The newly appointed director of the Quang Nam provincial Planning and Investment Department Le Phuoc Hoai Bao

In recent years, local mass media now and again report that some young people are appointed to key positions in the government apparatus. The newly appointed officials are very young, and therefore, are looked at admiringly. 

The news may remind many people of their school age, when they heard from teachers that there were young revolutionary leaders in 1920-1945 aged between 25 and 45.

And some days ago, the news came out that a man aged 30 has been appointed the director of the Quang Nam provincial Planning and Investment Department.

Le Phuoc Hoai Bao, born in 1985, is the first department director appointed at that age. Bao is a ‘child who follows in his father’s footsteps’: his father was the Quang Nam provincial Party Committee’s Secretary and head of the Quang Nam provincial delegation of National Assembly’s Le Phuoc Thanh.

After finishing university, he went abroad for a 2-year postgraduate training course and returned to Vietnam after obtaining a master’s degree. 

Bao has become the director of the planning and investment department just after several years of working.

It seems that central competent agencies need to reconsider the requirements they set for appointing department directors, so that many other young and talented people can be appointed to positions like Bao.

One may feel sorry for people ‘at a young age and with great talent’, because the requirements may be too demanding: when they finally are able to satisfy the requirements, they may no longer be young.

Candidates appointed to the post of department directors must have professional standards to be recognized as a ‘major specialist. If everything goes smoothly, attending the exam to be recognized as ‘major specialists’ cannot occur until age 33 or 34. 

Candidates also have to finish high-ranking politics training courses. Meanwhile, it is difficult for young civil servants who have a service length of only several years to obtain certificates for training courses.

Besides, candidates also have to finish training courses on state management and have five years of working in the field.

In general, it is very difficult to satisfy so many requirements. 

It is necessary to remove the unreasonable requirements to pave the way for young and talented people to be appointed to key positions like Bao, so that they can devote themselves to the country’s development.

Dinh Duy Hoa