Performing the task of state management in education and training, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has been tightening its inspection on partnerships with other countries to host foreign language proficiency exams to ensure the compliance with applicable laws as well as contestants’ rights.
MoET’s inspectors have recently presented its report on a number of units collaborating with international organizations to hold foreign language proficiency exams in Vietnam. Accordingly, before receiving MoET’s permit to organize such an activity, these units had already held various exams, which violates Decree No.86/2018/ND-CP by the Government and Circular No.11/2022/TT-BGDDT by the Minister of Education and Training.
Particularly, on May 8, MoET’s inspectors announced their conclusion over the case of IDP Vietnam Education Co. Ltd., sited at the address of 161-161A Hai Ba Trung Street in District 3 of HCMC. The conclusion clearly states that the act of IDP cooperating with IELTS Australia Pty Ltd to issue more than 56,000 certificates in 2022 was illegal because IDP only received a formal permit to carry out such an action from November 17, 2022.
However, as stated by IDP a day later, those certificates are still recognized by 12,000 organizations worldwide. IDP said that it is going to work with MoET to satisfy all of the latter’s requirements. Before this, many IELTS certificate holders expressed their deep concern over the validity of their papers when having been used last year or to be used for this year’s university admissions.
The Education Quality Management Agency under MoET released Dispatch No.889/QLCL-QLVBCC on June 9, 2023 on guiding the verification of foreign language proficiency certificates and Dispatch No.999/QLCL-QLVBCC on June 15, 2023 on the use of foreign language certificates to exempt foreign language tests in the 2023 high school graduation exam.
This means with verified quality, a foreign language proficiency certificate issued by a unit collaborating with an international organization is valid in compliance with MoET’s regulations on testing, admission, and training. The rights of test certificate holders are not at all affected.
In the upcoming time, the Education Quality Management Agency is going to work with functional agencies to increase their monitoring over activities of units cooperating with international organizations to offer foreign language training, to host foreign language exams, and to issue a foreign language proficiency certificate. This is expected to help detect law violations for prompt handling.
