VietNamNet Bridge – Officials who passed the entry test to work in the Competition Administration Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in 2013 may be fired for cheating on the test.

Some applicants, including a relative of the department's deputy head, were aware of the test's contents prior to the examination day, a police investigation last year concluded.

That conclusion was backed by inspectors from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), who reported that the department failed to keep the contents of the test secret and publicise the results. The department also delayed handling complaints about the test.

Therefore, the inspectors asked Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang to nullify all results.

Out of the 299 applicants who took the test, only ten passed. The results of three were nullified after the police investigation.

Unqualified boards

The inspectors also reported that 11 out of 16 public servant entry tests conducted by the MoIT in the past three years violated regulations, failing to publicise results or provide sufficient information.

The recruitment boards of seven tests were unqualified while one-third of the tests failed to provide records of the marking stage.

The inspectors asked the MoIT to establish councils to assess the work performance of officials recruited on the basis of those tests. Officials failing to meet requirements would be dismissed from their posts.

A report on the councils' work is expected to be submitted to the MoHA in March.

VNS