VietNamNet Bridge – More and more “big bosses” try to obtain master degrees to “upgrade” their curriculum vitas. However, they don’t have go to class, because they have someone doing this for them.

When asked about his daily schedule, a university student said he is always very busy, because he not only has to go to his classes every morning, but also has to attend the evening classes for an acquaintance.

The student seems to be happy with the extra job – going to class to answer the roll call for other people. He said he can earn a “satisfactory sum of money” from the job, while he can also receive useful knowledge from the training course, free of charge.

In general, schools organize evening classes for in-service learners, because they have to go to work in the daytime. Therefore, university students can completely take the extra job to make money.

However, going to class for others seems to be a hard job. The above said student said he always has to bend down of shyness when the lecturers leave the hall and go towards the students.

“I have been good at learning. But I dare not raise questions to the lecturers or hold my head high,” he said.

“I am afraid the lecturers discover that I am not the learner of the class and I just go to class for another person,” he added.

Meanwhile, a student from the Hanoi National University said he does not want to go to class for others, but he has to. The man he has to “help” is the director of the garment company where he is experiencing the internship. Therefore, he needs to do all the things he can to satisfy the “boss.” If he doesn’t, he would have no opportunity to finish school with good degree.

“The boss is going to retire next year, but he still wants a master degree before the retirement,” he explained.

“I am just a university aged person, while my boss was born in early 1960s. So you can see my appearance is quite different from that of a man aged over 50. I think the lecturers would discover the cheating when they look into my face,” he complained.

There are many reasons that make the real learners hesitate to go to class. The boss of the student, for example, does not want to go to class not because he is too busy with his works, but simply because he’d rather spend time on relax than on learning.

Meanwhile, female bosses sometimes don’t want to go to class in their pregnancy.  

Hien, a woman, revealed that she has a girl going to class every day for her for the last several months. Hien initially intended to attend the in-service class to obtain a master degree. However, as she has got pregnant, she would rather to spend VND800,000 a month to hire a girl who studies for her.

Going to class for others has become a very popular service. A lecturer who asked to be anonymous, said that 1/3 of the learners at her class are not the real learners. The majority of the registered learners are aged 40 or 50, but there are only young and inexperienced faces in the class.

Tien Phong