Practical Status of Implementing Support Policy for High School Students in Particularly Difficult Communes, Cao Bang Province

Trung Khanh district (Trung Khanh High School), Hoa An district (Hoa An High School), Nguyen Binh district (Nguyen Binh High School);

- The remaining high schools in Cao Bang province mostly have average or weak academic performance because many high schools are located in district centers with a very long distance from home to the high school where students study, such as: Vinh Phong, Duc Hanh, Yen Tho communes (Bao Lam district) are 35 to 40km from Bao Lam High School; Co Ba, Coc Pang communes (Bao Lac district) are 36 to 40km from Bao Lac High School; Lung Nam, Tong Cot communes (Ha Quang district) are 35 to 40km from Dam Quang Trung High School. Moreover, the terrain is difficult, transportation is difficult, in many places you have to cross rivers, streams without bridges, go through passes, high mountains, through landslide areas;

- The rate of dropouts in high schools in Cao Bang province is also uneven, specifically (According to statistics of the Department of Education and Training of Cao Bang province in the 2018-2019 school year):

+ High schools with difficult terrain, difficult transportation, many places have to cross rivers, streams without bridges, go through passes, high mountains, through landslide areas, etc., the rate of students dropping out of school is high, such as: Bao Lam High School (dropout rate 10.9%), Ly Bon High School (dropout rate 7.3%) in Bao Lam district; Thong Nong High School (dropout rate 6.9%) in Thong Nong district; Dam Quang Trung High School (dropout rate 6.0%) etc.

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+ On the contrary, some schools with more favorable traffic conditions have a lower dropout rate, specifically: Cao Bang City High School (dropout rate 0.5%), Cao Binh High School (dropout rate 0.9%) in Cao Bang City; Trung Khanh High School (dropout rate 1.9%).

belongs to Trung Khanh district; Quang Uyen High School (dropout rate 0.8%) belongs to Quang Uyen district.etc.

2.2.2. Practical situation of implementing support policies for high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes, Cao Bang province

2.2.2.1. Develop and promulgate a system of management documents

Since the support policy for high school students in particularly disadvantaged communes took effect from September 1, 2016, Cao Bang province has developed and issued many documents to deploy and implement Decree 116/2016/ND-CP in Cao Bang province.

Basis for implementing support policies for high school students in particularly disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province: In recent years, our government has issued a number of decisions on supporting students in disadvantaged areas. Specifically:

- Decision 85/2010/QD-TTg dated December 21, 2010;

- Decision 12/2013/QD-TTg dated January 24, 2013

- Decision 36/2013/QD-TTg dated June 18, 2013.

In order to integrate and limit overlaps in policies on supporting boarding students and ethnic minority boarding schools, and supporting students in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, the Government issued Decree No. 116/2016/ND-CP dated July 18, 2016, “Regulating policies on supporting students and schools in communes and villages with special difficulties”. This is also an important document for implementing the policy.

- Document No. 5129/BGD DT-CTHSSV dated October 14, 2016 on guidelines for implementing support policies for students and general schools in particularly disadvantaged communes and villages;

- Decree No. 06/2018/ND-CP January 5, 2018 of the Government and current policies for ethnic minority students;

- Decision No. 582/QD-TTg dated April 28, 2017;

- Decision No. 103/QD-TTg dated January 22, 2019 of the Prime Minister approving the List of extremely disadvantaged villages, communes in region III, region II, region I in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2016-2020.

The People's Committee of Cao Bang province and the Department of Education of Cao Bang province have issued a number of documents for each school year related to the implementation of Decree 116/2016 of the Government. Specifically:

- Document No. 951/SGD&ĐT-GDDT& HSSV dated August 25, 2017 on instructions for implementing tasks for the 2017-2018 school year for Ethnic Education; Political Education and Student Affairs

- Document No. 930/SGD&ĐT-GDDT& HSSV dated September 7, 2018 on instructions for implementing tasks for the 2017-2018 school year for Ethnic Education; Political Education and Student Affairs

- Decision No. 90/QD-UBND dated February 10, 2020 of the People's Committee of Cao Bang province on receiving and allocating rice to students who are entitled to support policies under Decree 116/2016/ND-CP dated July 18, 2016 of the Government in Cao Bang province in the 2019-2020 school year.

- Resolution No. 91/2016/NQ-HDND dated December 28, 2016 on the regulation of distance and area to determine students who cannot go to school and return home during the day; regulation of the percentage of funding for centralized cooking for boarding students in Cao Bang province. It can be seen that the work of developing and promulgating documents related to the implementation of support policies for high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province is carried out regularly, updated and

timely. This helps to make policy implementation more effective.

2.2.2.2. Current status of developing a plan to implement policies to support high school students in especially disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province

Implementing public policies in general and support policies for high school students in particularly disadvantaged areas in particular is a process that takes place over a period of time under the direction of state management agencies and the coordination of relevant agencies. Therefore, developing a policy implementation plan is an important and necessary step for the policy implementation process to be proactive in practice. Implementing Decree No. 116/2016/ND-CP dated July 18, 2016 of the Government on support policies for high school students in particularly disadvantaged areas, Cao Bang province has developed a policy implementation plan for high schools. With the assigned functions and tasks, at the beginning of the school year, the Department of Education and Training of Cao Bang province issued a Plan to guide high schools in Cao Bang province to develop detailed plans and implement support policies for high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes according to Decree 116/2016/ND-CP of the Government. Specifically, the document requires that the plans of schools must clearly show: plans on agencies, units, organizations and individuals participating in the implementation; plans on coordination mechanisms for implementation; plans on facilities and finances for policy implementation; plans on time for each specific work content; plans on policy dissemination and propaganda; plans to inspect and supervise the implementation...

Based on the directive documents of the Department of Education and Training of Cao Bang province, leaders of high schools in Cao Bang province with students enjoying support policies for high school students in extremely difficult areas develop plans and deploy them to relevant departments such as: homeroom teachers, parents (or legal guardians) and benefiting students.

To assess the current status of developing a plan to implement the policy to support high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province, the author of the thesis conducted a survey of 58 subjects including: 2 officials of the Cao Bang Provincial Department of Education, 28 principals, and 28 homeroom teachers. These are the officials who directly implement the policy to support high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province. The purpose is to understand the subjects' self-assessment of the implementation of this policy in Cao Bang. The survey results are summarized in Table 1 (Appendix - Table 1).

The results of the survey on the current status of developing a plan to implement the policy to support high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province show that: The plan developed by the Department of Education and Training of Cao Bang province to organize implementation in schools was selected by 65% of the survey subjects as good, 20% as fair and 15% as average. This result shows that the development of a plan to implement the support policy for high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province is timely and in accordance with regulations. However, there are also some opinions that some contents in the policy implementation plan need to be more flexible and clear.

Chart 1: Level of implementation of planning work

Good Fair

Average Weak

Least

Level of implementation of planning work

15%

20%

65%

2.2.2.3. Current status of dissemination and propaganda of support policies for high school students in particularly disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province

The support policy for high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes has brought about practical results; promptly helping and encouraging students in disadvantaged areas to continue going to school, limiting the dropout rate, thereby improving the quality of education in Cao Bang Province. Therefore, the dissemination and propaganda of policies in schools is very important. The purpose of this work is for policy implementers to fully, accurately and firmly grasp the provisions of the law in the support policy for high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang Province. In addition, the policy dissemination and propaganda work also aims at policy beneficiaries, helping them understand the purpose and contents.

of the policy as well as the required procedures in the process of making application documents to enjoy the policy.

Recognizing that importance, the Department of Education and Training directed general schools and ethnic minority schools to organize propaganda and dissemination of the State's support policies for students of general schools in communes and villages with special difficulties as stipulated in Decree 116/2016 of the Government to all cadres, teachers, employees, students, parents of students and through local authorities to widely announce in the community. Based on the above direction, school principals developed specific plans to disseminate and propagate support policies for high school students in communes with special difficulties in Cao Bang province:

The propaganda content of schools often clearly states: practical effectiveness for the school and the students themselves through the level of food support ( each month is equal to 40% of the basic salary and is enjoyed for no more than 9 months/school year/student ), accommodation expenses for students to provide their own accommodation because the school cannot arrange boarding in the school ( each month is supported by 10% of the basic salary and is enjoyed for no more than 9 months/school year/student ), rice support (each month is 15 kg of rice and is enjoyed for no more than 9 months/school year/student); homeroom teachers need to clearly understand the regulations on the documents that students must complete;

The methods and methods of dissemination and propaganda of schools must be practical and effective ( through weekly meetings held by the school, through class meetings of homeroom teachers, through parent-teacher meetings of the class, etc. ) to help all subjects understand the purpose, importance, content and requirements of the policy, thereby enhancing responsibility in organizing the implementation of support policies.

support high school students in especially difficult communes in Cao Bang province.

The results of the survey and assessment of the current status of the dissemination and propaganda of policies to support high school students in extremely disadvantaged communes in Cao Bang province show that: 70% chose the good level; 20% chose the fair level and 10% chose the average level. Thus, it can be seen that the work of propagating and disseminating policies has been paid attention to and effectively implemented to all subjects implementing and benefiting from this policy. This is reflected in the fact that the management staff and homeroom teachers fully understand the purpose, content and regulations in the process of implementing the policy, the beneficiaries of the policy submit complete documents to the school to synthesize, review and report promptly, fully and within the prescribed time so that the Department of Education and Training of Cao Bang province can advise the People's Committee of Cao Bang province to issue a decision approving the number of students enjoying the support policy according to Decree 116/ND-CP of the Government every year. However, there are still some subjects who believe that there should be more effective forms of dissemination and propaganda to all policy implementers and beneficiaries.

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