VietNamNet Bridge – Overseas study consultancy firms have been
mushrooming, while they do not have to pursue any regulations and do not bear
the management of any state management agencies.
Who to claim for?
According to www.globalvisas.com,
Vietnam ranks eighth among the 10 countries which have the highest numbers of
students studying abroad. Despite the efforts by domestic universities to join
forces with foreign schools to provide international education right in
Vietnam, students still prefer going abroad.
The increasingly high demand for
studying abroad has led to the establishment of a lot of overseas study
consultancy firms or centers throughout the country.
However, the firms have not been
controlled by any state management agencies. As a result, a lot of students and
their families have become the victims of the bad services or the fraud
committed by the firms. Meanwhile, they have not been protected by the laws.
Hong Khanh, a parent in Tan Binh
district in HCM City, said she signed a contract with V.E Company headquartered
in Phu Nhuan district, under which V. E was in charge of following necessary
procedures for Khanh’s daughter, so that the girl can obtain a visa and enroll
in a school in the US.
The contract said Khanh had to
pay 300 dollars to have the administrative formalities done within three
months.
The firm then asked Khanh to pay
2500 dollars more for the procedures to obtain the visa. Later, Khanh was told
to pay another 6000 dollars also for the visa. However, despite the big sum of
money, Khanh’s daughter still could not get visa.
Khanh many times came to the head
office of the firm to claim back the money she paid. However, after a lot of
exertion, Khanh has just taken back a half of the sum of money she spent.
Who has the power?
The currently valid Decree No.
115 stipulates that local education departments are in charge of managing
overseas study consultancy firms. However, it does not clearly stipulate the
rights and the responsibilities of the departments.
The legal document only shows a
general provision that the departments have the responsibility of assisting
provincial people’s committees to undertake the state management over the
organizations which provide the services of brining Vietnamese students abroad
to study under the self-sufficient mode.
Therefore, no overseas study
consultancy firm thinks that they have to submit operation reports to the local
education departments, while the departments don’t have any information about
the firms.
Under the current laws, local
planning and investment departments have the function of licensing overseas
study consultancy firms which, during their operation, have to bear the
management of the local education departments.
Meanwhile, local departments,
which don’t understand about their rights, many times asked to clarify the
issue. However, the issue remains unclear.
In 2010, the HCM City Education
and Training Department sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Education and
Training to consult with the ministry on the draft regulation on the overseas
study management in HCM City. However, the department was told to wait some
more time, because the ministry itself was drafting a legal document on the issue.
However, the ministry did not say
how much more time the city education department, students and their parents
have to wait.
DNSG
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