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Printing errors have left many high school students in Vietnam in amazement after they found that their middle school graduation certificates had apparently been issued a decade before their graduation date.  

Recently, numerous 12th graders in the central province of Ninh Thuan got shocked receiving their middle school graduation certificates with the issue year dating back to 2001, while they graduated in 2011.

More than 20,000 certificates in total have been found having the same issue date.

The students figured this out when they returned to their middle schools to get the certificates in preparation for their coming high school graduation exam in June.

Duong Em, a local education official, said Tuesday that these certificates were discovered mostly in Phan Rang – Thap Cham City and two other districts of the province.

Printing mistakes are to blame, Em explained, adding that the right graduation year should be 2011.

The typos, however, do not have any influence on the validity of the papers, he asserted.

Vo Vinh Long, head of Phan Rang – Thap Cham City’s Department of Education and Training, admitted that the department did not check the signing date before giving the certificates to the students.

Provincial education officials have asked local middle schools to manually fix the errors and requested Ninh Thuan high schools to accept the corrections when the students apply to them.

In Vietnam students begin elementary school at 6, middle school at 11, and high school at 15.

Elementary school lasts from grade one to grade five, middle school from grade six to grade nine, and high school from grade ten to grade twelve.