Late this afternoon, August 13, speaking with Thanh Nien Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Director of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Education and Training), said that the initial verification results of the Ministry of Education and Training showed that the suspicion about the value of the high school diploma of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet, aka Venerable Thich Chan Quang, was well-founded.

Working with security agencies to further clarify.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, recently, when there was information about Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's diploma, the Ministry of Education and Training requested relevant units and educational institutions to report. The Ministry of Education and Training simultaneously conducted a review, inspection, verification and coordination to clarify information and evidence in the spirit and principle of being thorough, careful, and in compliance with legal regulations.

Currently, public opinion is basing on the document of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training responding to the Government Committee for Religious Affairs to assume that Mr. Vuong Tan Viet does not have a high school diploma, or has not graduated from high school. However, the important point that needs to be clarified is whether the information on the diploma that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training has verified is correct.

The Ministry of Education and Training has received information and a response from the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, as well as checked the records in the archives of the Ministry of Education and Training more than a month ago, with initial information that Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's name was not on the list of candidates for the exam and the list of people awarded high school diplomas in 1989 by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.

The Ministry of Education and Training has initially verified that the suspicion about the value of this diploma is well-founded. However, the Ministry of Education and Training still needs to continue to coordinate with the authorities and security agencies to investigate and clarify other important information. First of all, verify whether it is indeed Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's diploma with such information or not. Second, if the information on the above diploma does not match the information on the diploma owned by Mr. Vuong Tan Viet, it is necessary to continue to clarify through other channels.

Independent review of Mr. Viet's doctoral thesis is underway.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, the Ministry of Education and Training has inspected and verified Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's training records at Hanoi Law University. The training records are basically not contrary to the legal regulations applicable to the case of student Vuong Tan Viet. The records show some shortcomings in the training process but have been overcome during that training process.

The next step that the Ministry of Education and Training is taking is to send independent reviewers to assess the quality of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's doctoral thesis, according to current regulations on doctoral training. Based on the assessment results, the Ministry of Education and Training will establish a thesis assessment council in accordance with regulations. This process will take more time to organize and implement.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy said: "The Ministry of Education and Training is a state management agency, making decisions and handling must be careful, in compliance with legal regulations. Besides, in the process of verifying the incident, there was information that was not allowed to be published without sufficient grounds. The Ministry of Education and Training has proactively coordinated with relevant agencies to have clear and certain information before the competent agency makes an official announcement."