Building the Law on Teachers into a model law on innovation in law-making thinking

Continuing the 38th Session, on the morning of October 8, under the direction of Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave its second opinion on the draft Law on Teachers.

Draft Law dossiers are eligible to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and comments.

Reporting at the meeting, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that in this Submission, the Government has supplemented and clarified the necessity of promulgating the Law on Teachers; the scope of regulation and applicable subjects; consistency with legal documents and compatibility with relevant international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.

At the same time, update the structure and policy contents in the draft Law on Teachers, which was revised after receiving comments from the National Assembly Standing Committee and the National Assembly Committees; supplement financial resources and budget for implementation.

Regarding policy contents that still have many different opinions, the Government has removed from the draft Law regulations on the application of the Law on Teachers, on the professional social organization of teachers, on standards for heads of educational institutions...

Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son reported at the meeting.

Some policy contents (regulations on salary, allowance and support policies for teachers) are carefully reviewed to ensure both breakthroughs and suitability with the context of salary reform implementation in the coming time.

The revised draft Law up to October 1, 2024 has a structure of 9 Chapters and 45 Articles (26 Articles less than the draft submitted to the National Assembly on September 6, 2024). The revised draft Law ensures that the 5 policies approved by the Government in Resolution No. 95/NQ-CP will not be changed.

Presenting the Preliminary Review Report of the Law Project, Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Education Nguyen Dac Vinh stated that the draft Law has been revised to be more concise; only regulating contents under the authority of the National Assembly; not regulating contents that have been regulated by other specialized laws; removing contents that have not been thoroughly assessed for impact or issues that have not reached high consensus from the draft Law.

Considering that the draft Law dossier after being basically revised meets the conditions for submission to the National Assembly for consideration and comments, the Standing Committee of the Culture and Education Committee proposed that the Government continue to carefully review, ensure the consistency of the legal system, resolve legal problems and conflicts; and assess more fully, thoroughly, and comprehensively the conditions for ensuring the implementation of the Law for each policy.

Assess the impact and determine the scope of adjustment.

Speaking at the meeting, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man acknowledged that the Ministry of Education and Training and the Committee on Culture and Education actively and promptly received opinions from the National Assembly Standing Committee at the 37th Session to complete the draft Law.

The National Assembly Chairman noted that the contents that have been adjusted in other specialized laws are not specified in the draft Law on Teachers; only the contents under the authority of the National Assembly are specified; not specifically, in detail, or legalized in decrees and circulars, but assigned to the Government, ministries, and branches according to the authority prescribed in the implementing guidance documents.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man speaks.

Regarding specific contents, the National Assembly Chairman suggested that agencies should pay attention to ensuring that the scope of regulation and applicable subjects are determined according to the impact assessment, and not spread out. In particular, it is important to note that the subjects of application of the Law on Teachers are three main groups: public teachers, non-public teachers, and foreign teachers working in educational institutions in the national education system; at the same time, continue to review and ensure the suitability and feasibility of each policy applied to each of these groups.

Regarding the State's policy on building and developing the teaching staff stipulated in Article 6 of the draft Law, the National Assembly Chairman said that it is necessary to continue reviewing and ensuring that the policy framework is fully specified, avoiding general policy provisions. In particular, with the provision in Clause 1 "The State plays a leading role in building and developing the teaching staff, ensuring quantity, structure and quality", it is necessary to list specific policies, not keeping the current provision because it is too broad.

Citing data on State support sources to implement policies for teachers, vocational education institutions, higher education, salary policies, preferential allowances, and tuition exemption support policies from the Government's Report on Acceptance and Explanation, the National Assembly Chairman noted that the State support sources to implement the above policies are relatively large, so they must be evaluated more carefully to ensure feasibility and fairness in relation to other priority subjects.

Emphasizing that this is a law that the education sector is interested in, but it is also a difficult law, with a large scope of impact, many complex contents, with a spirit of urgency, caution and thoroughness, the National Assembly Chairman suggested that the Government direct the Ministry of Education and Training to pay close attention; relevant ministries and branches, especially the Ministry of Justice, need to "guard the gate" in terms of legislative techniques for the draft Law so that there are no mistakes in wording, and the provisions do not overlap with the provisions of other laws.

The National Assembly Chairman said that if the draft Law is prepared specifically and carefully, ensuring requirements, it can be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and approval according to the two-session process; if the consensus of National Assembly deputies is not high, there are still many opinions, it can be submitted over three sessions, ensuring the longevity of the law.

Commenting on this content, members of the National Assembly Standing Committee also proposed to clearly define the scope and beneficiaries, thoroughly and fully assess the impact on resources to ensure the implementation of support policies to attract teachers, especially the policy of exempting tuition fees for teachers' children, the policy of ensuring collective accommodation or renting public housing according to the provisions of the Housing Law and essential conditions when working in rural areas.

Regarding the retirement regime for teachers, the members of the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed to stipulate that teachers in preschools can retire at a lower age but not more than 5 years older than the prescribed age and will not have their pension percentage reduced due to early retirement.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh delivered concluding remarks.

Speaking at the end of the discussion, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh said that the National Assembly Standing Committee agreed on the necessity of promulgating the Law on Teachers to create a favorable and unified legal framework for building and developing the teaching staff as well as protecting and honoring the teaching profession.

After being received, explained, and revised, the draft Law has undergone quite fundamental changes in its structure and content. Based on the direction of the National Assembly Chairman, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh emphasized that it is necessary to strive to build the draft Law on Teachers into a model law on innovation in law-making thinking to meet the requirements of the new period, in the direction of being short, concise, clear, ensuring proper authority and being implemented immediately after promulgation.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/xay-dung-luat-nha-giao-thanh-mot-luat-mau-ve-doi-moi-tu-duy-xay-dung-luat-post835474.html