DECIDES:

Article 1.- Objectives of education, training and job-training development in the Mekong river delta up to 2010:

1. To raise people's intellectual standards and human resource quality in the Mekong river delta with a view to promoting the region's strengths, creating a breakthrough in socio-economic development and accelerating industrialization and modernization; to develop the Mekong river delta in a comprehensive and sustainable manner into a key economic region of the country with a high economic growth rate.

2. To strive for the target that by 2010, the education, training and job-training development index of the Mekong river delta will be equal to the country's average index.

Article 2.- Specific targets on education, training and job-training development in the Mekong river delta up to 2010:

1. Preschool education: 15-17% of under-3 children, 65-67% of children aged between 3 and 5 years shall be in kept in kindergartens, 90-95% of 5-year-old children shall go to preschool classes to prepare for primary education. The care and education of children at pre-school establishments shall be carried out according to renewed programs.

2. Primary education: To mobilize 99% of children in the primary education age group to go to school; to organize semi-boarding classes, for the immediate future, in places where they are needed and conditions permit; to attain national standards on primary education universalization among children in the proper age group in the whole region.

3. Lower secondary education and upper secondary education: All provinces and cities in the Mekong river delta shall attain standards on lower secondary education universalization; to increase the percentage of lower secondary pupils in the proper age group going to school to 87-90%; over 50% of pupils in the proper age group continue studying at upper secondary schools.

4. Ethnic minority education and community integration education: To consolidate and improve the educational quality of boarding schools for ethnic minority pupils; to work out a management mechanism and coordinate with Khmer pagodas in teaching the script, culture and customs to ethnic minority people; to consolidate classes and schools for children with disability.

5. Vocational education: To increase the annual intermediate professional training quotas so that intermediate professional training can be provided to about 5% of the population aged between 16 and 20 years; to strive for the target that 23% of laborers shall receive job training; to intensify short-term job training for rural laborers, ethnic minority people, laborers in areas where land use purposes are changed, and laborers for export. By 2010, there shall be 32 vocational schools in the Mekong river delta, including 05 colleges and 27 intermediate schools, and 70 district-level job-training centers.

6. Tertiary education: To attain the ratio of 150 students/10,000 people; to provide incentives for, and prioritize, majors in education, health, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, industry, construction, post-harvest technology, economics and business administration, tourism, trade and socio-cultural aspects. To work out a separate scheme on sending officials and students abroad for study.

7. Continuing education: All districts shall have continuing education centers; to strive for the target that 90% of communes, wards and townships shall have community study centers.

Article 3.- Major solutions for education, training and job-training development in the Mekong river delta

1. To consolidate material-technical foundations of schools; to complete a network of schools so as to meet the requirements of developing education, training and job-training in terms of scope, quality and effectiveness:

a/ To solidify schools and classrooms, basically putting an end to the shortage of classrooms for pre-school, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education; to build a system of schools up to the national standards and ethnic minority pupils' boarding schools; all schools shall be equipped with desks, chairs, boards and office equipment and have libraries, laboratories and classrooms for different subjects of study;

b/ To upgrade material-technical foundations of job-training schools and intermediate professional schools: To build a system of district-level job-training establishments; to concentrate investment in the construction of a number of job-training schools and intermediate professional schools; to increase state budget investment in newly established job-training schools and centers;

c/ To increase investment so as to raise training capacity of pedagogic colleges in order to ensure the quality of teacher training and the training in other majors; to develop Can Tho University according to criteria for key universities; to increase investment in the construction of material foundations for Can Tho Medical and Pharmaceutical University, An Giang University, Dong Thap Teacher Training University, and Tien Giang University;

d/ To invest in the construction of training facilities of the Fisheries University in Kien Giang province;

e/ To upgrade the Western Construction College, Bac Lieu Teacher Training College, Vinh Long Technical Teacher Training College and Tra Vinh Community College into universities. To study the construction of a cultural tertiary education establishment in the Mekong river delta;

f/ To establish non-public universities in Can Tho city, Long An province and other provinces when conditions permits;

g/ To establish a number of community colleges in Ca Mau, Soc Trang, Long An and An Giang provinces and Can Tho city according to plannings. To pay attention to majors in need of human resources in localities.

2. To build a contingent and raise the quality of teachers and education administrators:

a/ To formulate an overall planning on development of the contingent of teachers, lecturers and education administrators at all levels who are sufficient, well-structured and professionally qualified.

b/ To increase the duration and frequency of training and periodical refresher training for teachers at all educational levels;

c/ To increase enrolment limits for training a staff of general education teachers of music, arts, citizen education, physical training, informatics and foreign languages;

d/ To open education administration departments in pedagogic universities and colleges; to run regular classes on education and training administration in localities.

3. To renovate education contents, programs and methodologies:

a/ To build flexible school-year plans suitable to natural conditions of the Mekong river delta, so that pupils can have enough time for study;

b/ To adjust educational programs in the direction of increasing vocational guidance while ensuring basic requirements of general programs and appropriateness to children in the Mekong river delta;

c/ On the basis of textbooks' contents, to compile educational materials and teaching manuals for all subjects in conformity with the characteristics of local pupils and socio-economic conditions.

d/ To formulate and promulgate framework programs for teaching ethnic languages, teach ethnic cultures in ethnic minority pupils' boarding schools, giving priority to the program on teaching Khmer language to teachers and officials working in regions inhabited by Khmer people;

e/ To expand the programs on transferability training and training for specific groups of learners and exploit to the utmost international cooperation programs of universities and colleges in the region;

f/ To open a pre-university department in Can Tho University and increase the quotas of pre-university and selected ethnic minority students for colleges and universities for ethnic minority pupils.

Article 4.- A number of mechanisms and policies

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Committee for Nationalities, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and provincial/municipal People's Committees in, proposing priority policies for beneficiaries of preferential treatment policies in the Mekong river delta and difficulty-hit regions.

2. To prioritize the allocation of state budget capital, including central budget and local budget, for education, training and job-training development in the Mekong river delta.

3. To encourage various economic sectors to invest in education, training and job-training development in the spirit of the Government's Resolution No. 05/2005/NQ-CP, in compatibility with economic characteristics and social conditions of each locality; to open people-founded and private schools in richer areas so as to concentrate state budget capital for investment in difficulty-hit areas.

4. To adopt proper incentive and treatment policies so as to attract capable scientists and technologists at home and abroad to participate in education and training development in the Mekong river delta and difficulty-hit areas, work out specific policies to attract and develop the contingent of job-training teachers and university and college lecturers; to apply the form of method of selection of students for technical teacher training colleges and universities.

5. To encourage and create conditions for local authorities and education and training establishments to develop and expand their bilateral and multilateral cooperation relations with foreign countries and international organizations.

6. To strongly decentralize education management to localities so that they shall take initiative in education management and administration.

Article 5.- Organization of implementation

1. The provincial-level People's Committees of localities in the Mekong river delta shall have to regard the implementation of this Decision as a major task of local Party committees and administrations at various levels as well as of local people; and at the same time, coordinate closely with ministries and central branches in formulating and organizing the implementation of programs and schemes.

The provincial-level People's Committees of localities in the region shall have to take initiative in formulating programs and plans on the implementation of this Decision, ensuring the compliance with the direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and concerned agencies and conformity with local characteristics, and at the same time, make it an important part of the plans for the next five years.

The People's Committees of provinces and cities in the region shall have to allocate funds from local budgets, which must not be lower than the levels set in annual budget estimates allocated by the Prime Minister, for education, training and job-training, including investment capital, regular funds and funds for national target programs.

2. The Ministry of Education and Training shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and concerned ministries and branches in, within their functions and tasks and together with the Mekong river delta provinces, organizing and directing the implementation of specific programs and projects, with priority given to key ones in order to achieve the education, training and job-training development targets defined in Article 2 of this Decision; to monitor and urge ministries, branches and localities to perform education, training and job-training development tasks in the Mekong river delta; to formulate and perfect mechanisms and policies related to pupils, students, teachers and education administrators for exclusive application to the Mekong river delta and difficulty-hit areas.

Annually, the Ministry of Education and Training shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in, appraising working results and working out plans for further implementation; and by the end of 2010, organizing the final review of education, training and job-training development in the 2005-2010 period and devise a plan on education development in the Mekong river delta for subsequent years.

3. On the basis of the education, training and job-training development targets defined in Article 2 of this Decision, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries and branches in, directing and guiding localities to perform tasks on job-training.

4. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training, concerned ministries and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities in the Mekong river delta in formulating plans, guaranteeing that the ratio of investment in education, training and job-training development in the Mekong river delta will rise from the current level of 17.17% of the total budget for education, training and job-training of all provinces and centrally-run cities to 20% by 2010.

5. The State Bank of Vietnam shall direct the prioritized lending of preferential credits for students of universities and colleges in the Mekong river delta for study in order to give more opportunities to the poor and disadvantaged people to study at collegial and tertiary level.

6. The Ministries of Home Affairs; Industry; Agriculture and Rural Development; Fisheries; Construction; Transport; Trade; Health; Culture and Information; Defense; Public Security; Science and Technology; Post and Telematics; and Natural Resources and Environment, the Vietnam Television Station, the Radio Voice of Vietnam, and the Committees of Nationalities; Physical Training and Sports; and Population, Family and Children; the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and concerned agencies shall coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in mobilizing their own resources and integrating their investment programs and projects for education and training development in the Mekong river delta.

7. Annually, ministries, branches and localities shall report to the Prime Minister the results of implementation of this Decision.

Article 6.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and Government-attached agencies, presidents of People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decision.