In yet another effort to improve Vietnam’s education system, MOET, the government’s education and training ministry, has decided to impose a series of fines on those who engage in rule breaking behavior in the education system.
The two main areas where fines will be imposed are on those who cheat in exams and the physical or mental abuse of teachers or students, the government has announced in a decree this week.
Cheating in exams receives special attention in the new decree, with those caught with crib sheets being liable for fines up to 2 million VND, whilst those who assist exam candidates can be fined up to 3 million VND. In the case of impersonators sitting exams for genuine candidates, the fines can be up to 5 million VND.
Part of the decree attempts to ensure the physical and mental welfare of students and teachers with fines of up to 10 million VND being imposed for teachers caught mentally or physically hurting their students as well as a possible 6 month suspension from their work.
The same monetary fines will be imposed on students or parents who physically or mentally abuse teachers or other personnel working in the education sector.
K-12 schools will be punished with fines of up to 6 million VND for employing sub-par teaching staff whereas colleges and universities will receive higher fines of up to 10 million for similar misdemeanors.
Fines of up to 20 million VND are reserved for those institutions cooperating with international partners who fail to ensure that academic staffs hired meet the national qualifications and foreign language requirements.
The decree will be in effect as of December 10 this year; however, educationalists remain unsure whether this will in fact have the desired impact and visibly improve the Vietnamese education system.
[Tuoi Tre]
