The scholarship has been granted, can the sponsor get it back in Vietnam?

Judgment 51/2020/DS-PT dated June 2, 2020 on the civil transaction dispute over the grant of scholarships to students has the following contents:

“ T4 University has an ITA scholarship fund founded by T Investment Joint Stock Company, Student Do Nhat MT has been granted VND 156,337,000 by this scholarship fund, until December 2016 MT officially resigned because The school raised the tuition fee too high, then the school twice asked MT to return the scholarship amount, but MT did not pay, so CPT Company sued and asked Mr. Do Nhat MT to "return the scholarship amount 156,337. 000 VND and the compensation amount is 156.337,000 VND, the interest amount was calculated from March 1, 2017 to October 2017 with an interest rate of 1.4%/month, so the interest amount is VND 43,774,360 with the same interest rate. from October 2017 until the court brings the case to trial ".

The People's Court of Hau Giang province commented: The form of funding of the ITA Fund is direct funding for learners through educational institutions, so it is subject to the regulation of Circular 35/2011/TT-BGDĐT of Vietnam. MT is eligible to be considered for a scholarship as offered by T University and MT also fulfills the responsibility of the scholarship recipient. Therefore, the Court did not accept the claimant's entire request for a refund of the scholarship amount.

In the above case, the argument between the plaintiff and the defendant mainly revolves around determining whether the form of funding of the ITA Fund is subject to the provisions of Circular 35/2011/TT-BGDDT. In case the funding is subject to Circular 35, the sponsorship is clearly defined by law as "automatically non-refundable". Meanwhile, if it is determined that the fund is not subject to this circular, the claim for the refund of the scholarship amount that the plaintiff has granted is grounded. Therefore, the determination of Circular 35, which regulates the form of funding from the ITA Fund, has become the key point to bring about the results of dispute settlement between the parties.

According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 1 of Circular 35/2011/TT-BGDDT on the forms of sponsorship that the circular regulates is automatically non-refundable:

Article 1. Scope

" …

2. Scholarships and grants specified in this Circular are scholarships and grants funded without refund in cash or in kind from capital sources outside the state budget of domestic agencies, organizations and individuals. and abroad (hereinafter collectively referred to as sponsors) for learners in educational institutions with the aim to support and encourage learners to strive to study, practice and develop their educational career."

In which, Circular 35/2011/TT-BGDĐT does not regulate the following forms of funding:

Article 2. Subjects of application

"…

2. This Circular does not apply to the following forms of funding:

a) Direct funding for learners without going through educational institutions or educational management agencies;

b) Sponsoring learners to participate in sightseeing, travel, exchanges, or training courses outside the program they are studying at the educational institution;

c) Funds for general school activities."

The trial panel has explained in the direction of determining that the sponsorship does not fall under point a clause 2 of Circular 35 " direct funding for learners without going through educational institutions or educational management agencies ", because when If it does not fall into the above case, the sponsorship will obviously be subject to the regulation of Circular 35 and the way to call "direct funding for learners through educational institutions" is just to make it clear that the form of funding is not in the case at point a, clause 2, Article 2 of Circular 35.

In the case, although the plaintiff did not acknowledge a funding relationship with the school, and there was no written document, there was no official conclusion that clearly stated that the ITA fund was operating as a direct grant through T. But through documents and practical activities that T University has carried out such as: " In the Regulations on ITA scholarships, it is stated that "ITA Fund for the Future is assigned to T4 University to implement and report annually "In the scholarship granting decisions, it is shown that the students who receive the scholarship are considered according to the list of proposals of the Rector Board of T4 University, the Academic Department of T4 University is responsible for informing students of the decisions. This and T4 University and relevant departments and units are responsible for implementing these decisions.” In particular, at the Inspection Conclusion No. 04/KL-TTr dated January 23, 2017, it was proposed that T4 University promulgate regulations on the process and procedures for selecting and awarding scholarships and award scholarships and grants from educational institutions in accordance with the provisions of Circular 35/2011/TT-BGDĐT.

With these grounds, the Court concluded that the ITA fund directly funded learners through the educational institution. At the same time, the support work of T4 University is also consistent with the provisions of Circular 35 governing the receipt, selection, and award of scholarships and grants. It is legal for the Court to apply Circular 35 to disapprove the petition of the plaintiff T Investment Joint Stock Company asking Mr. T1 to pay the received scholarship amount.

In conclusion, it can be seen that scholarships have been granted to students, and students still have the possibility of disputes, so when receiving any kind of scholarship we should also learn and study carefully the legal responsibility to avoid future disputes.

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