DECISION

ON APPROVAL FOR VIETNAMESE QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law of Government organization dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Education dated June 14, 2005 and Law on amendments to the Law on Education dated November 25, 2009;

Pursuant to the Law on Higher Education dated June 18, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Vocational education dated November 27, 2014;

Pursuant to the Resolution No. 44/NQ-CP dated June 09, 2014 by the Government promulgating Action Programme of the Government to implement the Resolution No. 29-NQ/TW dated November 04, 2013 at the 8^th Conference of the 11^th Central Executive Committee on radical changes in education and training to meet the requirements of the industrialization and modernization in a Socialist-oriented market economy in the course of the international integration;

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DECIDES:

Article 1. Vietnamese qualifications framework is approved with the following contents:

1. Name:

a) Vietnamese name: “Khung trình độ quốc gia Việt Nam”, abbreviated to “KTDQG”;

b) English name: “Vietnamese Qualifications Framework”, abbreviated to “VQF”.

2. Objectives:

a) Classify and standardize the capacity and minimum academic load and qualifications suitable for specific levels in vocational education and undergraduate education of Vietnam, contributing in the increase of quality of education of human resources;

b) Formulate an effective mechanism for the connection between employer’s requirements for quality of human resources and the system of education level via the education and quality measurement, assessment and evaluation;

c) Set out a basis to formulate planning for educational institutions and learning outcomes of the training program of different levels of study and formulate policies to ensure the quality and increase the effect of the training of human resources;

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dd) Formulate trasition mechanism between education levels, formulate lifelong-study society.

3. Scope of regulation:

The Vietnamese Qualifications Framework applies to education levels specified in the Law on Vocational Education and the Law on Higher Education.

4. Structure:

Structure of Vietnamese Qualifications Framework:

a) Qualification levels:

8 levels: Level 1 - Primary I; Level 2 - Primary II, Level 3 - Primary III, Level 4 - Intermediate; Level 5 - College; Level 6 - University; Level 7 - Master; Level 8 - Doctor.

b) Outcome standards include:

- Factual and theoretical knowledge;

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- Personal autonomy and responsibility in the application of knowledge and skills in the conduct of professional tasks.

c) Minimum academic load, defined for specific level, calculated by the number of credits the learners must accumulate;

d) Qualifications are documents proving the learning results issued by educational institutions to individuals after completing courses with results satisfying the learning outcomes specified by educational institutions.

5. Contents of qualification levels:

a) Level 1 certifies the education level of learners who have basic and general knowledge and basic practice skills to carry out one or a number of simple and repeated tasks of a field of work or study in an unchanged working context under the supervision of the instructors.

Level 1 requires the minimum academic load of 5 credits.

Learners who complete the training program and satisfy the outcome standards of Level 1 shall be issued with the Primary I certificates.

b) Level 2 certifies the education level of learners who have factual and theoretical knowledge about tasks of a narrow scope of a field of work or study and general and basic knowledge about nature, culture, society and law; have skills to practice on the basis of standard techniques to perform a number of repeated tasks in contexts with very little change under the supervision of the instructors and have ability of self-control in a number of specific activities.

Level 2 requires the minimum academic load of 15 credits.

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c) Level 3 certifies the education level of learners who have factual and theoretical knowledge about a number of contents in a field of work or study; general knowledge about nature, culture, society and law; have basic information technology knowledge; have awareness, professional skills and communicative skills required to carry out tasks or solve problems independently in stable and familiar contexts.

Level 3 requires the minimum academic load of 25 credits.

Learners who complete the training program and satisfy the outcome standards of Level 3 shall be issued with the Primary III certificates.

d) Level 4 certifies the education level of learners who have factual and theoretical knowledge in a field of work or study; general knowledge about politics, nature, culture, society, law and information technology; have awareness, professional skills and communicative skills required to carry out frequent or complicated tasks, work in groups or work individually in known and changeable contexts, take personal responsibility and responsibility towards own groups, have capacity to instruct and supervise the ordinary tasks of others.

Level 4 requires the minimum academic load of 35 credits, applicable to people with the certificates of completion of upper-secondary education, or 50 credits, applicable to people with the certificates of completion of lower-secondary education.

Learners who complete the training program and satisfy the outcome standards of Level 4 shall be issued with the Associate degrees.

dd) Level 5 certifies the education level of learners who have comprehensive, factual and theoretical knowledge about a discipline; general knowledge about politics, nature, culture, society, law and information technology; have awareness, professional skills and communicative skills required to solve complex tasks or issues, work in groups or work individually in known and changeable contexts, take personal responsibility and responsibility for providing guidance and have capacity to supervise and evaluate the ordinary tasks of own groups.

Level 5 requires the minimum academic load of 60 credits.

Learners who complete the training program and satisfy the outcome standards of Level 5 shall be issued with the College degrees.

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Level 6 requires the minimum academic load of 120 credits.

Learners who complete the training program and satisfy the outcome standards of Level 6 shall be issued with the Bachelor’s degree.

g) Level 7 certifies education level of learners who have comprehensive, practical and theoretical knowledge to master the knowledge in the field of study; have skills in argument, analysis and consolidatioon of data and information scientifically and creatively; have skills in research to develop, innovate and use suitable technologies in the field of study or work; have skills to disseminate knowledge in profession, have ability to make self-orientation and adapt to the changeable professional contexts; have ability to guide other people to carry out the tasks and have capacity of management, evaluation and innovation to increase the efficiency of work.

Level 7 requires the minimum academic load of 60 credits, applicable to people with the Bachelor’s degrees.

Learners who complete the training program and satisfy the outcome standards of Level 7 shall be issued with the Master’s degree.

People who obtained Bachelor's degrees of training program with minimum academic load of 150 credits and satisfy the outcome standards of Level 7 shall be recognized completing education program of Level 7.

h) Level 8 certifies the education level of learners who have advanced, comprehensive factual and theoretical knowledge of the field of study; have skills to consolidate and analyze information, discover and solve problems creatively; have skills to shape thinking and conduct research independently and creatively; have skills to disseminate knowledge and formulate national and internal cooperation network in management and control of specialized activities; have creativity and ability of self-orientation and professional instruction, have ability to make professional conclusions and scientific suggestions.

Level 8 requires the minimum academic load of 90 credits, applicable to people with Master’s degrees, or 120 credits, applicable to people with Bachelor’s degrees.

Learners who complete the training program and satisfy the outcome standards of Level 8 shall be issued with the Doctoral degree.

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6. The description of Vietnamese Qualifications Framework is provided in the Annex enclosed with this Decision.

Article 2. Organization of implementation

1. The Ministry of Education and Training shall:

a) Preside over the management and implementation of Vietnamese qualifications framework for different levels of undergraduate education; establish implementation plans and roadmaps and determine essential conditions to implement Vietnamese Qualifications Framework and report to the Prime Minister for approval;

b) Preside over and cooperate with relevant ministries and regulatory authorities in comparing undergraduate education levels in the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework with ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework and other national qualifications frameworks;

c) Preside over and cooperate with relevant Ministries, regulatory bodies and professional associations, educational institutions and relevant research institutes in establishing and approving outcome standards and proofs of each levels, sectors and disciplines in undergraduate education;

d) Direct higher education institutions to review the training programs and conduct modification or amendment in accordance with regulations on learning outcome standards; conduct quality assessment of training program on the basis of the proofs determined according to the learning outcome standards and quality assurance conditions;

dd) Cooperate with the Ministry of Finance to establish limits and make budget estimates for the implementation of Vietnamese Qualifications Framework for higher education levels for specific periods.

2. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

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b) Preside over and cooperate with relevant ministries and regulatory authorities in comparing vocational education levels in the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework with ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework and other national qualifications frameworks;

c) Preside over and cooperate with The Ministry of Education and Training and relevant Ministries and regulatory bodies in establishing the relation between the standards of vocational capacity, national standards of vocational skills and national education levels;

d) Preside over and cooperate with relevant Ministries, regulatory bodies and professional associations, educational institutions and relevant research institutes in establishing and approving outcome standards and proofs of each levels, sectors and disciplines in vocational education;

dd) Direct vocational education institutions to review the training programs and conduct modification or amendment in accordance with regulations on learning outcome standards; conduct quality assessment of training program on the basis of the proofs determined according to the learning outcome standards and quality assurance conditions;

e) Cooperate with the Ministry of Finance to establish limits and make budget estimates for the implementation of Vietnamese Qualifications Framework for vocation education levels for specific periods.

3. The Ministry of Finance

Preside over and cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in providing funding and guiding and monitoring the use of funding in the implementation of Vietnamese Qualifications Framework as prescribed in applicable law provisions.

4. Relevant regulatory bodies

a) Cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in establishing the learning outcome standards of different disciplines within the management of regulatory bodies;

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c) Provide information about different disciplines and sectors, requirements for qualifications suitable for specific working positions; establish and issue vocational capacity standards as the basis for establishing and developing the learing outcome standard of different levels.

5. People’s Committees of provinces and central-affiliated cities

Direct education and training authorities and functional agencies of local areas to conduct and implement Vietnamese Qualifications Framework in their areas; monitor, assess and consolidate the results of application of Vietnamese Qualifications Framework at their affiliated educational institutions.

6. Professional associations and business representatives

a) Study and propose capacity dossiers, requirements for knowledge and skills for specific working positions in professional activities of the associations;

b) Join in sectoral councils and propose requirements for qualifications and propose learning outcome standards for each training sectors and disciplines and proofs therefor;

c) Participate in the assessment of training quality in accordance with outcome standards for each disciplines and sectors and proofs therefor; provide regulatory bodies and educational institutions advice on amendment to outcome standards and enclosed proofs suitable for requirements of each working position.

7. Educational institutions

a) Review and adjust the structure, contents and methods for running training programs suitable for the requirements of the employers and undertake to keep the training program in accordance with the outcome standards and proofs therefor;

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Article 3. This Decision comes into force from the day on which it is signed.

Article 4. Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of governmental agencies, Presidents of People’s Committees of provinces and relevant entities are responsible for implementing this Decision./.

P.P. THE PRIME MINISTER
THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER




Vu Duc Dam

ANNEX

DESCRIPTION OF VIETNAMESE QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK
(Enclosed with the Decision No. 1982/QD-TTg dated October 18, 2016 by the Prime Minister)

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Learning outcomes

Requirements for learners completing the course:

Minimum acedemic load

Qualification type

Knowledge and understanding

Skills

Autonomy and responsibility

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1

- Have a narrow range of factual knowledge and basic knowledge about a number of activities in a certain profession.

- Have basic knowledge about nature, culture, society and legislation serving the life, advanced study and preparation for future occupation.

- Have basic skills to directly carry simple or manual tasks;

- Have basic communicative skills in familiar contexts.

- Carry out a number of simple and repeated tasks with the assistance of instructors.

- Carry out tasks under strict supervision and guidance.

- Conduct self-assessment and assessment of tasks with the assistance of instructors.

5 credits

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2

- Have a narrow range of factual and theoretical knowledge about a number of activities of a profession.

- Have general knowledge about nature, culture, society and legislation serving the life, profession and advanced study.

- Have awareness and skills required to select and apply suitable methods, tools and materials and available information.

- Have communicative skills required to perform the results or make reports on own work.

- Carry out a number of tasks with regularity and limited autonomy in familiar contexts;

- Carry out tasks in unfamiliar contexts with the guidance of instructors;

- Have ability to do self-assessment of own tasks.

15 credits

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3

- Have factual and theoretical knowledge of common principles, processes and concepts in the scope of a training profession;

- Have general knowledge about nature, culture, society and legislation serving the life, profession and advanced study.

- Have basic knowledge of information technology related to a certain profession.

- Have awareness and skills required to carry out tasks or solve problems independently.

- Have skills required to use effectively professional terms at workplace.

- Work independently in stable situations and familiar contexts;

- Carry out assignments and do self-assessment according to the defined standards.

- Carry out teamwork with other people and take responsibility for the results of work.

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Certificate III

4

- Have a broad range of factual and theoretical knowledge about the training profession.

- Have basic knowledge of politics, culture, society and legislation answering to the professional and social requirements in the profession.

- Have knowledge of information technology answering to the requirements of work.

- Have awareness and professional skills required to carry out tasks and solve problems by selecting and applying basic methods, tools, materials and information.

- Have skills required to use professional terms in the field of study to communicate effectively at workplace; get involve in argument and apply alternative solution; assess the quality of work and performance of members of the team.

- Have foreign-language capacity at level 1/6 referencing to Vietnam's framework of foreign language proficiency

- Work independently in changeable contexts, take personal responsibility and take partial responsibility for teamwork results.

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- Evaluate the performance of the team.

35 credits, for people with the certificates of completion of upper-secondary education, or 50 credits, for people with the certificates of completion of lower-secondary education

Associate degree

5

- Have comprehensive, factual and theoretical knowledge of the training profession.

- Have basic knowledge of politics, culture, society and legislation answering to the professional and social requirements in the profession.

- Have knowledge of information technology answering to the requirements of work.

- Have factual knowledge about the management, principles and methods for planning, performing, supervising and evaluating the work within the boundaries of the training profession.

- Have awareness and creativity to determine, analyze and evaluate broad-range information ;

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- Have awareness and creativity to determine, analyze and evaluate broad-range information.

- Have skills required to transfer information, ideas and solutions to other people at workplace;

- Have foreign-language capacity at level 2/6 referencing to Vietnam's framework of foreign language proficiency

- Work independently or work in teams, solve tasks and complicated problems in changeable contexts.

- Guide other people to perform defined tasks and supervise their performance; take personal and shared responsibility.

- Evaluate the task results and and performance of members in the team.

60 credits

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6

- Have an advanced theoretical and factual knowledge in the field of study

- Have basic knowledge of social science, political science and legislation.

- Have knowledge of information technology answering to the requirements of work.

- Have knowledge about planning, organizing and supervising processes of specific fields of work.

- Basic knowledge of the management and control of professional activities.

- Have skills required to solve complex problems.

- Have skills to be a leader and create own jobs or for other people.

- Have argument skills and skills to criticize and apply alternative solutions in unpredictable or changeable contexts.

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- Have skills to transfer information about problems and solutions to other peopla at workplace; transfer and disseminate knowledge and skills in performance of defined or complex tasks.

- Have foreign-language capacity at level 3/6 referencing to Vietnam's framework of foreign language proficiency

- Work independently or in team in changeable contexts, take personal responsibility and take partial responsibility for teamwork results.

- Guide and supervise the ordinary tasks of others.

- Make self-orientation and produce professional conclusions and have ability to protect own viewpoints.

- Draw up plans, direct and manage resources, evaluate and find solutions to improve the task performance.

120 - 180 credits

Undergraduate degree

7

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- Have relevant knowledge in multi-disciplinary field of study.

- Have general knowledge about administration and management. 

- Have advanced and specialized skills including analyzation, synthesis and evaluation of data and information to solve problems in a scientific way;

- Have skills to transfer knowledge depending on researches, discuss professional and scientific issues with other people.

- Have skills to organize, administrate and manage advanced vocational activities

- Have skills to develop and apply technology creatively in a field of study or work.

- Have foreign-language capacity at level 4/6 referencing to Vietnam's framework of foreign language proficiency.

- Carry out research and produce essential ideas.

- Adapt to the context, have self-orientation and guidance skills.

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- Manage, evaluate and develop professional activities.

30 - 60 credits

Master’s Degree

8

- Have the most advanced and intensive knowledge in a field of work or study related to science;

- Have the essential and basic knowledge in the field of the training profession.

- Have knowledge about organization of scientific research and development of new technology.

- Have knowledge about administration and organization.

- Have skills to master scientific theories, methods and tools serving the researching and development.

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- Have skills to reason and analyze scientific issues and produce creative and original solutions.

- Have skills to carry out management and professional direction in terms of research and development.

- Have skills to join in domestic and international discussion regarding the field of study and disseminate the reseach findings.

- Research and create new knowledge.

- Create new ideas and knowledge for different complex situations.

- Adapt to, make self-orientation and provide guidance for other people.

- Make professional conclusions and decisions.

- Manage researches and have high responsibility in study to develop professional knowledge and experience and produce new ideas and process.

90 - 120 credits

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Quyết định 1982/QĐ-TTg năm 2016 phê duyệt Khung trình độ quốc gia Việt Nam do Thủ tướng Chính phủ ban hành