VietNamNet Bridge – The decision by the Da Nang authorities to reject in-service graduates for employment by state agencies has stirred up the public. While people still argue about the legitimacy of the decision, they agree that it is necessary to reconsider the quality of in-service training.

Experts say Da Nang’s authorities violate the law

Deputy Director of the University Education Department under the Ministry of Education and Training Phan Manh Tien said that no one can discriminate to the degree stipulated in the national education system, including the distance training. Recruitment is the job of the Da Nang’s authorities, but the authorities must not distinguish the degrees of popular and in-service training.  University degrees recognized by law legally have the same value. If Da Nang authorities want to heighten qualifications of the workforce they can organize competitions to choose the best candidates for state agencies, but they must not rely on the degrees.

The Deputy Chair of the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, the Youth and Children Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet that under the current law, there are three subjects who are not be allowed to apply to become state employees, and the three subject do not include those who have in-service training degrees.

Therefore, Thuyet believes that the decision by the Da Nang City’s authorities violates the current law.

Da Nang authorities say “we don’t violate the laws”

Tuoi tre newspaper has quoted Dang Cong Ngu, Director of the Da Nang City’s Department for Home Affairs as saying that the city is trying to improve the qualifications of the staff at state agencies in order to meet the increasingly high requirements of the local government.

Ngu said that the city is expected to receive a large volume of students who will graduate special training courses designed for talented students funded by the city’s budget. The students will be recruited to state agencies. Therefore, there will be no more room for in-service training graduates, who are believed to have inferior qualifications compared to the graduates of popular training courses.

He emphasized that the decision  to not accept in-service graduates is a reasonable decision that fits the current circumstances of the city’s personnel and does not violate the current laws.

Deputy Chief Secretariat of the Da Nang People’s Committee Dao Tan Bang said that the decision has been approved by the city’s Communist Party’s Committee, and that the existing employees at state agencies who have in-service training degrees will still be able to continue working.

Is it the right time to reconsider in-service training?

In Vietnam, in-service training has been facing contempt from society. Many people believe that in-service training is set up at universities just in order to help universities collect money from students, while in-service training courses do not provide high quality training. Some university lecturers even call in-service training their “bread earner”.

On one hand, Thuyet, said that the Da Nang’s authorities are violating the laws, on the other hand, said that it is necessary to admit that the quality of in-service training is too bad.

“The decision by Da Nang’s authorities shows that the quality of in-service training is not reliable,” Thuyet said.

Meanwhile, Le Tan Duy, Director of Da Nang University, has affirmed that the quality of in-service training is in no way inferior to popular training. He said that in some training courses, the percentage of graduates just accounts for 30-50 percent. Employers need to find out if graduates can meet the requirements of the jobs and not try to look at the degrees.

Nguyen Hien