Many universities, deceived by fake PhDs, say 'no impact'.

Although PhD holders using fake degrees have taught and supervised projects and dissertations, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Saigon Technology University say this does not affect the quality of student learning.

In October, the Vietnam College of Industry and Trade announced the discovery that Mr. Nguyen Truong Hai, Head of the Information Technology Department, was using fake doctoral and master's degrees. Subsequently, several universities also discovered that Mr. Hai had applied for and taught at these institutions between 2016 and 2022. The Ho Chi Minh City Police are currently working with the universities on this matter.

In particular, Mr. Hai supervised theses and projects for a number of students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Saigon University of Technology.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Vice Rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said that Mr. Hai was a visiting lecturer, then a full-time lecturer, at the Faculty of Information Technology from 2016 to 2022. Mr. Hai taught the subjects Software Development Tools and Environments, Information Technology Project Management, and Software Management, but "with a limited workload." He also supervised some students' course projects.

"Students rate Mr. Hai's teaching quality as average," Mr. Quoc Anh said.

Meanwhile, at Saigon Technology University (STU), Associate Professor Cao Hao Thi, Vice Rector, stated that he signed a contract with Mr. Hai from April 2021 until the end of last year. In addition to teaching several subjects, Mr. Hai supervised the graduation theses of 9 students.

Responding to the question of how the university handles the courses taught by Mr. Hai, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Anh stated that in a university environment, lecturers primarily play the role of guides, not making decisions or having a significant influence on the quality of student learning. The teaching content is already available according to the curriculum compiled by the university.

"When it comes to exams, the school has its own question bank and exam questions, not just any teacher who teaches the subject grading or creating the questions. If students have passed the exams, they certainly have a certain level of competence and knowledge," he said.

Similarly, Associate Professor Cao Hao Thi stated that since the graduation thesis is evaluated by a committee consisting of many teachers, the student's results are guaranteed to meet the requirements.

"The school has no intention of canceling results or requiring students taught by Mr. Hai to retake the course," Mr. Quoc Anh added.

The fake doctoral degree that Mr. Hai provided to the universities. Photo: Provided by the university.

Other universities such as Van Hien University, Transport University, and Nha Trang University also stated that they had previously received Mr. Hai as a visiting lecturer or for probationary periods, but the duration was insignificant, so there was no negative impact.

According to the universities, when applying, Mr. Hai submitted notarized copies of his Master's and Doctoral degrees in Computer Science from the University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City. Some universities said that due to the tense Covid-19 situation and the lack of software to verify diplomas, they did not detect that Mr. Hai's degrees were fake.

The incident came to light when the Vietnam College of Industry and Trade recruited and appointed Mr. Hai as head of department in September. After some questioned his qualifications, the college sent Mr. Hai's information and diplomas to the University of Natural Sciences for verification. In its response, the university stated that the information on the diplomas did not match its data.

According to regulations, schools are required to publicly disclose all issued diplomas and certificates to facilitate access for relevant parties and public oversight, but many schools have not done so. The Ministry of Education and Training has been developing a nationwide software for searching diplomas and certificates since 2021, and it is currently undergoing testing.

In 2017, a lecturer at Dong A University (Hanoi) was found to be using a fake Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, a Master's degree in Engineering, and a certificate of successful doctoral thesis defense from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. The individual was subsequently sentenced to 24 months of suspended imprisonment.

Le Nguyen

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