Need to quickly resolve the problem of granting degrees to college students in Nghe An who have completed their study program

Related to64 students from colleges in Nghe An provincehave completed the program for a long time but have not yet taken the graduation exam, on January 13, 2023, a leader of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An province said that the reason is that they are still waiting for the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to review, compare and re-evaluate the training program. Not only 2 schools in Nghe An, but 45 colleges nationwide are also in the same situation. These are classes in the training program transferred by Germany under Project 371.

According to the reporter's investigation, on October 17, 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting on resolving problems related to granting Vietnamese college degrees to students who have completed the program transferred by Germany, according to Decision No. 371/QD-TTg dated February 28, 2013 of the Prime Minister approving the Project "Transfer of program sets; training and fostering of teachers and vocational training managers; pilot training of key occupations at the ASEAN and international levels" for the period 2012 - 2015 and Decisions amending and supplementing Decision No. 371.

After listening to the report of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the opinions of the delegates attending the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies and training institutions to assess the compatibility of the program and training content for recognition, mutual recognition or exemption conditions when considering organizing exams and granting degrees to students in accordance with the authority and regulations of Vietnamese law. Report clearly which competent authority in Germany has assessed that this training program meets the standards and conditions and review this "Cooperation Agreement", clearly stating the agency, the agreement partner as well as the level of commitment of the agreement and the obligations to be implemented.

The Deputy Prime Minister also agreed with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on the need to promptly resolve problems related to the granting of Vietnamese college degrees to students who have completed the program transferred by Germany on the basis of complying with the criteria, standards and regulations of Vietnamese law, respecting international relations and cooperation, and the legitimate and legal interests of students.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assigned the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to urgently preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies to review the overall implementation of the Project, clarify existing problems and difficulties to promptly and proactively handle them according to authority and regulations, ensuring the principle that violations (if any) must be strictly handled, while minimizing negative impacts on teaching, training and international cooperation; propose and report to the Prime Minister on issues beyond authority.

Previously, Nghe An Newspaper received feedback from many parents about their children studying in college classes, although they had finished the program a long time ago, they had not been able to take the graduation exam to get a degree to apply for a job. In particular, at Vietnam - Korea Industrial Technical College, there were 2 classes with 32 students who had completed the program, expected to take the graduation exam from April 2023 but received a request to temporarily stop. Meanwhile, at Nghe An College of Tourism and Commerce, students had finished the program in 2022 but until now are still waiting for the graduation exam.

Mr. Ho Van Dam - Principal of Vietnam - Korea Industrial Technical College said that these are classes in the pilot training program for college level for 22 key international occupations of the General Department of Vocational Education, under the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs.

“In 2019, we and many other vocational colleges signed a contract with the General Department of Vocational Education to take responsibility for training. When participating in this pilot training, schools will receive teacher training, receive program sets, and invest in training facilities according to German standards. Qualified graduates will be granted 2 degrees according to German and Vietnamese regulations, meeting the demand for high-quality labor in the context of international integration and can work in Germany,” said Mr. Dam.

According to the signed contract, the training period is 3.5 years. To train 32 students in 2 classes, the Vietnam - Korea Industrial Technical College has been committed by the General Department of Vocational Education to pay nearly 6.4 billion VND. Equivalently, training each student costs about 200 million VND. All from the State budget.

“However, when the students finished their studies, the General Department of Vocational Education proposed to suspend them and not allow them to take the graduation exam. This is not the school’s fault, because we are only responsible for training,” said Principal Ho Van Dam.

In the document sent to colleges, the General Department of Vocational Education did not specify the reason for suspending the training program, but only said, "During the process of organizing the pilot training of 22 occupations transferred from Germany, some difficulties and unavoidable problems arose that were beyond the control of the General Department of Vocational Education and are waiting for the competent authority to resolve and handle them..."./.