Strengthening Foreign Language Proficiency Examinations for Vietnamese Officials and Public Employees

The scheme will be implemented starting from 2019 and concluded by 2030. Upon conclusion of the program, the objectives to be achieved by 2030 are:

- 60% of officials at the Central level; 35% of provincial and district-level officials in localities must achieve a Level 4 or higher foreign language proficiency as prescribed and specialized foreign language proficiency.

- 70% of public employees and 60% of public employees holding leadership and management positions must achieve a Level 4 or higher foreign language proficiency as prescribed and specialized foreign language proficiency.

- 30% of commune-level officials and 25% of commune-level leadership and management officials under 40 years old working in areas or fields that require foreign language use must achieve a Level 3 or higher foreign language proficiency as prescribed and specialized foreign language proficiency.

Illustrative photo (Source: Internet)

To achieve the aforementioned objectives, one of the proposed solutions is to conduct assessments and evaluations in foreign language training and development for officials and public employees according to international standards. Specifically:

- Regularly organize foreign language competency examinations and assessments for officials and public employees (Vietnamese officials and public employees); inspect the issuance of foreign language certificates according to the 6-level language proficiency framework for Vietnam and certificates under foreign language training and development programs for Vietnamese officials and public employees at training and development institutions authorized to organize examinations and competency assessments.

- Organize foreign language competency examinations and assessments for Vietnamese officials and public employees associated with the recruitment and appointment of leadership and management positions; examinations for official promotion and grade advancement in public employee professional titles to ensure correspondence between proficiency, competency, and the ability to use foreign languages to meet the requirements of public service performance and international integration.

See the implementation roadmap at Decision 1659/QD-TTg, effective from November 19, 2019.

Thanh Lam

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