Provisions on the organization and management of distance education in Vietnam

1. Distance Education Programs in Vietnam should be conducted according to the credit-based system. Higher education institutions shall specifically stipulate the maximum duration for completing distance education programs, but it shall not exceed twice the designed duration of regular formal education programs.

2. A professional council shall be established by the head of the higher education institution to review and recognize the academic results for transferring and exempting modules that learners have accumulated in other degree programs, according to specific regulations of the higher education institution.

3. The head of the higher education institution in Vietnam shall organize the development, appraisal, and promulgation of distance education programs in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training; shall organize the appraisal of learning materials before their usage.

4. Provide learners with knowledge and skills related to distance education before officially participating in the course.

5. Arrange lecturers and teaching managers to guide, support learning, perform experiments, and practice according to the requirements of the distance education program. Full-time lecturers must conduct at least 50% of the teaching workload of the distance education program in Vietnam.

6. The head of the higher education institution in Vietnam shall specifically stipulate the maximum learning workload permitted to be registered in each semester.

7. The organization of distance education must ensure interaction between learners and lecturers, and between learners themselves; ensuring at least four main learning activities: attending lessons, guidance sessions, seminars, and workshops; learning contents from the main and supplementary learning materials; performing learning activities and doing assessment exercises; consulting and asking questions to lecturers.

8. Provide learners with opportunities for career orientation counseling, guidance sessions, and practical training programs.

9. The head of the higher education institution in Vietnam shall stipulate the ranking of the academic year and academic performance, and the concurrent study of two programs for learners, based on the regulations for regular formal higher education and in conformity with the distance education form.

10. The head of the higher education institution in Vietnam shall stipulate the handling of temporary leave of absence, suspension of study, expulsion, academic performance warning, expulsion, transfer of majors, and transfer of schools based on the regulations for regular formal training and appropriate to the distance education form.

See more details in the Circular 10/2017/TT-BGDDT which takes effect on June 5, 2017.

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