Nine new policies came into effect in September 2017.

(Baonghean.vn) - From September 1st, 2017, many new policies on education, health, social welfare, and other areas will come into effect.

1. Equip students with knowledge to prevent online school violence.

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This is a prominent measure mentioned in Decree 80/2017/ND-CP regulating a safe, healthy, and friendly educational environment and preventing and combating school violence. In addition, the Decree also mentions other measures, specifically:

- Providing education and counseling on self-protection knowledge and skills for learners;

- To disseminate information and raise awareness among students, administrators, teachers, staff in educational institutions, students' families, and the community about the dangers and consequences of school violence;

- Publicize the plan for preventing and combating school violence and the channels for receiving information and reporting school violence;

- Organize inspections, monitoring, collection, and processing of information related to school violence;

- Implement positive, non-violent educational methods for learners.

From September 5th, 2017, Decree 80/2017/ND-CP officially came into effect.

2. General knowledge required for the lecturer promotion exam from Grade II to Grade I.

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The Ministry of Education and Training has recently issued Circular 18/2017/TT-BGDĐT regulating the conditions, content, and format of examinations for promotion to higher professional titles for teaching staff in public higher education institutions. Accordingly, the general knowledge test for promotion from Senior Lecturer (Grade II) to Senior Lecturer (Grade I) will include the following key contents:

- The Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws and regulations on education and training in general, and higher education in particular;

- The school's perspective and strategic direction for developing its various fields or specializations of study;

- The law on civil servants is consistent with the professional standards for senior lecturers (Grade I);

- The exam's knowledge content and scope cover 70% of the subject matter related to education and training, and 30% related to civil servant law.

Furthermore, Circular 18/2017/TT-BGDĐT (effective from September 5, 2017) stipulates that the general knowledge test will be in essay format and will last 180 minutes.

3. Pricing for water resource exploitation rights

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This is a noteworthy point mentioned in Decree 82/2017/ND-CP, issued by the Government, which regulates the method of calculating and the amount of fees for granting the right to exploit water resources. Accordingly, the price for calculating the right to exploit water resources for hydropower production is 70% of the electricity price used to calculate the water resource tax for hydropower production.

In addition, the water resource tax rate for cases other than hydropower production is the water resource tax rate issued by the People's Committee of the province or centrally-governed city where the project is located.

Decree 82/2017/ND-CP takes effect from September 1, 2017 and repeals the provisions in Article 40 and Clause 3 of Article 47 of Government Decree 201/2013/ND-CP dated November 27, 2013.

4. Determining the actual remaining value of rural clean water projects.

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This is a new point in Circular 76/2017/TT-BTC amending Circular 54/2013/TT-BTC regulating the management, use and exploitation of centralized rural clean water supply facilities (effective from September 10, 2017).

Accordingly, the works for which the actual remaining value is determined include:

- Projects that have been handed over to managing entities (including public service units, commune-level People's Committees, cooperatives, etc.) but are not operating effectively;

- The project had not been handed over to the managing entity as of September 10, 2017;

- Projects accepted for handover from September 10, 2017, without documentation or with incomplete documentation as required by law on investment and construction.

5. 20 sectors transition from public sector employment to joint-stock companies.

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On July 17, 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision 31/2017/QD-TTg on the list of sectors and fields of operation of public non-business units to be converted into joint-stock companies in the period 2017-2020. Accordingly, the State will hold less than 50% of the charter capital or no shares in public non-business units that are to be converted into joint-stock companies in 20 sectors and fields, for example:

- Consulting services in tax, accounting, auditing, etc.

- Employment services, sending Vietnamese workers to work abroad under contract.

- Construction inspection.

- Managing real estate, markets, and shopping centers.

- Develop infrastructure and support services in industrial parks and clusters.

Decision 31/2017/QD-TTg takes effect from September 1, 2017.

6. Order of priority in considering promotion to higher positions for healthcare professionals.

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Circular 29/2017/TT-BYT stipulates the standards, conditions, content, and form for considering promotion to higher professional ranks for civil servants in the healthcare sector.

Accordingly, if the number of eligible candidates for promotion exceeds the number of staff required for the public health institution, the Professional Title Promotion Review Council will prioritize candidates in the following order:

- Achievements in scientific research;

- Number of years holding the current professional title/position;

- Results of the performance evaluation and ranking of civil servants for the two consecutive years preceding the year of consideration for promotion;

- Interview results (if any).

The selection of successful candidates will be carried out in accordance with the Regulations on the consideration of promotion to higher professional ranks.

If a civil servant fails to pass the professional title promotion examination as prescribed, the results cannot be carried over to the next examination.

7. From September 1, 2017, borrowing through bond sales is permitted.

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This is one of the principles for borrowing government bonds at the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) as stated in Circular 10/2017/TT-BTC amending Circular 234/2012/TT-BTC guiding the management of government bond transactions.

Accordingly, borrowing from government bonds is carried out according to the agreement of the parties and through the trading system at the Hanoi Stock Exchange or on the securities lending system at the Vietnam Securities Depository Center, ensuring the following principles:

- Only trading members who are members participating in the government bond auction are allowed to borrow government bonds for sale according to the regulations of the Hanoi Stock Exchange;

- The maximum loan term is 180 days and must not exceed the remaining term until the government bond matures;

- The loan must be repaid with the borrowed government bonds; if there are insufficient bonds, it may be repaid with equivalent transferable government bonds.

- The parties involved shall mutually agree upon and be responsible for matters related to loan and repayment, collateral, interest rates, and other terms in accordance with legal regulations.

8. Increase monthly allowances for retired commune officials.

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Starting September 1, 2017, the monthly allowance for retired commune, ward, and town officials will be adjusted upwards based on the allowance rate stipulated from July 1, 2017. Specifically:

- Former Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune are entitled to: 1,846,000 VND/month.

- Former officials who held positions such as Deputy Secretary, Deputy Chairman, Standing Committee Member of the Party Committee, Secretary of the People's Committee, Secretary of the People's Council of the commune, Commune Militia Commander, or Commune Police Chief are entitled to: 1,786,000 VND/month.

- The remaining positions are entitled to: 1,653,000 VND/month

9. Reduce the criteria for evaluating civil servants at the "good performance" and "satisfactory performance" levels.

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This is the content mentioned in Clauses 3 and 4 of Article 1 of Decree 88/2017/ND-CP amending and supplementing some articles of Decree 56/2015/ND-CP on the evaluation and classification of cadres, civil servants, and public employees. Accordingly, from September 15th, the criterion "having at least one scientific work, project, research topic, or initiative that has been applied and brought about effective results in the performance of professional work and has been recognized by competent authorities" will be removed.

Therefore, only civil servants who are evaluated as having excellently completed their duties are required to meet the criteria regarding scientific works, projects, research topics, or initiatives as mentioned above. This regulation came into effect on September 15, 2017.

Peace

(Synthetic)