete financial profiles of students from sending institutions, and notify the progress of disbursement of funding to students to sending institutions in order for them to input updated information into the Project’s database;

c) Implement other relevant regulations under the Ministry of Finance’s instructions regarding financial regulations for implementation of the Project.

Article 15. Reporting, inspection and audit regimes and regulations

1. No later than December 20 each year, sending institutions and in-country educational institutions shall make and send periodic reports to the Ministry of Education and Training by using the correct forms and methods of delivery of reports specified in Article 6 of the Circular No. 19/2020/TT-BGDDT dated June 29, 2020, stipulating the regimes and regulations for preparation and submission of reports under the state management of the Ministry of Education and Training, and concurrently input the following updated information given through these reports in the Project’s database:

a) Sending institutions shall submit reports prepared by using the Sample given in Appendix IV hereto. Each report should contain the following information: list of students classified by training formats that have obtained approval decisions of the Ministry of Education and Training and been formally admitted to courses within the year; list of students that have not yet been formally admitted to courses and are going to enter courses in the following year; the number of students classified by major groups, training levels and training formats that are expected to be sent to take training courses in the next year;

b) In-country educational institutions shall submit reports prepared by using the Sample given in Appendix V hereto. Each report should contain the list of students currently taking training courses from which the number of students are guaranteed graduation and expected to graduate in the next year;

c) Cutoff date for collection of reporting data shall fall within the period ranging from December 15 in the preceding year to December 14 in the reporting year.

2. Sending institutions and in-country educational institutions shall be responsible for periodically carrying out in-house inspection, audit, supervision and self-assessment of implementation of regulations of this Circular.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall periodically carry out inspection and audit of compliance of sending institutions and in-country educational institutions with this Circular.

Article 16. Entry into force and grandfather clauses

1. This Circular shall enter into force as from October 24, 2021 and replace the Circular No. 35/2012/TT-BGDDT dated October 12, 2012, introducing regulations on doctoral level training under “the Project for training of lecturers holding doctorate degrees for universities and colleges during the 2010 – 2020 period” approved under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 911/QD-TTg dated June 17, 2010 (shortly called Circular No. 35).

2. Those who are recruited and sent to take doctoral degree courses as provided in the Circular No. 35 shall continue to implement the regulations of the Circular No. 35 until the date of completion of training courses under approval decisions of the Ministry of Education and Training.

3. The Chief of the Office, Director of the Higher Education Department, Heads of affiliates of the Ministry of Education and Training; Directors of universities, academies; Provosts of higher education institutions; Directors of research institutes providing doctoral degree programs; relevant organizations and individuals, shall be responsible for implementing this Circular./.