Nghe An: Comments on the level of spending on textbook selection activities in general education institutions

On October 5, the Culture - Social Committee of the Provincial People's Council held a meeting to review draft Resolutions to submit to the upcoming thematic session of the Provincial People's Council.

Attending the event were comrades Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; members of the Provincial Party Executive Committee: Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Thai Thi An Chung - Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation.

Conference scene. Photo: Thanh Le

At the beginning of the meeting, the Committee for Culture and Society and the Provincial People's Council approved the Draft Resolution regulating the content and level of expenses for organizing the selection of textbooks in general education institutions in the province.

According to the draft, the subjects of application are education management agencies (Department of Education and Training; Department of Education and Training of districts, cities, towns); general education institutions in the province; members of the Provincial and Grassroots Textbook Selection Council; other relevant organizations and individuals.

The Resolution is aimed at unifying the content, subjects, and specific spending levels to carry out the task of selecting general education textbooks in Nghe An province according to the provisions of Circular 25/2020/TT - BGDĐT dated August 26, 2020 of the Ministry of Education and Training regulating the selection of textbooks in general education institutions.

Comrade Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council gave his opinion on the draft Resolutions. Photo: Thanh Le

Accordingly, the specific content and expenditure levels are as follows:

(1) Expenses for research, discussion, evaluation and selection of textbooks for subjects under the specialized field of responsibility according to the textbook selection criteria specified in the Circular of the Ministry of Education and Training and the provincial document for teachers to participate in selecting textbooks for general education institutions: VND 60,000/person/session/subject. Time not exceeding 6 sessions.

(2) The branch organizes meetings to evaluate and select a textbook for each subject based on the list of textbooks proposed by professional organizations. Group leader: VND 128,000/person/session. Deputy group leader, member, secretary: VND 96,000/person/session.

(3) The Council Branch performs the appraisal task, for the Chairman: 160,000 VND/person/session; Vice Chairman, member, secretary: 120,000 VND/person/session; Maximum time is not more than 16 sessions.

(4) Payment of business trip allowance: Apply the expenditure levels in Resolution No. 197/2017/NQ dated December 20, 2017 of the People's Council of Nghe An province stipulating a number of levels of business trip allowance and conference expenses in the province.

(5) Other expenses (stationery, documents, communications, hall rental and other costs) to perform tasks: Expenditure levels are based on invoices, legal spending documents and within the budget assigned by competent authorities.

Associate Professor, Dr. Thai Van Thanh clarified the opinions of the delegates. Photo: Thanh Le

Implementation costs: From the annual allocated educational career source according to the budget decentralization; financial sources of agencies and units; funding and support from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals; socialized capital sources, legally mobilized capital sources, other revenue sources according to the provisions of law.

Giving opinions on the Draft Resolution regulating the content and level of expenditure for organizing the selection of textbooks in general education institutions in the province, the meeting members highly agreed and believed that the issuance of the Resolution is in accordance with the provisions of the law on the state budget and meets practical requirements.

Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Hong Vu discussed the contents of the delegates' discussion on the draft Resolution. Photo: Thanh Le

However, opinions also suggested that it is necessary to consider adding a number of Resolutions, circulars, and guiding documents of the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Finance related to this content; at the same time, it is necessary to clarify and ensure consistency of regulations in points and clauses.

Comrade Lo Thi Kim Ngan - Head of the Ethnic Minorities Committee, Provincial People's Council expressed concerns about the implementation of investment projects which are still scattered and not very effective. Photo: Thanh Le

Giving opinions on the draft content of "Resolution giving opinions on the plan for investment capital development from the central budget to implement the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the period 2021 - 2025 and 2022 in Nghe An province", delegates assessed that the content of the draft Resolution was built in detail, closely following the documents of the Central Government.

Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Van Truong explained and clarified the content that delegates were interested in regarding the arrangement of investment projects. Photo: Thanh Le

However, to promote the effectiveness of the Resolution, some opinions suggest that the weakest and most urgent projects should be selected for concentrated investment, avoiding dispersion and inefficiency; re-survey the situation after the flash flood in Ky Son to arrange the list of projects and capital sources reasonably. Review the list of traffic projects to ensure synchronization and balance between localities in the region and in the province.