Vietnam - Serious principle violations found in joint training programs

VietNamNet Bridge – Government inspectors, after examining the joint training programs carried out from 2006 to 2010, discovered that 46.5 percent of the programs under the mode of in-service training were run without the permission of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET).

>> Students are the biggest victims of illegal joint training programs

The report by government inspectors showed that the most popular violations in joint training programs between Vietnamese universities and foreign partners were that the schools required additional tuitions for non-school hours, spontaneously set up enrolment fees and did not follow the accounting principles.

Prestigious schools also broke the laws

The notices about the enrolment plan of the VInh City University and Hanoi Open University completely did not comprise the information about the examination fees and the tuitions for training courses.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi University of Technology, when signing contracts on joint training programs, did not define the sums of money to be collected from students.

In the period from 2006 to 2010, MOET did not fix the concrete tuitions for joint training programs. As a result, Vietnamese schools spontaneously negotiated with the foreign partners on profit sharing, then decided the tuitions imposed on learners. This explains why the schools set up very high tuitions for some joint training programs.

The joint programs to train masters run by the Hanoi Economics University and a Dutch partner was considered the cheapest joint training course, where learners had to pay 3500 dollars. The highest tuition level was applied to the joint training program provided by the Hanoi Economics University, 13,500 dollars per training course. Meanwhile, the average level is between 8000 dollars and 10,000 dollars.

The government inspectors had found that 46.5 percent (195/419) of the programs under the mode of in-service training were still run even though they were not licensed by MOET. 54 out of 419 programs had the classrooms located in under-standard places, while five schools reportedly enrolled the number of students higher than the allowed level.

The archive records at the Vinh University of Education did not have the list of candidates who attended the exams. Especially, the Economics University, an arm of the Hanoi National University allowed students to make minor thesis instead of dissertation.

Loosened management is the biggest problem

Deputy Government Chief Inspector Nguyen Van San has said that schools have been given autonomy in setting up their financial policies. However, as they have been only trying to attract as more students as possible, which helps increase the income, a lot of violations were made during the training.

Meanwhile, MOET did not set up timely and reasonable regulations on the management over joint training programs. It’s a pity that Vietnamese leading universities like the Hanoi Economics University, the Hanoi University of Technology, the HCM City Economics University and Da Nang University, have cooperated with less prestigious foreign partners.

According to Deputy Government Chief Inspector Nguyen Van San, MOET has been requested to inspect the international joint training program. The inspection report must be submitted to the government prior to December 31.

A lot of illegal joint training programs have been found, and some of them have been forced to stop operation.

Every time, when the frauds are discovered, MOET usually orders to stop enrolment, requests the trainers to reimburse tuitions to learners and asks its Examination and Accreditation Department not to recognize the degrees to be licensed by the programs. However, in most cases, it is learners, who are the biggest sufferers.

Source: NLD

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