The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has not yet accredited the doctoral programs – which use Vietnamese translations for English instructions – two Vietnamese universities run in cooperation with a Philippine university, a MoET official has confirmed.

This week, Tuoi Tre reported that the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Hanoi-based Foreign Trade University and Dai Nam University, located in the Vietnamese capital, have joined with Bulacan State University to offer PhD programs for which English proficiency requirements are waived even though instructors often speak in English during lectures.

The schools are offering the PhD courses in the form of distance learning, Dr Tran Van Nghia, a deputy chief of MoET’s testing and accreditation arm, told the newspaper.

Some graduates of these programs brought their degrees to his office for accreditation but the agency has refused to recognize them, Dr Nghia said, explaining that the programs have not been approved in Vietnam.

Bulacan State University does not have any of their distance training courses licensed in Vietnam, he added.

Local educators have expressed their concerns regarding the quality of these doctoral programs and other master’s courses Vietnamese and foreign schools are running together.

Program consultants told a Tuoi Tre undercover reporter that candidates do not need to meet any English proficiency requirement for admission, and that they can defend their graduation theses in Vietnamese via English interpreters if they enroll in these programs.

Due to such lax admission requirements, an education official advised against signing up for these courses, saying it will be “dangerous” for students to be taught by these future masters and doctors, and that “the consequences will affect generations of students” if the graduates of these programs opt for the teaching profession.