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Despite fines, many Vietnamese schools continue to defy the education ministry by offering unauthorized bachelor or vocational joint programs.

The Ministry of Education and Training discovered in the middle of this month that a vocational school in Ho Chi Minh City was joining hands with Thai Binh Duong (Pacific Ocean) University, based in the central province of Khanh Hoa, to run bachelor programs in accounting, banking, and business administration without permission.

Investigative results later showed that 625 students were then pursuing the programs at a campus in the southern city. But a source told Tuoi Tre that the two schools had granted admissions to over 1,000 students.

The ministry had earlier fined ASEAN College, based in the northern province of Hung Yen, VND20 million (US$950) for cooperating with Van Tuong Vocational School in HCMC to teach an illicit associate's degree course in pharmacy to 93 students.

ASEAN continued running the course until a ministry group of inspectors caught it red-handed again.

And even that is not the end of the ASEAN story as the school was then found offering another unlicensed pharmacy program to 703 students in HCMC and the central province of Nghe An.  

On May 7, the education watchdog also penalized a university in Nghe An and two occupational schools in HCMC for their unapproved courses in economics and business administration.  

Do Quoc Anh, a ministry official, said that the current punishment is not serious enough to stop these schools from repeatedly breaking the rules.

The ministry is now seeking government approval for more severe sanctions on such cases to battle recidivism, Anh added.