A province in the central region rejects candidates who graduated from part-time training programs when recruiting public servants in a bid to improve its public administration quality.

Applicants look for job opportunities at a career fair in Ho Chi Minh City 

In its recent plan to seek employees for the local public administration sector, Quang Nam province said it would not consider applicants with diplomas or degrees obtained from in-service training – that is, studying when still at work – at vocational schools, junior colleges, and universities nationwide.

Quang Nam authorities explained that they are following a resolution by the local party organ, which aims at building a stronger and better workforce at its government agencies.

Quality is always in doubt when it comes to qualifications acquired from part-time programs, despite occasional exceptions, said Bui Cong Hai, vice director the Quang Nam Home Affairs Department.

Full-time courses are always believed to churn out much better graduates than part-time modes in Vietnam.

“I saw many resort to part-time training programs after they repeatedly failed to get into college,” Hai pointed out. “This should be an issue.”

Tran Kim Hung, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Council, concurred with Hai, further explaining that the majority of part-time graduates are well below average in comparison with their full-time counterparts.

Hung added that this recruitment policy was intended to prevent children of ‘big cheeses,’ most of them unqualified, from automatically landing a job at government bodies thanks to connections.

“This policy will prove a proper one in the long run” Hai, the vice director, said.