400 Lao students to study in Vietnam

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Soulivan Vongmany

ALMOST 400 Lao people will study in Vietnam this year under a contract signed by Lao Education Minister Phimmasone Leuangkhamma and Vietnam Education Minister Nguyen Minh Hien on Sunday.
They said that this is part of the long economic, cultural, and technico-scientific cooperation between the two countries, reinforced every year. The two ministers meet each year, alternating the venue between their countries.
The 390 students will comprise 9 studying for a doctorate, 24 for a master's degree, 115 taking short-term courses of 3-6 months, 124 taking a bachelor degree and 27 officials taking training courses.
Under the agreement, most students will have passed an examination set by Vietnam and all have to take a two-year preparatory course, one learning the Vietnamese language and the other a pre-university course.
Vietnam also plans to build schools for ethnic groups in Xieng Khuang and Huaphan provinces, and an ethnic minority university. They also plan to build a school for students who are scheduled to study later in Vietnam and another in Vientiane for good students from the provinces.
Education Minister Nguyen Minh Hien visited 165 Vietnamese students at the National University of Laos in Vientiane before leaving for home yesterday.
He was welcomed by NUOL Dean Somkot Mangnomek and other senior staff, whom he thanked for looking after the Vietnamese students in Laos so well.
The Dean asked for Vietnam's help in adding courses in Vietnamese language and literature to the NUOL syllabus.
"We would like to have some Vietnamese experts come to teach at our University as, like other countries, we would like to have a Faculty of Vietnamese Literature," he said.
Nguyen Minh Hien said, "The education system in Laos is rapidly increasing, especially the university, which was only established about ten years ago, which proves that Laos is working hard to develop its education system."
He explained that Laos and Vietnam have had a long relationship, but still has only a few Lao-Vietnamese translators, so he agreed to send experts to work in Laos. He added that he would ask the national university of Vietnam to exchange and cooperate even more with NUOL.
He said that many countries are paying attention to socio-economic development but few were doing enough to support traditional culture.
NUOL has an enrolment of over 23,000 students, including the 165 Vietnamese students, some of whom are paying their own way.
The Vietnam Education Minister met the head of the Vietnamese NUOL student group, Nguyen Duy Yen, who told him about what the Vietnamese students were doing.
He said that they were all studying hard and keen to learn. He asked his minister to increase their student allowance because of the high cost of living here, which he said was more expensive than at home. Vietnamese students receive about 700,000 kip a month.
NUOL currently has 11 faculties and one centre. The faculties are; science, engineering, architecture, forestry, agriculture, medicine, letter, social sciences, education, economic and business management, law and administration and environment and sciences. They teach both full time (day) students and part time (evening) courses.

Source: Vientianetimes.org.la
Photo: laohub.com

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