What are the procedures for the merger or division of secondary schools in Vietnam?

What are the procedures for the merger or division of secondary schools in Vietnam?

Under Clause 4, Article 30 of Decree 125/2024/ND-CP, the procedures for the merger or division of secondary schools in Vietnam are carried out as follows:

1) The commune-level People’s Committee (in case of merger or division of a public lower secondary school); the district-level People’s Committee (in case of merger or division of a public upper secondary school); an organization or individual (in case of merger or division of a private secondary school) shall submit an application specified in clause 3 of Article 30 of Decree 125/2024/ND-CP in person, via online public service portal or by post, to the district-level People’s Committee (regarding the lower secondary school) or the provincial People’s Committee (regarding the upper secondary school);

2) Within 05 working days from the date on which the sufficient application is received, if the application is unsatisfactory, the district-level People’s Committee or the provincial People’s Committee shall give a written notification of contents to be amended to the applicant; if the application is satisfactory, the district-level People’s Committee shall give guidelines to the Subdepartment of Education and Training or the provincial People’s Committee shall give guidelines to the Department of Education and Training for organization of the assessment of realistic conditions concerning merger or division of a secondary school;

3) Within 20 days from the date of receipt of the guidelines from the district-level People’s Committee or the provincial People’s Committee, the Subdepartment of Education and Training or the Department of Education and Training shall preside over and cooperate with other relevant specialized units in assessing the application and realistic conditions concerning merger or division of the secondary school; preparing an assessment report to assess fulfillment of requirements mentioned in clause 1 of this Article; and submitting the report to the President of the district-level People’s Committee or the provincial People’s Committee for consideration and decision;

4) Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the assessment report from the Subdepartment of Education and Training or the Department of Education and Training, if the requirements are fulfilled, the President of the district-level People’s Committee or the provincial People’s Committee shall issue a decision on merger or division of the secondary school; if the requirements are not fulfilled, he/she shall send a written notification in which reasons should be clearly specified to the applicant.

Note: The decision on merger or division of the secondary school (according to Form No. 10 Appendix I enclosed with Decree 125/2024/ND-CP) shall be publicly announced on mass media;

5) Within 05 working days from the date on which the President of the district-level People’s Committee or the provincial People’s Committee issues the decision on merger or division of the secondary school, the Head of the Subdepartment of Education and Training or the Director of the Department of Education and Training shall issue a decision on permission for establishment of a new secondary school after merger or division.

What are the procedures for the merger or division of secondary schools in Vietnam? (Image from Internet)

What are the requirements to be satisfied by secondary schools in Vietnam for conducting their educational activities under Decree 125?

Article 27 of Decree 125/2024/ND-CP specifies requirements to be satisfied by secondary schools in Vietnam for conducting their educational activities, including:

1. Own land, facilities and equipment meeting standards in terms of location, scale, area and basic facilities applied to lower and upper secondary schools according to regulations issued by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Regarding inner cities of special class urban areas, it shall be possible that the area of land used for construction of a secondary school is replaced by the floor area of land and the floor area of land shall not be smaller than the minimum average land area per student according to regulations.

2. Have education curriculum, syllabuses and learning materials that meet requirements for the general education curriculum according to regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Education and Training.

3. Employ adequate administrative officers, teachers, staff and employees that meet standards in order to organize educational activities, thereby meeting requirements for the general education curriculum according to regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Education and Training.

4. Have a sufficient amount of financial resources in order to maintain and develop educational activities:

- Regarding a private secondary school, the investment capital shall be at least 50 million VND/student (excluding expenses incurred from land tenancy). The total minimum capital shall be calculated when the estimated education scale is greatest but not be smaller than 50 billion VND. The capital plan shall conform to the estimated scale of each stage.

- Regarding a private secondary school of which the facilities are not newly built but are leased or the existing facilities are used to conduct educational activities, the capital shall be at least 70% of the capital specified in point a of clause 4, Article 27 of Decree 125/2024/ND-CP;

- Regarding a public secondary school, its financial resources shall be maintained by a competent management authority so as to meet requirements for the general education curriculum according to regulations.

5. Have the statutes of organization and operation of the school.

Will a secondary school in Vietnam have its educational activities suspended if its educational activities have not been conducted within a year?

Clause 1, Article 29 of Decree 125/2024/ND-CP specifically regulates the suspension of educational activities conducted by secondary schools in Vietnam as follows:

Suspension of educational activities conducted by secondary schools

1. A secondary school shall have its educational activities suspended in one of the following cases:

a) It commits any fraudulent act in order to obtain a license for educational activities;

b) The license for its educational activities has been granted ultra vires;

c) Its educational activities have not been conducted within the duration of 01 year from the licensing date;

d) It has committed any violation against regulations on imposition of penalties for administrative violations arising from educational activities to the extent that the decision on suspension thereof is granted;

dd) Other cases prescribed by law.

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Thus, according to the above regulations, a secondary school in Vietnam will have its educational activities suspended if its educational activities have not been conducted within a year.