Many international schools in Ho Chi Minh City are recruiting students for courses without a license.
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| A class at Melior Business School in Phu Nhuan District - Photo: Tuoi Tre |
Singapore-owned Raffles International College in Phu Nhuan District has been enrolling students for its undergraduate programs even though it is only licensed to offer short-term vocational courses.
The school says students can choose to study all the way in Vietnam or divide their time to complete their courses in Singapore.
The school argues there is nothing wrong with this enrolment as the degrees are conferred by its main office in Singapore or Australia and are thus not subject to local laws.
Melior Business School also in Phu Nhuan District, another education institution with headquarters in Singapore, also started its two-year junior college programs in 2009 even though it is just allowed to run shorter vocational courses.
About 200 students have graduated from the school and another 300 are now pursuing the programs. Like Raffles, Melior Business School explained that its associate degrees were granted by its parent school overseas.
Another Singaporean school in the district, ERC Institute Vietnam, is even spurning local laws by offering undergraduate and graduate courses without any permit.
The school consultant told Tuoi Tre that a graduate course lasts 3 years and costs US$24,000.
Students can complete their course either in Vietnam or Singapore. When asked about the license to run the courses, the school answered it was still applying for one.
The Institute of Finance and Administration in Tan Binh District is illicitly soliciting applications for an MBA course that is reportedly offered by the University of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia.
An institute employee said students would study at the institute and be awarded master’s degrees after finishing 12 subjects.
They could choose to receive the degrees in Vietnam or Australia, the employee said, adding that no graduation thesis was required.
The Institute of Accounting and Business Management (IABM) in District 10 has been found illegitimately offering master’s degrees and PhD programs in cooperation with American schools, Adam International University from Georgia and International American University in California.
The courses are unlicensed and the schools are all unaccredited. IABM is also seeking applicants for similar courses offered by a Hanoi-based university in partnership with Bulacan State University from the Philippines.
An IABM employee said that the institute was merely doing some consulting for applicants.
