MHA has sent the draft decree on civil servant training and development to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for review, which includes several new provisions on postgraduate training conditions.

In addition to regulations on service length, the draft decree stipulates that civil servants sent for postgraduate training must not exceed 45 years of age at the time of their first training assignment. Currently, the maximum age for civil servants sent for postgraduate training is 40.

Additionally, civil servants must commit to performing duties at their agency or unit after completing the training program for a period of at least three times the duration of the training.

MHA said raising the age limit to 45 and extending the work commitment period aligns with the extended retirement age as stipulated in the 2019 Labor Code.

These changes aim to ensure sufficiently strong measures to retain civil servants at agencies or units that sponsor their training after they complete their courses.

Regarding intermediate (2-year training), junior college (3-year), and university (4-5-year) training for commune-level civil servants who are ethnic minorities or work in mountainous, border, island, remote, ethnic minority, or particularly disadvantaged areas, some changes have been proposed.

According to the 2025 Law on Cadres and Civil Servants (to be passed by the National Assembly), civil servants (including commune-level civil servants who are ethnic minorities or work in mountainous, border, island, remote, ethnic minority, or particularly disadvantaged areas) must meet professional training standards (from university level upward) and immediately fulfill the requirements of the job position they are recruited for.

At the same time, the requirements for the qualifications and quality of civil servants in public service activities are increasingly high, so MHA proposed not stipulating the content of training at intermediate, college and university levels in the draft decree.

MHA also proposed a transitional provision in the decree: For commune-level civil servants currently undergoing intermediate, college, or university training under Decree No101/2017, if the competent authority plans to assign them to a position suitable for their training level, they will continue to receive training-related benefits and policies until they complete their training as regulated.

However, if commune-level civil servants in training are covered by Decree No178 and Decree No 67, they will no longer receive training-related benefits and policies under this decree.

Nguyen Thao