Summary of Notable Documents for the Past Week (From May 8 - May 13, 2017)

1. Academic results of children posted online require parental consent

On May 09, 2017, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 56/2017/ND-CP (effective from July 01, 2017) guiding the implementation of the Law on Children.

The following information is regarded as confidential personal and private information of children:

- Name, age; identifying characteristics; personal images;- Health status, personal life recorded in medical records;- Information about family members;- Personal property; phone number, place of residence, hometown;- School information, academic results, and friendships.

Agencies, organizations, businesses providing services on the network environment, and individuals must obtain the consent of the parents, caregivers, and children from 07 years old when posting confidential personal and private information of children online.

Parents, caregivers, and children from 07 years old have the right to request the removal of confidential personal and private information of children online to ensure the safety and best interests of the children.

2. Admission preferences for ethnic minorities with very few people

Decree 57/2017/ND-CP stipulates preferential admission policies for preschool children, students (HS), and students (SV) belonging to 16 ethnic minorities with a population of less than 10,000 people (Cong, Mang, Pu Peo, Si La, etc.), also known as ethnic minorities with very few people, as follows:

- Preschool children are allowed to study at public preschools and kindergartens;- Primary school students are allowed to study at semi-boarding ethnic boarding schools, primary schools;- Students who complete the primary program are allowed to attend ethnic boarding and semi-boarding schools, secondary schools;- Students graduating from secondary schools are directly admitted to ethnic boarding schools, high schools, vocational education institutions at elementary and intermediate levels;- Students graduating from high schools are directly admitted to universities, preparatory universities, higher education, and vocational education institutions.

Additionally, the Government of Vietnam also stipulates policies to support the educational costs for preschool children, students (HS), and students (SV) of ethnic minorities with very few people.

See details in Decree 57/2017/ND-CP effective from July 01, 2017.

3. Accepting foreigners to participate in online university education programs

This is an important content mentioned in Circular 10/2017/TT-BGDDT (effective from June 12, 2017) on the regulation of distance education (DtTx) at the university level. Accordingly:

- Foreign citizens are allowed to apply for distance university education programs at Vietnamese higher education institutions (currently unregulated);- The admission of foreign citizens is conducted according to the Recruitment Regulation of the higher education institution;- The announcement for the distance university education program must specify the enrollment target, method, and subjects of enrollment, tuition fees, method of distance education, etc., and be publicly posted on the website of the higher education institution at least 02 months before the enrollment date.

4. Maintaining the preferential loan interest rate for social housing in 2017

Decision 630/QD-TTg approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam on May 10, 2017, stipulates the preferential loan interest rate for social housing at the Social Policy Bank according to the regulation at Decree 100/2015/ND-CP.

In 2017:

- The preferential loan interest rate for investing in the construction of social housing, buying, renting, and renting-buying social housing at the Social Policy Bank is 4.8% per year (equivalent to 0.4% per month), unchanged compared to 2016.- Overdue debt interest rate is calculated at 130% of the loan interest rate.

Decision 630/QD-TTg takes effect from the date of signing.

Additionally, Thu Ky Luat has updated several documents in other fields such as:

1. Decree 53/2017/ND-CP regulating legal documents on land use for issuing construction permits, effective from June 25, 2017;
2. Resolution 04/2017/NQ-HDTP guiding the regulation on returning the petition (KK), the right to resubmit the petition in Clauses 1 and 3, Article 192 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, effective from July 01, 2017.
3. Circular 05/2017/TT-BYT regulating the maximum price and service cost for determining the price of one unit of whole blood and standard blood products, effective from June 01, 2017.

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