Assistant teachers tackle language barrier

Quang Ngai (VNA) – Programmes on translating Vietnamese lessons into ethnic minority languages at primary schools have won acceptance in rural area, according to teachers and education officials in Central Quang Ngai province.

The new model, which has teaching assistants work as translators from Vietnamese into ethnic minority students’ native tongues, was initially applied in Ba To, Son Ha, Tra Bong, Son Tay and Tay Tra districts during the 2007-2008 school year. Teachers translated school lessons into languages such as H’Re, Ca Dong and Kor.

“Different languages are no longer a barrier to primary education in ethnic minority areas thanks to the work of 210 teaching assistants,” said Tran Huu Thap, vice head of the provincial Education and Training Department.

“These translators act as a link between ethnic students and teachers who have volunteered to work on boosting literacy among minorities.”

Chau Van Cang, head of the Primary Education Division under the department, said teachers had faced many difficulties during classes.

“Although many young minority students study Vietnamese during the three-month summer holidays, most of them still don’t fully understand lessons given by teachers in Vietnamese,” said Cang.

“Since the new model was implemented, the education quality has improved. The number of drop-outs has fallen compared to the previous years and 96 percent of children of school age attend classes,” he said.

Dinh Thi Thu, a H’Re teaching assistant at Go Sim Primary School in Ta Gam hamlet, Son Ky commune of Son Ha district, said her work kept her busy from dusk to dawn. She, like other teachers, gets up early to take students to school, helps them in their reading and writing exercises, and encourages drop-outs to go back to school.

“Children are usually absent from school as harvest time approaches and they are forced to work in the fields instead of going to school. The teachers and I go to their homes to encourage parents to let their kids keep on studying,” said Thu.

Students Dinh Thi Tiet and Dinh Thi Hom came back to school after Thu persuaded their parents that education was the only path to eradicate hunger and poverty.

“Our children should focus on studying, not looking after the cows,” their parents agreed.

Thanh Tuyen, a teacher at a primary school in Bo Nung hamlet, Son Ky Commune of Son Ha District, said the translators work was extremely valuable.

“I wouldn’t know what to do with a class of 20 H’Re ethnic minority students without these translators”, said Tuyen.

Le Quang Khuong, headmaster of Tra Phong Primary School , said that none of his pupils had dropped out of school this year thanks to the efficient assistance from local teaching assistants.

“Language differences have been overcome and education improved,” said Khuong.

According to a report from the Ministry of Education and Training, in the first term of this academic year, almost 119,000 students dropped out of primary schools, accounting for 1.2 percent of all students. The drop-outs mainly come from rural areas where the living standard is low.-

Students upbeat but hazy about future

HCM city (VNA) – An overwhelming majority of Vietnamese students are optimistic about their future but have failed to map out a future plan for themselves, a recent survey has shown.

More than 80 percent of students surveyed say they feel optimistic about the future but they lack the capacity to plan for the future, particularly in the area of soft skills, according to the survey.

”This has greatly affected their ability to define targets, grasp chances and reach their potential,” the survey report said.

Soft skills include the ability to define targets, work in groups and concentrate efforts for long periods.

The survey, jointly conducted by Ho Chi Minh City Teacher Training University ’s Institute for Educational Research and the US-based Wrigley Company, polled 2,000 senior high school and university students in HCM City , Ha Noi, Da Nang and Can Tho from June to November.

The survey results were announced at the seminar on Awareness and Attitude of Students toward Future Planning held last week in HCM City . According to the survey, 80 percent of students say they believed they could achieve their dreams and decide their future by themselves.

However, the research outcome found that many students were not prepared to live an independent life.

Many students want to study further (75.4 percent) or study abroad (23.2 percent) and focus only on academic progress.

The survey has revealed that Vietnamese students are still vague about their future direction and targets while studying at school.

Typically, they prepare for their future career with little awareness of job requirements, only concentrating on academic knowledge (hard skills) and neglecting soft skills.

More than 83 percent of students say that their future plan is to do well at school while 91.6 percent say they need to improve foreign language skills.

They do not show interest in participating in clubs or social activities in order to improve soft skills.
Earlier research on Wrigley Concentration Index conducted by Research International Company has shown that only 31 percent of Vietnamese students fully concentrate in class, with the concentration index of Vietnamese students (28) is lower than the Asian average (29).

Lack of concentration will affect study results and confidence, according to the study.

Enhancing students’ concentration capacity is essential for their future orientation and planning, it concluded.

The research findings will lay the groundwork for Wrigley Company and its partners, including the Institute for Educational Research, HCM City Youth Union and schools, to host a series of comprehensive action programmes to help students with future orientation.-

Italian fundraisers to build school in Vietnam

The Italy-Vietnam Friendship Association of the Italian Lombardia region and the Embassy of Vietnam in Italy co-hosted a gala dinner in Milan on Nov. 29 to raise funds for the construction of a school in Vietnam .

Close to 300 Italian friends and overseas Vietnamese in Italy attended the annual function, which has been held every year by the association for the past 25 years.

The association’s president, Roberto Cocievari, praised Vietnam ’s socio-economic achievements, which have helped it become one of the fastest-developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Vietnamese Minister Counsellor, Tran Xuan Thuy, took this occasion to thank the members of the Italy-Vietnam Friendship Association and its chapter in the Lombardia region for their valuable support and their solidarity towards the Vietnamese people since the two countries established diplomatic ties 35 years ago.

All proceeds from the gala diner go towards the building of a school for Vietnamese children.-

Vietnam, Laos intensify legal cooperation

– Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong held talks with his Lao counterpart Chaleuan Yapaoher in Hanoi on Nov. 29 to discuss legal and judicial cooperation between the two ministries.

Legal and judicial reform was also high on agenda of the visit.
The two sides exchanged views on issues such as training, nationality, verdict execution and exchanges of experts and legal documents.

The visit by Lao Justice Minister Chaleuan Yapaoher, which last from Nov. 24-29, deepened the long lasting legal cooperation between the two countries.

At the same time, it would help further boost the special friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and people.-

Marker planting along border with China on track

– The border affairs chief has reiterated national determination to finish the border marker planting along the borderline with China on schedule before December 10.

Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of the National Border Committee Ho Xuan Son made the statement at a conference to review the work held in the northern border province of Ha Giang on November 29.

He said the Government has instructed relevant ministries, agencies and northern border provinces to fulfill high-level commitments between the two countries.

Son also said over the past seven years, the taskforces from both countries have finished demarcation along 1,400 km of border with almost all locations for border markers fixed and some 1,800 border markers planted.

Four of the seven northern border provinces – Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Ha Giang – have finished their jobs before schedule.

The inauguration of the last pairs of border markers along the northern border line is scheduled to take place at the Huu Nghi (Friendship) International Border Gate in Lang Son province of Vietnam and the Youyi Guan (Friendship) Border Gate in Guangxing province of China on December 10, according to the border chief.-

Diplomatic conference aims at positive & proactive integration

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese diplomats will meet in Hanoi to discuss the best use of foreign policies to reinforce a peaceful and stable environment for national industrialisation and modernisation.

Under the theme “Positively and proactively integrating into the world economy, contributing to successfully implementing the resolution of the tenth Party’s Congress”, the diplomatic conference, the 26 th of its kind, will take place from December 1-10, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh told the Vietnam News Agency.

According to the deputy minister, the meeting will assess profound impacts of the regional and international situations on the national security and development.

It will also examine the diplomatic service’s achievements and its weaknesses in implementing the foreign policy since the tenth Party Congress for lessons and experiences that will serve as a basis for future proposals and policies.

In doing so, advantages and challenges to the country in the coming time and the role and tasks of the foreign service in the new circumstance will be discussed thoroughly, Minh said.

He stressed that the diplomats will concentrate on such important tasks as promoting diplomacy in the fields of politics, economics and culture, mobilising overseas Vietnamese, and protecting Vietnamese nationals.

Minh affirmed that after 20 years of renewal, the country’s position and strength have been heightened, economy has been developing dynamically and the country’s prestige has been increasingly growing in the international arena.

He attributed those successes to the prompt and concrete instructions by the Party and State leaders and the support by the people as well as the contributions by proficient diplomats.

However, Minh pointed out that the country remains underdeveloped with backward infrastructural facilities that make it lag behind other countries in many aspects, including diplomacy.

There are rapid and complicated changes in the regional and world situations that challenge Vietnamese diplomats and require them to become sharper in forecasting the situation, thus giving prompt advice to the Party and the State leadership, Minh said.

He pointed to the need for diplomats to persist in implementing the defined foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation to serve national development.

Vietnamese diplomats should join other forces in promoting the national great unity to bring into full play the whole nation’s strength for national development, the deputy minister said.-

Vietnam attends Russian Federation Communist Party congress

Moscow (VNA) – A delegation from the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) led by Pham Quang Nghi, Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, attended the 13 th Congress of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) in Moscow from Nov. 29-30.

Delivering a speech at the opening ceremony, the Vietnamese delegation head affirmed that the CPV always attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen cooperation with the KPRF in an effort to further develop the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries.

At a reception for the CPV delegation, KPRF leaders highly valued achievements that Vietnam has made during its renewal process, affirming that KPRF plans to strengthen cooperation with the CPV and strives to boost the Russia-Vietnam strategic partnership.

Earlier, the Vietnamese delegation laid wreaths at the Ho Chi Minh Statue and the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow .
At meetings with international communist and workers’ delegations participating in the congress, Hanoi Party Committee Secretary Pham Quang Nghi emphasised the need of intensifying cooperation and exchange of ideas and experiences among countries’ political parties for peace, national independence, democracy, sustainable development and social advance.

The Vietnamese delegation also met with leaders of the United Russia Party (ER) and Moscow mayor Yuri Luzkov and visited the Russian ancient capital of Saint Petersburg .

The 13 th congress of the KPRF drew the participation of 83 international communist and workers’ delegations. -

Military delegation visits China

Hanoi (VNA) – A military delegation led by Senior Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Khac Nghien, Deputy Minister of Defence and Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army left Hanoi on Nov. 30 for an official visit to China .

The visit was made at the invitation of Senior Lieut. Gen. Chen Bingde, Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.-

Romania’s National Day celebrated in Hanoi

Hanoi (VNA) – A meeting was held in Hanoi on November 30 to celebrate the 90 th anniversary of Romania ’s National Day (Dec.1).

At the meeting, co-held by the Romanian Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnam-Romania Friendship Association, Romanian Ambassador Dumitri Olaru affirmed that Romania always considers Vietnam its leading partner in Southeast Asia and wishes to develop ties with the 86 million-strong country.

Vietnam and Romania’s all present and future cooperative projects show their desire to consolidate and strengthen multi-faceted bilateral relationship towards the partnership, the ambassador said, expressing his belief that the bilateral ties will be further developed in 2009.

The Vietnam-Romania relationship has seen positive developments in recent years. The two countries have exchanged many high-ranking delegations and signed a number of cooperative agreements and programmes on trade, investment, science and technology, agriculture and transport.

Vietnam and Romania have also coordinated and supported each other at multilateral forums and within the framework of the EU, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) as well as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Two-way trade between the two countries increased to 44 million USD in 2007 from 30 million USD during the 2000-2005 period. In the first half of this year, the figure reached nearly 35 million USD.-

More Vietnamese return home from Bangkok

Some 40 Vietnamese travellers being stuck in Bangkok are to be sent home by bus on December 1, according to the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand .
The Embassy said it has worked out a plan with three travel companies of Vietnam , Thailand and Cambodia to bring these victims of the Thai political crisis home free of charge.
They will first travel aboard a coach arranged by the Dolna travel company of Thailand to the Poipet border gate of Cambodia . The group will then head to Phnom Penh on vehicles provided by Caravan Angkor Tour and continue their trip home either by road or air in association with the Sapaco travel company of Vietnam .
Most of the travellers are tourists, except for several workshop participants and two students.
About 60 tourists were also sent home on car on November at the arrangement of Dolna company and Vietnam ’s Mai Linh Travel Company.
A Vietnam Airlines representative in Bangkok said it would pay each stranded passenger some 30 USD per day during their stay in Phnom Penh waiting for flights back home.
The national flag carrier plans a second flight for Vietnamese nationals from the U-Tapao military airport, 160-170 km southeast of Bangkok , in the night of December 1, following the first one with some 100 passengers on November 29.
Some 400 Vietnamese nationals were stuck in Bangkok after Thai protestors besieged Bangkok international airport on November 25, the Vietnamese Embassy said on November 27.-