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Tien Phong’s reporter, who acted as a recent university graduate, called T, a well known “broker” of the certificate market and said he needed some certificates. T answered that if buying both informatics and foreign language certificates, buyer would have to pay 200,000 dong. If buying a foreign language certificate only, he would have to pay 120,000 dong, and if buying an informatics certificate, he would have to pay 80,000 dong.  There was even a special offer: Tien Phong’s reporter could enjoy a preferential price of 180,000 dong per couple of certificates (informatics and foreign language) if he purchased three pairs or more.

In an effort to reassure the buyer, T said that the certificates are granted by UIA, a well know institution which has its headquarters in Hanoi. When the reporter said he wanted the certificates granted by the Ministry of Education and Training, T said she would only be able to provide the certificates after 7-10 days, but the prices would be higher at 400,000 dong per certificate.

The Tien Phong’s reporter gave T two 3X4 portrait pictures and his identity card and waited. “No need to worry about the certificates. They are real certificates. Your name will be listed in the records of students, who took training courses at school. The only difference is that you do not have to attend the courses and you do not have to take exams,” T reassured the reporter.

T kept her words. On the next day, she gave the reporter a certificate of informatics skills at B level granted by UIA, for which the reporter had to pay 80,000 dong. The reporter then had the certificate notarized and did not meet any obstacles when getting the certificate notarized.

Purchasing certificates is better than taking exams

When asked if there are many students who seek to purchase certificates, T said: “A lot of people have the demand. Especially, the demand increases sharply after Tet, when students are preparing to finish university and are looking for jobs”.

Having realized the high demand, more and more people have joined the ring of providing certificates. Advertisement pieces have also been posted on Internet, the place where buyers can most easily find the suppliers. Typing “Nhan lam chung chi tieng Anh, tin hoc” (providing English and informatics certificates) on Google will provide 2.4 million results. Some online forums have pointed out that the market near Hanoi National University can provide certificates at the best prices, while buyers do not have to wait long to get the certificates.

The demand for English and informatics certificates is increasingly high on the market because the two kinds of certificates are nearly compulsory for all candidates who apply for jobs.

The service of providing certificates has become so convenient that though many people have the required skills and knowledge pass exams, they would rather buy certificates that attend exams . The problem is that students have to go through many complicated procedures to obtain a certificate granted by the local department of education or the Ministry of Education and Training.

An officer of a foreign language and informatics center in Hanoi said that in order to get certificates, students will have to attend the exams after they finish their training courses. If they want the certificate granted by the Hanoi Education and Training Department, they have to pay 300,000 dong as an exam fee. After that, they have to wait for exams and then wait for more two weeks to get certificates. Meanwhile, people usually want to get certificates as soon as possible and are not willing to wait.

H, a student of the Hanoi Industry University related that he has bought a certificate. “I did not want to sit the exams to get certificates. The procedures were too complicated. Meanwhile, I needed the certificates immediately to apply for jobs. The recruitment campaign would finish before I could get the certificates,” he said.

Source: Tien phong