Mr. Duong The Hao after the trial was adjourned - Photo: T.HOANG
The trial of Mr. Duong The Hao suing the National Economics University (now National Economics University) for keeping his diploma for 25 years was opened by the People's Court of Hai Ba Trung District (Hanoi) on May 6 after many postponements and unsuccessful mediations.
Since early morning, Mr. Hao brought a leather briefcase containing many files and documents related to the lawsuit to the court. This 66-year-old man said that the difficulty in walking was the result of a stroke after the appeal hearing in 2019, when he sued the school for changing the graduation year on the diploma issued by the National Economics University.
"With my records held, I live like a homeless person"
The defendant in this case is the National Economics University, with Mr. Pham Hong Chuong (the school's principal) as the legal representative. However, the school authorized a lawyer to attend the trial on its behalf.
During the interrogation, Mr. Hao changed his compensation request from 36 billion (according to the lawsuit) to 44 billion VND because he believed that the school kept his diploma for 25 years and kept his documents for 30 years, "causing a lot of damage" to him both economically and mentally.
According to the court, in 1977, Mr. Hao joined the army and served four years at the Technical Department of the Air Defense - Air Force. After leaving the army in 1981, he passed the economics entrance exam of the University of Planning and Economics (the predecessor of today's National Economics University), class of 1984.
In 1989, he completed his graduation exams with all subjects, received a certificate of graduation and waited for his degree. After completing the course, Mr. Hao did not receive his diploma and many important personal documents.
He was the deputy director of an industrial cooperative and ran for acting director of another company. Because he did not have a university degree to submit to the company, he could not continue to hold the position.
Mr. Hao said that the National Economics University keeping his diploma caused a series of consequences and damages to himself, such as not being able to complete procedures for marriage registration, birth registration, and sending his children to public schools in Hanoi . He also could not access jobs, buy real estate, did not enjoy preferential treatment for demobilized soldiers, and had no opportunity for promotion.
Mr. Hao said he lives like "a homeless person, without an ID card or passport, unable to go abroad, unable to buy or sell real estate, has money to start a business but cannot put his name on it."
"Before filing a lawsuit, what actions did you take against the school?" - the judge asked.
"Honestly, now that I think about it, I feel discouraged. I traveled a lot, frequently going to the school to contact people with positions and authority. Every year I went to the school many times to ask, because the company also urged me to get a degree, but there were no results," Mr. Hao confided.
It was not until 2019 that Mr. Hao received his university degree from the National Economics University, after filing a lawsuit and going through five conciliation sessions. At the trial, because the school returned the diploma, the court decided to suspend the settlement of the administrative case.
What does the school say?
Representing the school in the trial, lawyer Tran Hong Phuc presented many arguments affirming that the National Economics University "did not keep Mr. Hao's degree" as alleged. The lawyer presented several documents stating that Mr. Hao was originally a student of the 26th industrial class (1984-1988). However, during his studies, he was held back and transferred to the 27th class.
Regarding the reason why Mr. Hao was not considered for graduation in 1989, the lawyer said that Mr. Hao violated the exam regulations, leading to the temporary suspension of graduation recognition. According to regulations, students who violate such regulations can be suspended for 1-2 years.
However, it was not until 1994, after 5 years, that Mr. Hao was included in the graduation recognition list. Explaining this long delay, the representative said that the school could not find any documents related to Mr. Hao submitting his graduation application in 1989. It was not until 1994 that the school recorded Mr. Hao's name on the graduation recognition list.
The lawyer continued to affirm that "it was not until 2017 that Mr. Hao sent a letter to the school asking if he could issue a diploma and retrieve his documents." The school held a meeting to assign a staff member in charge to directly search and found Mr. Hao's documents "in a cabinet slot."
The delay in returning the documents, according to the lawyer, was due to "objective reasons". During that time, the school continuously changed locations, many staff members retired or passed away, and managing the documents encountered many difficulties.
"According to regulations, students must proactively come to the school to request a graduation certificate, but there is no announcement?" - the chairman questioned.
The lawyer asserted that students must proactively request the school to issue a diploma depending on their job requirements. The principle is beneficial to the students, the school will reserve the results until the student contacts the school to request a diploma.
"From 1994 to 2017, Mr. Hao did not make any contact with the school. It was not until 2017 that a letter was sent to the school asking if he could get a diploma. Therefore, it was not until 2019 that the school first issued a diploma to Mr. Hao," the lawyer said, adding that the plaintiff's compensation requests were "baseless."
After questioning both the plaintiff and the defendant, the presiding judge said that the content of Mr. Hao's initial petition and his presentation in court had many differences.
Notably, the amount of compensation requested by Mr. Hao was increased from more than 36 billion to nearly 44 billion VND, a very large difference. The presiding judge requested that Mr. Hao provide a detailed assessment table, clarifying the basis of each compensation amount so that the panel of judges could have a basis for full and strict consideration and evaluation, so the trial was temporarily suspended.
Former student claims never heard of "being disciplined by the school"
Before the jury adjourned the trial, Mr. Hao asked to present a "small opinion." He said he was "surprised" when he heard the lawyer say he had been disciplined by the school.
"I was the deputy class monitor for six semesters, a member of the school's reward council, and an excellent student for five semesters, but now they say I was disciplined, citing some document saying my degree was suspended," Mr. Hao said and asked the school to provide related documents.
In response to the above opinion, the presiding judge interrupted to announce that the relevant documents had been submitted to the trial panel, and that the plaintiff had the right to request a copy of the entire case file. Despite the trial panel's explanation, Mr. Hao still claimed that he was requesting disclosure in court, "so there was no need to make a request".
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bi-cuu-sinh-vien-kien-doi-44-ti-dh-kinh-te-quoc-dan-noi-gi-20250506222825366.htm
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