An English class in session at the St Marie Curie High School, Ho Chi Minh City in September.

High school principals will be evaluated and ranked starting this school year under a recent regulation issued by the Ministry of Education and Training.

The areas of competence used for the evaluation will include political quality and professional ethics, professional skills, and school management abilities. A total of 23 sub-criteria under three broad categories will be marked to a maximum of 10 based on relevant evidence.

Principals scoring between 207 and 230 marks in total and at least 8 under each criterion will be ranked “excellent”; those getting at least 161 in total and 6 for each criterion will be ranked “good”; 115 in total and above 0 for each criterion and from five upwards for the criteria under first and third categories will rank “average.”

A “substandard” ranking will accrue to those who score below 115 marks, having one criterion marked 0 or below 5 for any of the first and third categories.

The ministry also requires the principal at high schools nationwide to have good command of at least one foreign language or the language of a minority group in the area where the school is located, and to be proficient in basic IT applications.

The regulations describe a good high school principal as one who is “decisive, innovative, able to make proper decisions and responsible for their decisions.”

The criteria will be marked by the principals themselves, their deputies, officials at the school, other teachers, and head of the agency that directly manages the principal.

Reported by Thanh Ha