What is classification and arrangement of academic programs and majors under the list of academic majors in higher education in Vietnam?

What are regulations on classification and arrangement of academic programs and majors under the list of academic majors in higher education in Vietnam?

According to Article 5 of Circular 09/2022/TT-BGDDT (Effective from July 22, 2022) regulating classification and arrangement of academic programs and majors under the list of academic majors in higher education as follows:

1. The classification and arrangement of academic programs and majors under the list must be determined on the basis of origins of development and comparison of knowledge and professional skills and:

a) Regulations in standards of academic programs of majors and disciplines at corresponding levels (if any);

b) Common characteristics of academic programs which are operated in other training institutions (if standards of academic programs of major and disciplines at corresponding levels are not set).

2. Classifying and arranging academic programs into academic majors

a) An academic program is classified and arranged into a major included in the list when it contains key knowledge and professional skills of such major;

b) In special case, an interdisciplinary program may be classified and arranged concurrently into multiple majors included in the list when it contains a large amount of knowledge and professional skills of such major.

3. Classifying and arranging academic majors into academic disciplines and fields of study

a) An academic major is classified and arranged into a specific field of study in the list (except for the “others” of fields) when it has the same origin with other majors in such field, and contains the same knowledge and professional skills with majors of such field which are wider than those of other fields.

b) An academic major is classified and arranged into a specific discipline in the list (except for the “others” of disciplines) when it has the same origin with other majors in such discipline, and contains the same knowledge and professional skills with majors of such discipline which are wider than those of other disciplines.

c) In special case, an interdisciplinary major may be classified and arranged concurrently into multiple disciplines when it combines different majors of such disciplines, and shares common knowledge and professional skills of such majors.

d) Majors which fail to satisfy the requirements specified in Point a of this Clause are arranged into the "others" of fields in the list; majors which fail to meet the requirements specified in Points b and c of this Clause are arranged into the “others“ of disciplines of appropriate fields.

What is classification and arrangement of academic programs and majors under the list of academic majors in higher education in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are regulations on addition of new majors to the list of academic majors in higher education in Vietnam? 

According to Article 6 of Circular 09/2022/TT-BGDDT, addition of new majors to the list of academic majors in higher education as follows:

1. A new major can be added to a specific discipline in the list of official majors when the following requirements are met:

a) The major must have scientific and practical basis on its formation (on the basis of the separation from a major or combination of some majors according to requirements for the development of science, technology and current employment situations);

b) There is at least 30% difference between knowledge and professional skills of the major and those of other available majors of the discipline which is intended to be added to the list;

c) There are reliable analysis and forecast data about needs of human resources that other current majors fail to satisfy; for majors with graduates, there must be reliable analysis and evaluation data about the ability to meet human resource needs that other majors fail to satisfy;

d) The major has been applied in education and training in numerous reputable training institutions in the world or has been included in at least two classifications of popular academic programs and majors in the world (except for some majors which are only available in Vietnam or majors relating to national defense and security);

dd) The major has been developed, applied, evaluated and accredited and proposed to be added to the list by at least two training institutions in Vietnam.

c) For majors in the fields of teacher training, art, sports, law, health, security and national defense, it is required to achieve consensus among state regulatory authorities on corresponding majors and fields.

2. A new major can be added to the list of experimental majors when the requirements specified in Points a, b, c, d and e Clause 1 of this Article are met.

3. A new major will be granted an official major code and removed from the list of experimental majors if the requirements specified in Clause 1 of this Article are met. The application period of a new major added to the list must be specified.

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