Diplomas that have been granted will be revoked or canceled.

Regarding administrative sanctions, those who use diplomas and educational certificates in violation of regulations will be punished according to the provisions of Decree No. 04/2021 of the Government.

Depending on the specific behavior, users may be fined for fraudulent acts in obtaining diplomas, certificates or copies of diplomas, certificates with a fine of 30 million to 40 million VND or for using diplomas, certificates that have been erased or altered to distort the content with a fine of 5 - 10 million VND.

For the act of using fake diplomas, there is currently no regulation on the level of administrative penalty, therefore, all acts of using fake diplomas will be considered for criminal prosecution for the crime of forging seals and documents of agencies and organizations; the crime of using fake seals or documents of agencies and organizations in Article 341 of the Penal Code 2015 (amended 2017).

The law specifically defines that the act of using a fake seal or document of an agency or organization to carry out a certain act is of course an illegal act.

Depending on the severity, users of fake documents can be fined from 30 to 100 million VND, sentenced to non-custodial reform for up to 3 years, or imprisoned for 6 months to 7 years. When the main penalty is not a fine, the offender can also be fined from 5 to 50 million VND.

"The Ministry of Education and Training has issued many sets of regulations on admission and training for bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. The regulations of these sets of regulations clearly state that if students commit fraud in preparing documents to obtain degrees and certificates (using fake degrees in their registration documents), they will be forced to drop out of school, and any degrees that have been granted will be revoked or canceled according to regulations," Mr. Hau emphasized.

Not on the list of candidates for high school graduation exam

The Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has a document reporting to the Government Committee for Religious Affairs - Ministry of Home Affairs about verifying the high school diploma of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet (Venerable Thich Chan Quang).

According to the Department, on July 30, the Department had a working session with the inspection team of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs - Ministry of Home Affairs to verify the learning process of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet.

The Department of Education and Training confirmed the results of the review of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's (born in 1959) high school graduation exam records as follows: his name was not on the list of candidates and the score sheet in the 1989 supplementary high school graduation exam of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City; his name was not on the list of candidates granted supplementary high school graduation certificates for the course of June 6, 1989 of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.

Meanwhile, Mr. To Van Hoa - Vice Principal of Hanoi Law University - said that if Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's high school diploma is fake, the school will follow the conclusion and direction of the competent authority to handle Mr. Viet's bachelor's and doctoral degrees granted by the school.

No high school diploma, no higher education

Dr. Nguyen Duc Nghia - former vice director of Ho Chi Minh City National University - said: "Logically, if a person does not graduate (does not have a diploma) at this level, he/she cannot study (and take exams) at a higher level (national education system framework and national qualifications framework). So of course, if he/she does not have a high school diploma, he/she cannot study at university, then at master's and doctorate level".

The university training regulations issued with Circular 08/2021 of the Ministry of Education and Training stipulate that learners who use fake records, diplomas, and certificates as admission or graduation conditions will be forced to drop out of school, and their graduation diplomas, if granted, will be revoked and canceled.

The Master's degree admission and training regulations also clearly state that students who violate one of the following regulations will be forced to leave school, and their Master's degree, if granted, will be revoked and annulled according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training: committing fraud in admission, studying, defending thesis, project or cheating in preparing documents to be granted a degree or certificate.

According to the regulations on doctoral training and admission, if a doctoral student has been awarded a doctoral degree, the revocation of the degree will be carried out according to current regulations and in cases where the training process records are confirmed to have serious violations or errors, leading to the degree holder no longer being able to meet the requirements for admission, recognition of doctoral students and maintaining quality assurance conditions during the learning and research process at the training institution.

Thus, those who use a fake high school diploma to study at university will have their university degree revoked. Those who use that university degree to study for a master's degree will have both their master's and university degrees revoked. Those who use that master's degree to study for a doctorate will have their doctorate, master's degree, and university degree revoked.