VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese students studying at the universities in Russia under the inter-government agreements have complained that they still have not received the stipend which should have come three months ago.

The students told Mot The Gioi reporters that they have been looking forward for the second payment of the stipend in 2013.

Under the current regulations set by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), the students studying at foreign universities under the inter-government agreements, receive stipends two times a year.

The money is disbursed right after the Vietnam International Education Development Department receives periodic reports from overseas students and the reports from training establishments about the students’ study records.

However, in October 2013, a lot of overseas students in Russia had to send letters to Vietnam, requesting to remit the stipends. The students complained that the delay in stipend payment has put big difficulties for their lives and studies. They said they have to fasten their belt, having gruel instead of cooked rice. However, they would not exist for a long time if stipends do not come soon.

Also according to the overseas students in Russia, on October 23, they received a dispatch from the International Education Development Department, which said that students have to re-write their study result reports.

“Under the new regulations, overseas students need to report their study results while student groups’ heads need to email the scanned copies of students’ documents to the department and the students’ affairs division. The documents need to be scanned in the form of pdf files and attached to emails,” the dispatch read.

“The content of the dispatch shows that overseas students have to re-write their study reports, and it is highly possible that the stipend would only come in December 2013 instead of August or September as usual,” a student said.

He went on to say that the students should have been informed about the requirement to re-write reports sooner, so that they can receive stipends on schedule.

Also according to overseas students, on October 25, the representative of the International Education Development Department sent a letter to the heads of student groups about the stipend, informing that the department is hurrying up to fulfill procedures to remit money.

It affirmed that the procedures of the students, who submitted reports, have been completed and forwarded to the treasury.

The representative has promised to do everything it can to ask the treasury to give stipend to the remaining students. The documents would be sent to the treasury early next month, so that all overseas students can get stipend in November.

On October 30, Head of the International Education Development Department Nguyen Xuan Vang, answering the reporters’ questions through email, said he has asked the overseas students’ affairs division to report the stipend delivery.

“It is necessary to check the information. A lot of students received stipends a long time ago,” Vang said.

However, on October 31, the students in eight cities Tomsk, Voronezh, Tula, Saint Petersburg, Volgograd, Tamvob, Belgorod and Astrakhan said they still did not receive stipends. Some students in Moscow received the stipend, but many others have not. Especially, a student in Moscow said the stipend is $20-30 lower than usual.

Mot The Gioi