NA reviews law on unions, education

National Assembly (NA) deputies on Wednesday agreed that it is necessary to make amendments to the Law on Trade Unions to better protect labourers working for private enterprises. — VNA/VNS Photo Phương Hoa

HÀ NỘI — National Assembly (NA) deputies on Wednesday agreed that it is necessary to make amendments to the Law on Trade Unions to better protect labourers working for private enterprises.

Deputy Phạm Minh Chính from Quảng Ninh Province said the number of private enterprises has increased, meaning the number of labourers working for the private sector is now higher than that of the State-owned sector.

The current Law on Trade Unions focuses on protecting rights of State-owned enterprise labourers, but not so much for private sector labourers.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership ( CPTPP) signed by Việt Nam and ten other countries allows labourers to establish their own organisations, which means trade unions will no longer be the only organisations representing workers, Deputy Bùi Văn Cường, President of the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour said, adding that this is a complicated issue, and proposing the NA consider extending the deadline of the law amendments.

Commenting on the law and ordinance building programme of next year and adjustments to the programme this year, deputies pointed out shortcomings in the methods of collecting feedback regarding the implementation of laws.

Deputy Phạm Thị Thu Trang from Quảng Ngãi Province raised questions about quality of feedback, citing that a lot of agencies and organisations only give opinions on laws of their professions and generally agree with laws of other sectors.

"This shortcoming has worsened the quality of draft laws submitted to the NA. Government and NA draft laws compiling committee and investigative agencies must strictly follow regulations of the 2015 Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents when collecting opinions on laws, ordinances and draft resolutions," she said.

Deputy Vương Ngọc Hà from Hà Giang Province said that opinions of people who are directly impacted by the laws have not been mentioned in the documents submitted to NA deputies.

"Deputies do not know who is directly impacted by the laws, how many of these people have had their opinions collected.

"It's essential that we compile laws relevant with practical conditions and thoughts, as well as the expectations of citizens," she said, while proposing detailed regulations on collecting opinions of people directly affected by laws.

NA deputies also agreed the necessity to tighten administrative discipline in the work of law building and clarify the responsibilities of individuals, organisations and agencies which fail to finish the law and ordinance building programme.

According to Chairman of NA Committee for Legal Affairs Nguyễn Khắc Định, the NA Standing Committee decided to adjust the 2018 law and ordinance building programme.

Eight draft laws and one draft resolution will be submitted for approval at the fifth session of 14 ^th NA. The NA deputies will also give opinions on eight other draft laws.

During the NA's sixth meeting, ten draft laws will be submitted for approval. Six other draft laws and a draft resolution of the NA Standing Committee on environmental protection tax will be debated.

Next year's programme will include 18 draft laws and one of the NA's draft resolutions.

Định said that following resolutions of the s ixth plenary session of the 12th – tenure Party Central Committee, at least seven draft laws need to be studied, amended and finalised this year and next year.

These draft laws relate to the organization of the NA, Government, and local administration; as well as the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants; the Law on Public Employees; the Law on State Audit and the Trade Union Law.

He urged the Government, alongside the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour and the State Audit of Việt Nam to work with NA committees to supervise the draft law preparations for the upcoming submission to the NA.

Law on Higher Education

Minister of Education and Training Phùng Xuân Nhạ delivered a report on Monday morning on amendments to the Law on Higher Education. The draft amended law focuses on university autonomy and reforms in training management.

The NA Committee for Culture , Education , Youth and Children, which examined the draft amended law, agreed that the higher education law must be reviewed thoroughly. Key content must be selected for amendments. The law should be amended to meet the requirements of standardisation, modernisation, socialisation and global integration.

The committee said that boosting university autonomy is necessary and in accordance with general trends of higher education. Autonomy should go hand in hand with upholding responsibilities of universities and university management reform, as well as improving the capacity of the university's council.

The committee proposed clarifying definitions of "right  to autonomy" and "autonomy capacity" as well as the necessary conditions to become autonomous.

Phan Thanh Bình, Chairman of the NA Committee for Culture , Education , Youth and Children said that the committee agreed with accurate calculation of training expenses following service fee mechanisms, and that higher education facilities have the right to decide on the fee for training services that do not use State budget.

However, the committee is not in favor of replacing the word "tuition fee" with "training service charge" as proposed in the draft amended law. – VNS