HÀ NỘI — Forty-one people have been removed from the list of newly-appointed professors and associate professors that was announced in early February.

The people were found to lack required qualifications to be certified professors and associate professors.

Fifty-three candidates have been added to the list after passing additional scrutiny during the verification process.

Phùng Xuân Nhạ, Minister of Education and Training, announced the shuffle at a government meeting on Monday.

The updated list of all professors and associate professors, announced by the State Council for Professor Titles of Việt Nam, now has 1,184 people, compared with 703 in 2016.

In March, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) reviewed all 1,226 records of the professors and associate professors and found that 1,131 were qualified. 

The move came after the council conducted a full-scale review of the list of professors and associate professors following Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s order on February 9.

The council published the list in early February. Under the list, 1,226 people were appointed as professors and associate professors in 2017, including 85 professors and 1,141 associate professors.

However, media reported that the number was believed to be the highest annual figure in four decades since the State started to grant the title of professors and associate professors to many appointees without requiring them to publish scientific papers in international journals and complete lecturing hours.

Former Deputy Minister of Education and Training cum Vice chairman of the State Council for Professor Titles of Việt Nam, Bùi Văn Ga, said most of people who have been removed from the list at this review failed to certify lecturing hours.

According to Ga, to be qualified, candidates had to show records that they had completed certain lecturing hours and teaching plans. However, many of them didn’t pay attention to this rule and universities didn’t keep the records so they could not provide it to the inspection team.

During the review, many professors and associate professors candidates handed in letters of withdrawal from the process to be recognised with the title of professor or associate professor, he said.

The MoET is revising regulations on qualifications to be certified professors and associate professors to submit to the Prime Minister for approval. The new regulations will be applied to title-seekers for the 2018 list. — VNS