Vietnam: What are the standards for libraries of secondary schools?

What are the standards for libraries of secondary schools in Vietnam?

Under Chapter 4 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT, the standards for libraries of secondary schools in Vietnam are specified.

The standards for libraries of secondary schools in Vietnam include:

- Standards for information resources - detailed in Article 15 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT.

- Standards for facilities - detailed in Article 16 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT.

- Standards for specialized equipment - detailed in Article 17 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT.

- Standards for library activities - detailed in Article 18 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT.

- Standards for library management - detailed in Article 19 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT.

What are the standards on libraries of secondary schools in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

How many levels do the standards for information resources for libraries of secondary schools in Vietnam have?

According to Article 15 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT, the standards for information resources for libraries of secondary schools in Vietnam have two levels as follows:

- Information resource standards Level 1

+ Information resources must be sufficient and appropriate to ages and psychology of secondary students; meet the learning and entertainment needs of students and the teaching and research requirements of teachers; be suitable to the educational objectives and contents in the primary education program, and shall be handled according to the rules of library practices;

+ Lower secondary schools: Each student has at least 04 copies of books, each teacher has at least 01 set of books by subject;

Upper secondary schools: Each student has at least 05 copies of books, each teacher has at least 01 set of books by subject;

+ The requirements pertaining to information resources must be met as specified at  Point c, Clause 1, Article 5 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT.

- Information resource standards Level 2

A secondary school library is considered meeting the information resource standards Level 2 if it meets the requirements as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 15 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT and the following requirements:

+ It has extensive information resources: expertise knowledge; methods of primary education at home and abroad; foster and improve professional qualifications for teachers and librarians; reference books by subject; printed books, pictures, photos, maps, newspapers, magazines, audio recordings, video recordings, stories, models, e-learning materials in Vietnamese, foreign languages or ethnic languages (if any); Braille books for students with disabilities (if any);

+ Lower secondary schools: Each student has at least 05 copies of books; 06 titles of newspapers and magazines, each title has at least 03 copies;

Upper secondary schools: Each student has at least 06 copies of books; 06 titles of newspapers and magazines, each title has at least 03 copies;

+ The archive of information resources is shown through an electronic index instead of the traditional one. Ensure that 35% of the library's information resources are e-learning materials.

What are the principles for evaluation of libraries of secondary schools in Vietnam?

According to Article 25 of the Regulations on standards for libraries of preschools and primary and secondary schools issued together with Circular 16/2022/TT-BGDDT:

* Library evaluation principles

- Ensure objectivity, accuracy, truthfulness, publicity, transparency and equality in evaluating libraries of preschools, primary schools, secondary schools and multi-level schools through statistics; calculation and collection of data at libraries;

- Periodic assessment at the end of the school year.

* Library evaluation levels

- Libraries meeting standards Level 1

All standards: Information resources, facilities, specialized equipment, library operations, library management must meet Level 1 standards in this document;

- Libraries meeting standards Level 2

All standards: Information resources, facilities, specialized equipment, library operations, library management must meet Level 2 standards in this document;

* Library’s self-assessment

- Report on self-assessment of library activities of preschools, primary schools, lower secondary schools and multi-level schools (the highest level is lower secondary school) shall be made by librarians, checked and approved by the principal and sent to the Department of Education and Training the application for appraisal and recognition;

- Report on self-assessment of library activities of upper secondary schools and multi-level schools (the highest level is upper secondary school) shall be made by librarians, checked and approved by the principal and sent to the Department of Education and Training the application for appraisal and recognition;

- The library self-assesses its activities annually at the end of the school year according to this document and sends a report on the results of self-assessment to the education authority within 60 days after the end of the school year.

* Library evaluation and recognition

- The education authority shall evaluate and recognize the library meeting the standard level by one or the following methods:

+ Approve the report on the results of self-assessment of the library's activities;

+ Directly evaluate activities at the library;

+ Online through data processing software system;

- Evaluation and recognition of libraries of preschools, primary schools, lower secondary schools and multi-level schools (the highest level is lower secondary school) shall be conducted by the Department of Education and Training;

- Evaluation and recognition of libraries of upper secondary schools and multi-level schools (the highest level is upper secondary school) shall be conducted by the Department of Education and Training;

- The library evaluation and recognition cycle is 5 years.

* Library evaluation results are used for educational quality assessment and national standard recognition of preschools, primary schools, and secondary schools, multi-level schools and other activities as prescribed by law.