Under current regulations, the candidates do not have to attend the civil service exam to be employed by Hanoi state agencies. However, they have to sit written tests and direct interviews to show their abilities.

One-half of the special candidates have been reported as failing the test. These include five candidates who have master's degrees at “distinction” and “excellent” levels granted by overseas schools, majoring in economics, business administration, finance governance, chemistry and philology.

The other 25 candidates are either top graduates of Vietnamese schools or good graduates of overseas schools.

In Vietnamese thoughts, those who finish overseas schools are always better than those graduating from domestic schools. Therefore, the fact that the returnees from overseas have been refused by Hanoi’s agencies has raised doubts about the transparency of the civil service exam.

Nguyen Hung Cuong, chair of the Best Graduates’ Club, who was the Hanoi Law School’s best graduate in 2007, noted that the test and interview could only reflect parts of candidates’ abilities. 

He noted that the best graduates might have different levels of qualifications, depending on the schooling environment and individuals’ efforts. 

Cuong went on to say that it is wrong to think that overseas schools all have high training quality. 

“You should find out what schools they (the candidates) graduated from and what rankings the schools are in the world,” he said.

“Not all the ones who come first at finals are excellent, and not all the ones graduating from overseas schools have high qualifications,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, Dam Quang Minh, Rector of FPT University, when asked to comment about the candidates with good learning records who failed the civil service exam, noted that this should be blamed on a poor recruitment method.

“I think there might be problems in the exam questions,” he noted.

Minh became known recently after he recruited a man with a master’s degree granted by a foreign school who later failed the civil service exam to teach at the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. 

The man, who obtained high prizes at international science competitions, was appointed deputy principal of FPT University under Minh’s decision.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Quang Tuan from the Hanoi Education and Training Department, noted that it is normal if someone fails the entrance exams at some businesses or organizations.