What are standards for assessing level 1 lower secondary schools in Vietnam?

What are standards for assessing level 1 lower secondary schools in Vietnam?

Based on Section 1, Chapter 2 of the Regulations on quality accreditation and national standards recognition for lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools, and schools with multiple levels (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) issued with Circular 18/2018/TT-BGDDT, the standards for evaluating level 1 lower secondary schools, are as follows:

(1). Standard 1: School organization and management

- Criterion 1.1: Direction, strategy for school development

+ Aligns with educational goals as stipulated in the Education Law, local socio-economic development orientation for each period, and the school's resources;

+ Documented and approved by the competent authority;

+ Publicly disclosed through posting at the school or on the school's website (if available) or through mass media of the locality, the Department/Office of Education and Training's website.

- Criterion 1.2: School Council (Management Board for private schools) and other councils

+ Established as prescribed;

+ Perform functions, duties, and powers as prescribed;

+ Activities are regularly reviewed and evaluated.

- Criterion 1.3: Communist Party organization, unions, and other organizations in the school

+ Unions and other organizations in the school are structured as prescribed;

+ Operate as prescribed;

+ Annually, activities are reviewed and evaluated.

- Criterion 1.4: Principal, Vice Principals, faculty, and office staff

+ There is a principal, the number of vice-principals as prescribed;

+ Faculty and office staff are structured as prescribed;

+ Faculty and office staff have activity plans and perform tasks as prescribed.

- Criterion 1.5: Classrooms

+ Sufficient number of classes for each grade level;

+ Students organized into classes; classes operate as prescribed;

+ Classes operate based on principles of self-management and democracy.

- Criterion 1.6: Administrative, financial, and asset management

+ School records system is stored as prescribed;

+ Budgeting, revenue, and expenditure management, financial statement and asset reporting; public and regular internal audits of finances and assets as prescribed; internal spending regulations are updated to match practical conditions and current regulations;

+ Financial and asset management used efficiently for educational activities.

- Criterion 1.7: Management of staff, teachers, and employees

+ Training plans for professional development of management staff, teachers, and employees;

+ Clear, reasonable assignment and utilization of management staff, teachers, and employees to ensure effective school operations;

+ Management staff, teachers, and employees receive their entitled rights as per regulations.

- Criterion 1.8: Management of educational activities

+ Educational plans aligned with current regulations, local conditions, and school conditions;

+ Educational plans are fully implemented;

+ Educational plans are reviewed, evaluated, and promptly adjusted.

- Criterion 1.9: Implementation of grassroots democracy regulation

+ Management staff, teachers, employees participate in discussion, contribute opinions during planning, regulations, and procedures related to school activities;

+ Complaints, denunciations, petitions, and reflections within the school’s jurisdiction are resolved according to the law;

+ Annual reports on the implementation of grassroots democracy regulations.

- Criterion 1.10: Ensuring security, order, and school safety

+ Plans for ensuring security, sanitation, food safety, accident prevention, fire safety, disaster prevention, epidemic prevention, and preventing school violence; schools with kitchens for students have requisite food safety certification;

+ Feedback boxes, hotlines, and other forms for receiving and handling public information reflections; ensuring safety for management staff, teachers, employees, and students in the school;

+ No discrimination, violence, or legal violations concerning gender equality in the school.

(2). Standard 2: Management staff, teachers, employees, and students

- Criterion 2.1: For the principal, vice principals

+ Meet prescribed standards;

+ Evaluated to meet the principal standards or higher;

+ Receive professional training and educational management training as prescribed.

- Criterion 2.2: For teachers

+ Sufficient quantity and structure of teachers to implement the educational program and organize educational activities;

+ 100% of teachers meet training standards;

+ At least 95% of teachers achieve professional standards at an acceptable level or higher.

- Criterion 2.3: For staff

+ Have designated staff or teachers in charge of assigned tasks by the principal;

+ Assigned work appropriate and reasonably according to capacity;

+ Task completion as assigned.

- Criterion 2.4: For students

+ Age requirements for students as prescribed;

+ Perform tasks as prescribed;

+ Ensure students' rights as prescribed.

(3). Standard 3: Facilities and teaching equipment

- Criterion 3.1: Campus, playgrounds, exercise areas

+ Campus ensures greenery, cleanliness, beauty, and safety for educational activities;

+ Has school gates, name signs, and surrounding fences or walls;

+ Playgrounds and exercise areas equipped sufficiently and safely for physical and educational activities.

- Criterion 3.2: Classrooms, subject-specific rooms, and study facilities

+ Classrooms have adequate desks and chairs appropriate to student stature, teacher desks and chairs, blackboards, sufficient lighting, and ventilation; ensuring no more than two sessions per day;

+ Sufficient subject-specific rooms as prescribed;

+ Activity rooms for Union - Team, library, and tradition room.

- Criterion 3.3: Administrative - management area

+ Meets minimum requirements for administrative - management activities;

+ Parking area arranged reasonably, ensuring safety and order;

+ Regular repair and supplementation of administrative - management equipment.

- Criterion 3.4: Sanitation area, water supply and drainage system

+ Separate sanitation areas for males, females, teachers, employees, and students; sanitation areas accessible for students with disabilities;

+ Water drainage system ensures environmental hygiene; clean water system ensures drinking and living water for teachers, employees, and students;

+ Waste collection and disposal ensure environmental hygiene.

- Criterion 3.5: Equipment

+ Sufficient office and other equipment for school activities;

+ Sufficient teaching equipment meeting minimum requirements as prescribed;

+ Annual inventory and repair of equipment.

- Criterion 3.6: Library

+ Equipped with books, newspapers, magazines, maps, educational pictures, educational tapes, and reference publications meeting minimum requirements for research, teaching, and other school activities;

+ Library activities meet minimum research and teaching requirements and other activities for management staff, teachers, employees, and students;

+ Annual inventory and supplementation of books, newspapers, magazines, maps, educational pictures, educational tapes, and reference publications.

(4). Standard 4: Relationship between school, family, and society

- Criterion 4.1: Parent representative committee

+ Established and operates according to the Committee's regulations;

+ Has an activity plan for each school year;

+ Implements activity plans according to schedule.

- Criterion 4.2: Cooperation with the Party Committee, government, and organizations

+ Advises the Party Committee, government to implement school educational plans;

+ Disseminates awareness and responsibility of the community about policies of the Party, the State, and the Education sector; the goals, contents, and educational plans of the school;

+ Mobilizes and uses legitimate resources from organizations and individuals appropriately.

(5). Standard 5: Educational activities and results

- Criterion 5.1: Implementation of general education program

+ Proper and complete teaching of subjects and educational activities as prescribed, ensuring educational goals;

+ Applies teaching methods and techniques, organizes teaching activities ensuring educational goals, suitable for students and school conditions; fosters self-learning methods, enhances teamwork skills, and knowledge application in practice;

+ Diverse forms of student assessment ensuring objectivity and effectiveness.

- Criterion 5.2: Organizing educational activities for disadvantaged students, gifted students, and students facing learning and training difficulties

+ Has educational plans for disadvantaged students, gifted students, and students facing learning and training difficulties;

+ Implements educational activity plans for disadvantaged students, gifted students, and students facing learning and training difficulties;

+ Annually reviews and evaluates educational activities for disadvantaged students, gifted students, and students facing learning and training difficulties.

- Criterion 5.3: Implementation of local educational content as prescribed

+ Local educational content for students implemented according to plan;

+ Diverse forms of student assessment for local educational content ensuring objectivity and effectiveness;

+ Annual reviews and updates materials, proposes adjustments to local educational content.

- Criterion 5.4: Experiential and career guidance activities

+ Has a plan to organize experiential and career guidance activities as prescribed and suitable to the school’s conditions;

+ Organizes experiential and career guidance activities according to plan;

+ Assigns and mobilizes teachers, employees to participate in experiential and career guidance activities.

- Criterion 5.5: Formation and development of life skills for students

+ Has a plan to orient educational students to form and develop life skills suitable to students' learning abilities, school, and local conditions;

+ Processes of training and accumulating life skills, social understanding, and legal practice for students show positive changes through educational activities;

+ Students' morality and lifestyle are gradually formed and developed in accordance with the law, local customs, and traditional culture of Vietnam.

- Criterion 5.6: Educational results

+ Students' academic performance and conduct meet school plan requirements;

+ Promotion and graduation rates meet school plan requirements;

+ Career guidance for students meets school plan requirements.

What are standards for assessing level 1 lower secondary schools in Vietnam?​ (Image from the Internet)

What are evaluation levels for lower secondary schools in Vietnam?

Based on Article 6 of the Regulations issued with Circular 18/2018/TT-BGDDT, lower secondary schools are evaluated based on the following levels:

- Level 1: Meets standards for evaluating lower secondary schools at Level 1;

- Level 2: Meets standards for evaluating lower secondary schools at Level 2;

- Level 3: Meets standards for evaluating lower secondary schools at Level 3;

- Level 4: Meets standards for evaluating lower secondary schools at Level 4.

Criteria for evaluating a lower secondary school are recognized as met when all indicators under the criteria meet the requirements. An indicator is recognized as met when all components of the indicator meet the requirements.

At what level does the assessment result need to reach for a lower secondary school in Vietnam to be recognized as meeting the quality education accreditation standards?

Based on Clause 1, Article 34 of the Regulations issued with Circular 18/2018/TT-BGDDT:

Recognition of schools meeting educational quality accreditation

1. Conditions for recognition of schools meeting educational quality accreditation:

a) Having at least one cohort of students who have completed the secondary program;

b) Having an external evaluation result at Level 1 or higher as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 6 of these Regulations.

2. Recognition levels:

a) Level 1: Schools are evaluated as meeting Level 1 according to Clause 1, Article 6 of these Regulations;

b) Level 2: Schools are evaluated as meeting Level 2 according to Clause 1, Article 6 of these Regulations;

c) Level 3: Schools are evaluated as meeting Level 3 according to Clause 1, Article 6 of these Regulations;

d) Level 4: Schools are evaluated as meeting Level 4 according to Clause 1, Article 6 of these Regulations.

Thus, a lower secondary school with an external evaluation result at Level 1 or higher can be recognized as meeting the educational quality accreditation.