The decision was made at the Secretariat’s meeting under the chair of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Hanoi on October 24.

The Secretariat held that the MoET’s Party Civil Affairs Board in the 2016 - 2021 tenure violated the democratic centralism principle and working regulations, while lacking a sense of responsibility and showing lax leadership that enabled the MoET and some collectives and individuals to infringe the Party’s rules and the State’s laws in personnel affairs. The board let many irregularities occur in the making and promulgation of regulations and policies; the implementation of some public investment projects; the compilation, assessment, publication, and distribution of textbooks; and the organisation of the national high school exams in 2018 and 2021.

Those responsible have been disciplined and faced criminal proceedings.

While serving as a member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the MoET’s Party Civil Affairs Board and Minister, Phung Xuan Nha, who is currently Vice Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education, held the main responsibility for the wrongdoings committed by the board during 2016 - 2021, and was also directly responsible for the performance of assigned duties.

The wrongdoings by the MoET’s Party Civil Affairs Board in the 2016-2021 tenure and Nha caused “serious consequences”, affected the implementation of the Party Central Committee’s resolution on education and training, and posed a risk of losses and wastefulness to the State asset and social resources, thus stirring public concern, according to the Secretariat.

At the meeting, officials also looked into irregularities and issued disciplinary measures for two former officials from Khanh Hoa province and another from Hoa Binh province.

The Secretariat requested authorities impose administrative penalties for the abovementioned individuals in line with the Party’s actions in a timely manner./. VNA