British Council issues more than 90,000 English certificates in violation of regulations

Candidates taking the IELTS test organized by the British Council (Photo: British Council)

The Ministry of Education and Training has just concluded an inspection of the joint organization of exams and granting of foreign language proficiency certificates in Vietnam with the British Council Vietnam Limited Liability Company.

According to the inspection conclusion, from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, the British Council jointly organized exams and issued 45,679 Aptis English certificates and 58,414 IELTS English certificates nationwide.

Of which, from January 1, 2022 to September 9, 2022, when the Ministryof Education and Training had not yet approved the joint exam organization, the British Council had jointly organized 343 exams, issuing 31,871 Aptis English certificates; organized 393 paper-based IELTS exams, issuing 33,196 certificates and 589 computer-based IELTS exams, issuing 11,149 certificates.

A total of 76,216 English language certificates including Aptis and IELTS were issued by the British Council during this period.

The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training affirmed: From January 1, 2022 to September 9, 2022, British Council Limited Company conducted joint organization of exams, issued Aptis certificates and IELTS certificates in Vietnam, violating the provisions of Articles 21, 22 and 23 of Decree 86/2018/ND-CP dated June 6, 2018 of the Government .

Next, in the period from September 10, 2022 to the date approved by the Ministry of Education and Training to jointly organize English certificate exams, the British Council will continue to jointly organize exams to issue 6,046 Aptis certificates (before November 10, 2022) and 8,219 IELTS certificates (before November 17, 2022). The total of both types is 14,265 certificates.

The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training concluded: From September 10, 2022 to the date permitted by the Ministry of Education and Training, British Council Limited Company's joint organization of exams, issuance of Aptis certificates and IELTS certificates in Vietnam is a violation of the provisions of Circular No. 11/2022/TT-BGDDT dated July 26, 2022 of the Ministry of Education and Training and Article 21 of Decree 86/2018/ND-CP dated June 6, 2018 of the Government.

In total, for both periods from January 1, 2022 to November 10, 2022 (for Aptis certificates) and November 17, 2022 (for IELTS certificates), British Council Vietnam Limited Company illegally issued 90,481 certificates, including 52,564 IELTS certificates.

Proposing measures to rectify management work, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training requested the British Council (Vietnam) Limited Company to review all activities of the Company in linking to foreign language proficiency certification exams in Vietnam, in accordance with the Permission Decision of the Ministry of Education and Training, as prescribed in Decree 86/2018/ND-CP and Circular No. 11/2022/TT-BGDDT.

The Company needs to review and report to the Department of Quality Management, and propose a solution for the number of foreign language certificates that the Company has jointly organized to issue foreign language proficiency certificates in Vietnam without permission from the competent state management agency.

Regarding administrative handling, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training requests the British Council (Vietnam) Limited Liability Company to organize a review and clarify the responsibilities (if any) of organizations and individuals under the Company's management for the above violations according to the provisions of law; report the results of the implementation of the inspection conclusion to the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education and Training within 30 days from the date this conclusion is issued.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/hoi-dong-anh-cap-hon-90-000-chung-chi-tieng-anh-sai-quy-dinh-10279530.html