Ministry of Education and Training: 5 reasons to abolish junior high school diploma

The Ministry of Education and Training has just announced the Draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education for comments. The Draft proposes a number of changes, including the abolition of the junior high school diploma.

The draft Law stipulates the abolition of the junior high school graduation certificate and assigns the authority to the principal of the junior high school or the head of the educational institution implementing the junior high school education program to confirm the completion of the junior high school program instead of the Head of the District Department of Education and Training granting the junior high school graduation certificate; assigns the authority to the principal of the high school/head of the educational institution implementing the high school education program granting the high school graduation certificate instead of the Director of the Department of Education and Training granting the high school graduation certificate.

Replacing the junior high school diploma with a certificate of program completion still ensures full legal basis for learners to transfer to another level, learn a trade or continue their studies as desired.

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, abolishing the issuance of junior high school graduation certificates and decentralizing the authority to confirm the completion of general education programs is an inevitable requirement to fully institutionalize the policies of the Party and the State, meet the practical requirements of education management and approach international practices. The Ministry of Education and Training gave 5 reasons for abolishing junior high school graduation certificates.

Firstly , promptly institutionalize the policy of strong decentralization and delegation of power in state management in the spirit of Resolution 27-NQ/TW (2022) and Conclusion No. 137-KL/TW (2025) of the Politburo.

"Empowering heads of educational institutions to confirm and grant degrees is a concrete step in clearly defining authority and responsibility between the central and local levels, between management agencies and implementing agencies," the Ministry of Education and Training emphasized.

Second , in line with the trend of modern administration, streamlining the apparatus, increasing operational efficiency, contributing to eliminating unnecessary administrative intermediaries, shortening processes, reducing pressure on district and provincial management agencies, and increasing autonomy and accountability of schools.

Third , in accordance with the nature of universal secondary education, it is a social policy, not a training system with a degree output. Confirming the completion of the curriculum is enough to serve the purpose of streaming and transferring levels, and it is not necessary to maintain the administrative degree granting mechanism.

Fourth , approaching international practices, creating conditions for integration. Developed countries such as the US, UK, Finland, Canada, etc. do not issue junior high school diplomas but give the authority to confirm learning outcomes to the principal, using it as a basis for continuing to higher education or career orientation.

Fifth , it does not affect the rights and learning opportunities of learners. Replacing the degree with a certificate of program completion still ensures full legal basis for learners to transfer to another level, learn a trade or continue their studies as desired.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/bo-giao-duc-va-dao-tao-5-ly-do-de-bo-bang-tot-nghiep-trung-hoc-co-so-post879229.html