I wrote in an earlier entries (Anti-Corruption Corrupted [25 Oct] and Corruption Perception Index 2005 [Oct 18]) about the debate on anti-corruption legislation at the National Assembly. Most were quite pessimistic that any real and substantive changes would be made. Yet day after day, people read press covering the myriad corruption, scandals and cheating throughout Vietnamese society. Barring child abuse, the most nauseating is when corrupt officials rip off the education system. Vietnam needs now more than anything, a good education. What does Education want for Christmas: Investment and Investigation.

4 trillion dong of education funds squandered, rifled by corrupt officials

Some 3.91 dong trillion (US$246 million) has been misspent in the last two-years, with the problem particularly acute in tuition fees and subsidies to ethnic people, top inspectors at a meeting Monday December 19 in Hanoi.

Financial inspectors have launched around 1,200 inspections since 2004, requesting 2.79 trillion dong be paid back to the exchequer, Nguyen Kim Lien, head of the ministry's inspectorate, said.The inspectorate under the finance ministry alone conducted 50 inspections, uncovering total misused funds amounting to 1.55 trillion dong, Lien added.

A recent inspection found that funds to subsidise university tuitions, research projects, and goods assistance were misused, taking a big bite out of state budgets destined for infrastructure and development.

Eight out of 11 major universities including the National Universities in Hanoi and HCM City and several other institutes were found to have unlawfully raised tuition fees, Pham Duc Hong, deputy chief of the Finance Inspectorate reported at the meeting.

Source
Thanh Nien News. Huge sums misspent, inspections find out