Legal grounds:
- Law on Vocational Education 2014;
- Decree 143/2016/ND-CP of the Government;
- Decree 140/2018/ND-CP of the Government.
1. Which conditions that enterprises want to establish vocational education institutions must meet?
To be allowed to set up a vocational education institution in Vietnam, the investor must satisfy the conditions specified in Article 18 of the Law on Vocational Education 2014, Article 3 of Decree 143/2016/ND-CP as amended by clause 1 of Article 5 Decree 140/2018/ND-CP of the Government. Includes the following conditions:
- The scheme of establishment is consistent with the planning of the network of vocational education institutions in Vietnam. For public vocational education institutions, when established, they must operate under the autonomy mechanism of public non-business units prescribed by the Government;
- Having a location for the construction of physical facilities to ensure that the minimum usable land area of the vocational education center is 1000 m2; for intermediate schools is 10,000 m2 for urban areas and 20,000 m2 for non-urban areas; of the college is 20,000 m2 for urban areas and 40,000 m2 for non-urban areas.
- Investment capital for the establishment of a vocational education institution is invested by lawful capital sources, excluding the value of land, specifically as follows:
• For vocational education centers, the minimum is VND05 billion;
• For intermediate schools, the minimum is VND50 billion;
• For colleges, the minimum is VND100 billion.
- Satisfy the conditions for registration of vocational education activities with respect to expected organizational structure; training facilities and equipment; training programs and textbooks; teachers and administrators.
2. Documents required for the establishment of a vocational education institution?
According to Article 6 of Decree 143/2016/ND-CP, as amended by clause 2 Article 5 of Decree 140/2018/ND-CP of the Government, investors need to submit a set of application documents including the following documents:
- A written request for the establishment of the governing body for the public vocational education institution; A written request for permission for establishment of a social organization, socio-professional organization, economic organization, or individual, for a private vocational education institution, made according to the form in Appendix I issued with Decree 143/2016/ND-CP of the Government.
For vocational education institutions affiliated with ministries, central agencies of socio-political organizations, private colleges must obtain written approval from the People's Committee of the province where the headquarters of the vocational education institution is located.
- A scheme for establishing a vocational education institution according to the form in Appendix II issued with Decree 143/2016/ND-CP of the Government;
- The draft master plan of the construction site, ensuring suitability with industry, profession, scale, training level, and standards of usable area and construction area for learning and teaching activities;
- A copy of the certificate of land use rights and house owners of the agency, organization, or individual, clearly identifying the address, area, boundary of the land plot, and agreement on the principle of available renting materials by the provisions of law and relevant legal papers with a validity of at least 5 years from the date of submission of dossiers.
For a private vocational education institution, in addition to the above-mentioned establishment application, the investor needs to add:
- A document certifying the financial ability to invest in the construction of a vocational education institution by a competent agency or organization;
- Other papers evidencing ownership of the property as contributed capital by the individual requesting the establishment of the vocational education institution.
For a private vocational education institution with 02 or more capital contributors, in addition to the papers of both cases mentioned above, the dossier needs to be supplemented:
- Minutes of appointing a representative to establish the vocational education institution in the name of the capital-contributing members;
- List of members of the Founding Board;
- List, form, and minutes of capital contribution of members committing to contribute capital for the establishment;
- Expected Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board of Directors of intermediate schools and colleges.
3. What is the procedure for establishing a vocational education institution?
Article 8 of Decree 143/2016/ND-CP of the Government stipulates the order and procedures for permitting the establishment of a vocational education institution as follows:
Step 1: Receive the application for the establishment, permit the establishment of a vocational education institution
- Dossier of application for the establishment of a vocational education institution shall be sent to a specialized agency to assist the person competent to establish or permit the establishment of a vocational education institution as prescribed in Article 7 of Decree 143/2016/ND-CP (“specialized agency”);
- This specialized agency receives and preliminarily examines the application for establishment and approval of the establishment of a vocational education institution before sending it to the Council for appraisal of the establishment dossier or permitting the establishment of the vocational education institution (hereinafter referred to as the Appraisal Council).
If the application file for establishment or approval of the establishment of a vocational education institution is invalid, within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the specialized agency shall send a written reply to the competent authority, organizations, or individuals that request the establishment or permit the establishment of a vocational education institution and clearly state the reasons therefor.
- Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of a complete and valid application, the specialized agency shall send the application for establishment or approval of the establishment of a vocational education institution to the Appraisal Council for assessment.
Step 2: Appraise the application file for the establishment of a vocational education institution
- The Appraisal Council organizes the appraisal of the application for the establishment of a vocational education institution;
- The competent authority decides to establish the Appraisal Council and promulgates the Regulation on the organization and operation of the Appraisal Council.
- Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the application for the establishment of a vocational education institution sent by a competent professional agency, the Appraisal Council shall organize the appraisal of the application for the establishment of the vocational education institution;
- Based on the conclusion of the Appraisal Council (publicized at the appraisal meeting), the agency, organization, or individual requesting the establishment or approval of the establishment of a vocational education institution completes the application and sends it to the competent specialized authority.
In case the Appraisal Council concludes that the application for establishment or approval of the establishment of a vocational education institution is ineligible, within 5 working days from the date of the appraisal organization, the professional agency shall issue a written request for approval to the agency, organization, or individual requesting the establishment or approval of the establishment of a vocational education institution and clearly state the reasons therefor.
Step 3. Decide to establish or permit the establishment of a vocational education institution
Within 10 working days after receiving the completed application file for establishment or approval of the establishment of a vocational education institution according to the conclusion of the Appraisal Council, the specialized agency shall submit it to the competent subject the right to establish or permit the establishment of a vocational education institution shall decide to establish a public vocational education institution or permit the establishment of a private vocational education institution.
The time limit for sending the decision to establish or permit the establishment of a vocational education institution:
- Within 05 working days from the date of signing and promulgating the decision on establishment or approval of the establishment of a college, the General Department of Vocational Training shall send the decision to the People's Committee of the province, governing body of the college to monitor and manage;
- Within 05 working days from the date of signing for the promulgation of the decision on the establishment of vocational education centers, public intermediate schools affiliated to ministries, central agencies of socio-political organizations, ministries, and agencies. The central government of the socio-political organization shall send the decision to the General Department of Vocational Training, the provincial-level People's Committee where the vocational education center and intermediate school are located for monitoring and management;
- Within 05 working days from the date of signing and promulgating the decision to establish the vocational education center, the provincial public intermediate school, and the decision permitting the establishment of the vocational education center, secondary school. In the private sector in the locality, the People's Committee of the province is responsible for sending the decision to the General Department of Vocational Training for monitoring and management.
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