Is a university in Vietnam required to announce the academic year plan at the beginning of the academic year?

Is a university in Vietnam required to announce the academic year plan at the beginning of the academic year?

Under Article 6 of the Regulations on Undergraduate Education issued with Circular 08/2021/TT-BGDDT on teaching and learning plans:

Teaching and learning plans

1. Teaching and learning plans shall elaborate the provision of training programs by year and by semester as appropriate to the mode of study and method for training organization.

2. Every academic year plan shall include main timestamps of training activities in the academic year for all modes of study and training programs and be promptly announced to all relevant parties before the academic year starts. An academic year shall have two or three main semesters with a total of at least 30 academic weeks. Besides main semesters, training institutions may have additional semesters.

3. Every semester plan shall include class opening plans, teaching and learning forms (in-class or online), class schedules and exam schedules of units of study taught in the semester for each training program and mode of study. Semester plans must be promptly formulated and announced and include all necessary information to help students prepare their learning plans and register for classes.

4. Study schedules shall specify the time, location and teaching and learning activities of each class of each course, mode of study and training program. Study schedules of normal classes of units of study shall be evenly distributed across all weeks of a semester. Where it is necessary for units of study to be taught in a short period of time, each unit shall not be taught for more than 15 hours/week and 4 hours/day.

5. Training institution regulations shall stipulate semester organization, study schedules, class locations and class hour organization in accordance with regulations of this Regulation.

The academic year plan must be announced before the start of the academic year, not at the beginning of the academic year.

Is a university in Vietnam required to announce the academic year plan at the beginning of the academic year (Image from the Internet)

What are the provisions on formulation and implementation of the university's regulations in Vietnam?

Under Article 21 of the Regulations on Undergraduate Education issued with Circular 08/2021/TT-BGDDT on formulation and implementation of training institution regulations:

- Pursuant to this Regulation and other relevant applicable regulations, principals shall:

+ Direct the formulation, promulgation and implementation of training regulations of their institutions based on advice from science and training councils and internal management regulations; these regulations must be specific and may provide stricter requirements but shall not contradict regulations of this Regulation;

+ Promulgate decisions on organization of full-time training, part-time training, joint training and bridge programs (if any) in compliance with requirements of this Regulation, which must include name of academic discipline, mode of study, type of students, admission quota and method, training location, institution participating in joint training and other relevant information;

+ Disseminate and provide guidance on training institution regulations and regulations related to study, obligations and rights of students for students from the start of the course;

+ Perform internal inspection of execution of plans, programs, training institution regulations and other training-related tasks; and be subject to the inspection and supervision of the Ministry of Education and Training and competent authorities as per existing regulations.

- Training institutions shall exercise accountability according to regulations in Clause 4 Article 13 of the Government's Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CP.

What are the regulations on the training programs and study duration of universities in Vietnam?

Under Article 2 of the Regulations on undergraduate education issued with Circular 08/2021/TT-BGDDT:

- Training programs shall be developed using the credit system and comprise subjects or units of study (hereinafter collectively referred to as “units of study”), which must include all mandatory units of study and meet training program standards according to existing regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training. Training programs of dual-degree programs and major/minor degree programs must specify the total academic load and academic load of each degree.

- Content and expected learning outcomes of a training program shall apply to all modes of study, methods for training organization and types of students. For those holding a qualification at a different level or in another major, the actual academic load shall be determined based on the recognition or transfer of accumulated credits and exemption from taking units of study already completed in the previous training program.

- Training programs must be announced to students before admission and at the start of the course; changes relevant to training programs shall be made in accordance with existing regulations and announced before adoption so as not to affect students negatively.

- Training programs shall have a standard learning plan for the whole program for each mode of study to provide orientations for students.

+ For full-time study, the study duration according to the standard learning plan for the whole training program must be appropriate to the duration provided for in the structural framework of the national education system and enable the majority of students to complete the training program;

+ For part-time study, the study duration according to the standard learning plan for the whole training program must be at least 20% longer than that of the full-time mode.

- Maximum time limit for students to complete a course shall be stipulated in the training institution regulation but shall not be longer than twice the study duration according to the standard learning plan for the whole course for each mode of study.

For students who take bridge programs and whose accumulated credits have been accounted for, maximum time limit for them to complete a course shall be determined by deducting the amount of study time corresponding to the completed academic load from the study duration according to the standard learning plan of the whole course.