Request to revoke the degree of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet

On the evening of October 21, a representative of the Ministry of Education and Training announced the above information. The results were released after the ministry carefully reviewed the training process and coordinated with relevant agencies to verify the qualifications of Mr. Vuong Tan Viet, 65 years old.

The Ministry requested relevant higher education institutions to urgently revoke the diploma granted to Mr. Vuong Tan Viet and review the training process to avoid similar cases.

Previously, Mr. Viet was said to have taken the high school supplementary cultural exam at Trung Nhat School, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City, on June 6, 1989.

However, more than two months ago, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training said that Mr. Viet's name was not on the list of candidates for the 1989 high school graduation exam in the area. This verification was carried out at the request of the Government's Committee for Religious Affairs.

Mr. Vuong Tan Viet, also known as Venerable Thich Chan Quang, is the abbot of Phat Quang Pagoda in Tan Hai Commune, Phu My Town, Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province.

He was once the Deputy Head of the Central Economic and Financial Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. On June 18, he was banned from preaching for two years by the Central Buddhist Sangha.

At the same time, the doctorate degree granted to him by Hanoi Law University (defended on December 9, 2021, issued on March 17, 2022) was deemed to have not been completed for the required study time.

Specifically, Mr. Viet obtained his doctorate degree after more than two years of graduating from the part-time law program at Hanoi Law University. While according to regulations, to pursue a doctorate program, students must have a master’s degree or a university degree with honors in a relevant field, with a study period of 3-4 years. The authenticity of his high school diploma is also questioned.

In a report sent to the Ministry of Education and Training, Hanoi Law University affirmed that granting Mr. Viet a doctorate degree was in accordance with regulations. The school said that before obtaining a bachelor's degree in law, Mr. Viet graduated from the University of Foreign Languages ​​(now Hanoi University) in 2001, majoring in English.

According to regulations, students who have not graduated from high school will have their higher degrees revoked even if they actually attended school.