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

Have a PhD but no high school diploma, how to deal with it?

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, the department coordinated with the inspection team to review all records including the list of candidates who graduated from supplementary high school and the list of names and scores of all candidates who took the exam on June 6, 1989.

At the end of the inspection process, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training confirmed the results of the review of the high school graduation exam records of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet, born in 1959, as follows:

Not on the list of candidates and the list of names and scores in the 1989 high school cultural supplementary graduation exam of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City.

Not on the list of high school diploma certificates awarded on June 6, 1989 by the City Department of Education and Training.

According to Clause 3, Article 20, Circular 08/2021/TT-BGDDT dated March 18, 2021 of the Ministry of Education and Training promulgating regulations on university training, it is stipulated that: "Students who use fake records, diplomas, and certificates as admission or graduation conditions will be forced to drop out of school; graduation diplomas, if already granted, will be revoked or canceled".

Point a, Clause 3, Article 16, Circular 23/2021/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training promulgating the regulations on enrollment and training for master's degrees stipulates: "Students who violate one of the following regulations will be forced to drop out of school; the master's degree, if granted, will be revoked or canceled according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training: committing fraud in enrollment, studying, defending thesis, project or cheating in preparing documents to be granted a degree or certificate".

Thus, according to the law, if an individual uses a fake high school diploma, his or her university degree and master's degree will be revoked.

According to Clause b, Article 21, Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT dated June 28, 2021 of the Ministry of Education and Training promulgating regulations on doctoral training stipulates: if a doctoral student has been awarded a doctoral degree, the revocation of the degree is carried out according to current regulations and in the following cases:

- The training process records are confirmed to have serious violations and 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.

- Copying or quoting incorrectly in the thesis and the evaluation council concludes that if the copied or quoted parts are removed, the thesis does not meet the requirements of this regulation; the doctoral student's thesis will not be approved by the evaluation council according to regulations.

What does Hanoi Law University say?

Talking to Tuoi Tre Online on the morning of August 13 about how to handle Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's bachelor's and doctoral degrees granted by Hanoi Law University if the high school diploma is fake, Mr. To Van Hoa, vice principal of Hanoi Law University, said that the school will follow the conclusions and instructions of the competent authority.

Previously, Hanoi Law University officially informed about the doctoral training process of student Vuong Tan Viet (ie Venerable Thich Chan Quang).

According to Hanoi Law University, student Vuong Tan Viet was born in 1959. Before applying for the doctoral program, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English in 2001 from the University of Foreign Languages ​​(now Hanoi University); and graduated with a bachelor's degree in law in 2019 from Hanoi Law University (second degree, part-time program).

Regarding Mr. Vuong Tan Viet's doctoral training time, according to Hanoi Law University, the doctoral student completed the training program.

The doctoral student's thesis is proposed by the professional unit to be evaluated by the school-level thesis evaluation council; the doctoral student's thesis is approved by independent reviewers.

On October 3, 2021, the doctoral student submitted a request to shorten the training period. The request was to defend the thesis at the school level and was approved by the school (according to the provisions of Circular 08/2017 and Decision 261/QD-DHLHN - which does not specifically stipulate the minimum and maximum shortened training period).

On November 1, 2021, the school issued a decision to establish a school-level doctoral thesis defense council for graduate student Vuong Tan Viet.

On December 9, 2021, the doctoral student successfully defended his thesis at the school level; on March 17, 2022, the doctoral student was awarded a doctoral degree.