Vietnam state agency issues English certificates illegally
Over 850 Vietnamese-standard English certificates recently conferred may be withdrawn as the state-run institute which issued them conducted insufficient preparation classes.
The Can Tho City’s education department said the Institute for Southeast Asian Human Resource Development and Training had organized only 40 periods for candidates taking the National B Certificate in English [equivalent to Cambridge’s PET certificate in difficulty ladder] - or one tenth of the required time.
Ho Van Ngo, the department’s deputy director said the institute had “violated administrative stipulations” as the Vietnamese education ministry stated preparation classes for B certificates must comprise at least 400 periods.
Over 1,300 candidates participated in the B-certificate test organized by the institute in April and June this year in Can Tho.
Over 850 of them passed and were later issued the certificates. State officials, doctors and students are among the recipients.
Curiously, nearly 400 others were failed as their answers were “uncannily similar” and their marks too high.
The institute’s acting director Bui Xuan Binh has accepted responsibility and the education department is now seeking a permit to withdraw those certificates.
Earlier, Tuoi Tre journalists had played the role of candidates and participated in the institute-held test. They then found crib sheets all over the room only 30 minutes after the test began.
Vietnam’s three standardized English certificates are the A, B, and C certificates. Being mandatory for students and state officials, the certificates are recognized nationally by state agencies, which often do not consider international certificates.
Vietnam is now amid a series of education scandals involving proctors and teachers receiving money to condone cheating at a graduation exam.
Most recently, several candidates were caught cheating with earpieces hidden under wigs during a university entrance exam, and ensuing investigations revealed an elaborate ring charging money for the high-tech service.
By Hoang Bao - Thanh Nien / Tuoi Tre - July 20, 2006.
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