Contents
Article 2.Name of Curriculum Standards
Article 3.Scope of Application
Article 4.Organizing Learning and Teaching Using the Credit-Based System
Article 5.Educational Qualifications
Article 6.Permission to Teach Curricula
Article 7.Issuance of Certificates
Chapter II:Creation of Curricula and Conditions for Teaching
Article 8.Creation of Curricula
Article 9.Conditions for Opening a Curriculum
Article 10.Stages in Obtaining Permission to Use a Curriculum
Article 11.Setting up a Curriculum
Article 12.Curricular Evaluation
Chapter III:Organization of Learning and Teaching
Article 14.Formats for the Organization of Learning and Teaching
Chapter IV:Specification of Credits and Enrolment
Article 15.Principles for the Calculation of Credits
Article 16.Credit Specification
Chapter V:Criteria for Teachers and Enrollees
Article 18.Criteria for Teachers
Article 19.Criteria for Enrollees
Chapter VI:Student Assessment and Graduation
Article 20.Principles for Student Assessment
Article 22.Conditions for Graduation
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Peace Independence Democracy Unity Prosperity
Ministry of Education and Sports No.: 4127/ME.HE/2011
Vientiane Capital, dated: 03 November 2011
Decision
on the National Curriculum Standards for Doctoral Degrees
Pursuant to: Law 04/NA, dated 3 July (07) 2007, on Education of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic;
Pursuant to: Decree 282/PM, dated 7 September 2011, on the Organization and Operations of the Ministry of Education and Sports; and
Pursuant to: The request of the Department of Higher Education;
The Minister of Education hereby issues a Decision:
General Provisions
This Decision defines the regulations, principles, and measures for the management of curricular and reference documentation for higher education institutes in their creation and development of curricula for doctoral degrees so as to achieve nationwide uniformity.
Article 2.Name of Curriculum Standards
These standards shall be referred to as the “National Continuing Curriculum Standards for Doctoral Degrees”.
Article 3.Scope of Application
The National Curriculum Standards for Doctoral Degrees shall be used in the research and creation of doctoral curricula at higher education institutes wishing to open courses at this level.
Article 4.Organizing Learning and Teaching Using the Credit-Based System
4.1Programs for doctoral degrees at higher education institutes must be taught according to a credit-based system.
4.2In the event that learning and teaching is established according to a system of hours and modules, the learning results shall be calculated according to a credit-based system.
Article 5.Educational Qualifications
Persons completing a curriculum at doctoral degree level in a given branch shall receive a bachelor’s degree certificate of ... in the branch of … stating “Doctor of Philosophy in …”.
Article 6.Permission to Teach Curricula
Higher level institutes wishing to open a doctoral degree program must receive permission from the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and if wishing to close the learning and teaching of an existing program, they must also receive permission from the MoES.
Article 7.Issuance of Certificates
Higher education institutes shall have the right to issue Certificates for Doctoral Degrees for a program for which they have received permission from the MoES in accordance with all conditions and stages specified in the curriculum.
Creation of Curricula and Conditions for Teaching
Article 8.Creation of Curricula
The creation of curricula for doctoral degrees by a State and private higher education institutes must be structured as follows:
4.1Philosophy
Specification of background and reasoning for creating the curriculum, importance and vision of the curriculum, demand from society and the labor market, and the skills of its students after having completed it; and
4.2Aims
Specification of methods and student training in accordance with the three characteristics and five pillars of education and the skills of its students after having completed it;
-Specification of credits used in the curriculum;
-Classification of subjects into each subject area;
+ For Format 1: Classification into stages of research and activities; and
+ For Format 2: Classification into subjects in accordance with the subject groups, research, and activities;
-Learning and teaching plans for each area of study and for each year; and
-Brief content of subject(s);
Article 9.Conditions for Opening a Curriculum
The opening of a doctoral degree curriculum by a higher level institute must take place as follows:
9.1It must be consistent with the policies of the Party and government, the three characteristics and five pillars of education, national socio-economic development, and the scientific, technological, and environmental growth trends of the region and the world.
9.2 It must be aimed at catering to the needs of human resource development in various sectors, the socio-economic structure, and the labor market.
9.3.The buildings and locations, learning and teaching materials and equipment, library/ies, laboratory/ies, personnel, teachers, and budget must all be ready beforehand.
9.4.The institute must have taught a master’s degree in a related field with two generations of students having graduated.
9.5.In order to ensure the quality of the learning and teaching, the higher education institute may invite external guest teachers to teach but these must not comprise more than a third (33%) of all the teachers teaching a given curriculum.
Article 10.Stages in Obtaining Permission to Use a Curriculum
Requesting permission to open a doctoral degree curriculum by a higher education institute shall take place as follows:
10.1The request for the opening of the curriculum must involve the submission of various documents in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 and there must be a feasibility study.
10.2For the creation of a curriculum in a certain branch which overlaps with some other curriculum or course at the same institute, there must be a feasibility study and an explanation in order to request permission from the MoES.
10.3Institutes which have already received permission to open the teaching of several curricula must request permission for the opening of a new curriculum or the alteration of an existing one, submitting a feasibility study and the criteria to be used for student assessment and evaluation.
Article 11.Setting up a Curriculum
11.1A higher education institute shall not have the right to set up the learning and teaching of a doctoral degree curriculum before receiving permission for its use from the MoES.
11.2In the event that Institute B wishes to teach a curriculum for which permission has been received for its use by Institute A and issue its own certificates, it must request permission from Institute A and the MoES.
11.3In the event that a curriculum is the property of a given institute and permission has already been granted for its use and the institute wishes for it to be taught at another institute and certificates issued by itself, permission must be granted from the MoES.
Article 12.Curricular Evaluation
Curricula for which permission has been granted by the MoES, after having been run and studied for 1-2 generations of students, must be evaluated and revised in accordance with the Regulations on Evaluations of the meeting of the MoES National Curriculum Standards.
Organization of Learning and Teaching
The organization of the learning and teaching of doctoral degrees at higher education institutes is specified as follows:
13.1 For curricula taught full-time, the learning shall take place for 3-5 years or 3-5 academic years.
13.2 For curricula taught non-full-time, the learning shall take place for 5-10 years or 5-10 academic years.
Article 14.Formats for the Organization of Learning and Teaching
14.1 Format 1: shall comprise education emphasizing scientific research.
14.2 Format 2: shall comprise education emphasizing the study of theory and scientific research.
Specification of Credits and Enrolment
Article 15.Principles for the Calculation of Credits
15.1Theoretical subjects which take up one hour of presentations and lectures weekly, adding up to no less than sixteen hours per semester, shall be attributed one credit.
15.2Practical subjects which take up two to three hours weekly, adding up to thirty-two to forty-eight hours per semester, shall be attributed one credit.
15.3Work experience and internships which take up three to six hours weekly, adding up to no less than thirty-two to forty-eight hours per semester, shall be attributed one credit.
Article 16.Credit Specification
The two formats of doctoral degree curricula shall consist of the following subject types and credits, as follows:
16.1 Format 1:There shall be no less than 48 credits and no more than 72.
-The thesis shall be worth 48 credits or more.
-There shall be activities in other areas of specialization related to the research paper as specified by the institution.
16.2 Format 2: There shall be no less than 48 and no more than 72.
-The study of theory shall be worth no less than 12 credits.
-The thesis shall be worth 36 credits or more.
Applicants shall be examined and/or selected according to study topics and the enrolment of researchers shall be as specified by the institute.
Criteria for Teachers and Enrollees
Article 18.Criteria for Teachers
18.1Teachers: shall have a specialized area of study related to the subject they are to teach and possess a doctoral level qualification of three years or more.
18.2Consulting teachers: shall have a specialized area of study related to the research paper, possess a doctoral level qualification of three years or more, and hold a specialized position as associate professor or higher and there must be at least two of these.
18.3Thesis inspectors: shall have a specialized area of study related to the research paper, possess a doctoral level qualification of three years of more, and there must be two or more of these, on of which must be an external teacher with experience in scientific research of at least three years in a field related to the research paper.
18.4Thesis committee members: shall have a specialized area of study related to the research paper, possess a doctoral level qualification of three years or more, and hold the position of specialist or associate professor or higher and the thesis committee must consist of five or more members.
18.5Other criteria specified by the institute itself shall also be met.
Article 19.Criteria for Enrollees
Enrollees shall meet the following criteria:
19.1Format 1: Students must have graduated with a master’s degree in the same field of study and achieved a grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or higher or have accumulated at least two years of experience.
19.2Format 2: Students must have graduated with a master’s degree in the same field of study and achieved a GPA of 3.5 of higher.
19.3Those who have graduated with a master’s degree in a similar field of study and wish to enroll in Format 1 or 2 must take an additional bridging course of 15-30 credits in the fundamentals of the specialized area of study. These credits shall not contribute to the credits accumulated for the doctoral degree itself. Following this, they shall follow that specified in Article 13.
19.4Students must have a high level of English and be able to present research papers at domestic and overseas conferences.
19.5Students shall also comply with any other specifications issued by the institute.
Student Assessment and Graduation
Article 20.Principles for Student Assessment
The student assessment for each subject shall be conducted according to the following scoring system:
Grade |
Meaning |
Grade-point equivalent |
||
Lao symbol |
English symbol |
Lao |
English |
|
¡ |
A |
©ó-Àìó© |
Excellent |
4.0 |
¢+ |
B+ |
©ó-¹ì¾¨ |
Very Good |
3.5 |
¢ |
B |
©ó |
Good |
3.0 |
£+ |
C+ |
©ó-²ð-Ã§É |
Fairly Good |
2.5 |
£ |
C |
²ð-çÉ-Ä©É |
Fair |
2.0 |
¤+ |
D+ |
ºÈº |
Poor |
1.5 |
¤ |
D |
ºÈº-¹ì¾¨ |
Very Poor |
1.0 |
ª |
F |
ªö¡ |
Fail |
0 |
Those who meet the conditions to defend their thesis must also meet the following criteria:
21.1At least two papers must have been published in a domestic or overseas journals and a further two papers must have been presented at regional or international conferences.
21.2The thesis must have been inspected and verified as being accurate and of quality.
21.3The thesis must have at least 30 doctoral degree level references related to the content of the thesis.
Article 22.Conditions for Graduation
22.1The thesis must have been successfully defended and the results must have been approved by the committee.
22.2Those graduating must have accumulated a number of credits equal to that specified for the curriculum, have achieved a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and be of good character.
Final Provisions
23.1 Macro-Level
For the Department of Higher Education to study and issue additional specifications concerning the implementation of the curricula in practice in order to ensure quality and correctness; and
23.2 Micro-level
For the higher education institute to improve, adjust, and create their own curricula along with evaluation and assessment specifications so that they are correct and consistent with this Decision.
The relevant offices and departments of the MoES and higher level institutes shall acknowledge and implement this Decision in accordance with their respective duties and responsibilities.
This Decision is effective from the date of signature.
Minister of Education and Sports
To be delivered to:
1. Government’s Office 1 copy
2. Ministries 1 copy each
3. Department of Higher Education 3 copies
4. Departments under the MoES 1 copy each
5. Universities 1 copy each
6. State and private sector higher education institutes 1 copy each
7. PESSs 1 copy each
8. To be kept 3 copies
Annexes
National Curricula for Continuing Bachelor’s Degrees
Definitions:
-Curricular standards: shall refer to the quality standards specified for a curriculum in order that it may achieve its learning and teaching objectives and aims.
-A doctoral degree curriculum: shall refer to teaching and learning of a student in a highly specialized subject.
-A credit: shall refer to a volumetric unit of learning and teaching for each subject [in a curriculum].
-An academic journal shall refer to a paper summarizing scientific research issued on a periodic basis.
-A paper shall refer to a piece of research within a thesis.
-Doctoral degree level education shall refer to education leading on from a master’s degree and into which a scientific problem has been researched in detail.
-A senior teacher: shall refer to a person who is responsible for work experience and leading [students] through the writing of their dissertation.
-A consulting teacher: shall refer to a person who instructs and leads in the writing of dissertations to graduate.
-A thesis inspector: shall refer to a person who checks the accuracy and quality of a dissertation to graduate.
-A full-time or internal teacher: shall refer to a teacher who teachers under the authority of their institute.
-A guest or external teacher: shall refer to a teacher who has been invited [to teach] by another institute.
Contents
Topic Page
1. Chapter I |
General Provisions |
1 |
2. Chapter II |
Creation of Curricula and Conditions for Teaching |
2 |
3. Chapter III |
Organization of Learning and Teaching |
4 |
4. Chapter IV |
Specification of Credits and Enrolment |
5 |
5. Chapter V |
Criteria for Teachers and Enrollees |
6 |
6. Chapter VI |
Student Assessment and Graduation |
7 |
7. Chapter VII |
Final Provisions |
8 |
8. Chapter VIII |
Annexes |
9 |
Name | Description | Status |
---|---|---|
PhD curriculum approval requirement. | The PhD curriculum must be approved by the Ministry of Education and Sport. | Active |