DECIDES:

Article 1.- To approve the scheme for implementation of the program on solidification of schools and classrooms with the following principal contents:

1. The scheme�s name: The scheme for implementation of the program on solidification of schools and classrooms.

2. Objectives:

To implement the program on solidification of schools and classrooms throughout the country, from pre-school education to general education institutions, so as to put an end to the situation of three-shift classes by the end of 2003 and eliminate make-shift classrooms made of thatch, bamboo and leaves by 2005.

3. Requirements:

a/ To build schools and classrooms according to model designs.

b/ The program on solidification of schools and classrooms shall be implemented throughout the country; the investment priority shall be given first of all to communes being under particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, poor communes in northern mountainous region, the Central Highlands, Central Vietnam, flood-prone areas and areas inhabited by ethnic minority people in Mekong river delta and other localities.

c/ To combine this program with the standardization of schools and classrooms.

4. Building scale:

The total estimated number of to be-built classrooms is 67,500.

5. Capital sources:

a/ The central budget�s supports for localities to achieve the objectives prescribed in Clause 2, Article 1 of this Decision. This budget source shall be incorporated in the annual State budget estimates of localities.

b/ Annual local budgets.

c/ Voluntary contributions mobilized in various forms from enterprises of all economic sectors, international organizations and charity donors at home and abroad.

6. Implementation duration: From now till 2005.

7. Managing agency: The Ministry of Education and Training.

8. Implementing bodies: The People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities.

Article 2.- Organization of implementation:

1. To set up the central-level Steering Board for the program on solidification of schools and classrooms, which is composed of the Minister of Education and Training as its head, and representatives of the leaderships of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Government Office and the Steering Committee for Renewal and Development of Enterprises, as its members.

The Steering Board shall have to assist the Prime Minister in directing the implementation of the program, study and propose forms of recording merits, commending and/or rewarding organizations and individuals that make numerous contributions to the program implementation.

2. The Ministry of Education and Training, which acts as the program�s standing body, has the following tasks:

a/ To make detailed lists of classrooms which need to be built under this program throughout the country and in each locality;

b/ To work out the overall plan for program implementation as well as annual plans for nationwide implementation (concretized to each province or centrally-run city);

c/ To direct the organization of mobilization, reception and use of contributed capital.

d/ To base itself on the capital sources defined in Clause 5, Article 1 and annual implementation plans to figure out demands and devise specific plans on distribution of funding to each locality, then submit them to the Prime Minister for decision.

e/ To direct localities in implementing the program. To organize the inspection and evaluation of the program implementation tempo in localities. Biannually and annually, to appraise the program implementation and report the results thereof to the Prime Minister.

3. The Steering Committee for Renewal and Development of Enterprises shall assume the prime responsibility and, together with the Government Office, coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vietnam Union of Cooperatives, and the relevant ministries and agencies in mobilizing enterprises of all economic sectors to voluntarily contribute capital for the program implementation.

4. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education and Training in balancing capital sources from the central budget for the program implementation.

5. The Ministry of Finance has the following tasks:

a/ To arrange capital in the central budget for the program implementation as planned.

b/ To guide and direct the reception and management of contributed capital defined at Item c, Clause 5, Article 1 of this Decision;

c/ To coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training in working out options, plans and tentative plans on distribution of annual funding to the provinces and centrally-run cities, then submit them to the Prime Minister for decision;

d/ To assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Education and Training in guiding the financial management mechanism applicable to this program on the principle: Procedures are simple but management must be tight.

6. The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training in promulgating the model designs of each type of classrooms or schools, and guiding the construction designing suitable to conditions of each region.

7. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training in guiding localities in the use of land for the program implementation.

8. The People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have the following tasks:

a/ To set up local steering boards for the program on solidification of schools and classrooms;

b/ To scrutinize and ascertain the number of three-shift classes and make-shift classrooms made of thatch, bamboo and leaves in their respective localities (specifically for each commune, village, hamlet or school).

To organize in their respective localities the mobilization of voluntary capital contributions for the program implementation.

c/ To work out plans for implementation of the program till 2005, annual implementation plans (concretized to each commune, village, hamlet or school), overall and annual funding estimation plans for the program implementation (proposing certain amounts of capital support from the central budget), then report them to the provincial/municipal People�s Councils, the Central Steering Board, the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Finance.

d/ To be responsible for directing, deploying and inspecting the program implementation in their respective localities strictly according to the plans and regulations, ensuring the school and classroom quality and fighting wasteful loss and negative phenomena. To organize periodical briefing sessions to appraise and report on the program implementation to the Central Steering Board and the Ministry of Education and Training.

The program implementation must be supervised by the People�s Councils of all levels.

9. The Central Steering Board shall coordinate with the central bodies of the mass and social organizations in mobilizing the active response to and participation in the program on solidification of schools and classrooms, with a view to achieving its set objectives.

10. The mass media agencies at the central level and in localities shall have to widely propagate the program on solidification of schools and classrooms so that the entire society shall respond to it, inspect and supervise the implementation thereof.

Article 3.- This Decision takes effect after its signing.

Article 4.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the presidents of the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decision.

Prime Minister
PHAN VAN KHAI