Decentralization in Educational Management under Vietnam’s Two-Tier Local Government System: Theoretical Foundations and a Competency Framework for Educational Administrators
Main Article Content
Abstract
The transition to a two-tier local government model in Vietnam since 2025 has significantly reshaped the governance structure of general education, particularly with the removal of the intermediary administrative level represented by district-level Departments of Education and Training. This transformation not only shortens chains of command but also increases demands for institutional autonomy, intersectoral coordination, and accountability among educational institutions and local authorities. This study adopts a qualitative research approach, drawing on policy and legal document analysis, as well as a systematic review of theoretical frameworks on educational decentralization and school leadership in decentralized contexts. Thereby, the paper elucidates the theoretical underpinnings of educational decentralization within the new institutional setting and proposes an adaptive competency framework for educational administrators, comprising five core pillars: (1) strategic leadership and system governance; (2) legal governance and decentralization management; (3) instructional leadership autonomy; (4) risk management and accountability; and (5) community engagement and intersectoral collaboration. This framework contributes to strengthening the theoretical and empirical basis for reforming the training, professional development, evaluation, and deployment of educational administrators during the transition to a two-tier local government model in Vietnam.
Keywords
Accountability, competency framework, decentralization in educational management, educational administrators, school autonomy, two-tier local government system
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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