US organisation grants scholarships to poor students
A US-based humanitarian organisation, SPEEL, has granted 633 scholarships worth nearly 470 million VND (29,400 USD) in total to poor students in the central province of Quang Ngai.
The grants, targeting primary- and secondary-school students in the three districts of Binh Son ,Son Tinh and Minh Long, cover tuition, health insurance, learning aids and clothes.
Additionally, SPEEL presented 120 bicycles to disadvantaged secondary-school students in the province.
Over the past three years, the organisation's support has helped thousands of disadvantaged children in Quang Ngai to continue their education.
Vietnam sends 24 to ASEAN skills competition
Twenty-four Vietnamese people will attend the sixth ASEAN Skills Competition, scheduled for Sept. 3-12 in Brunei.
These competitors, chosen from the 36 winners of the 2006 national skills contest, will compete in 12 different skill areas at the regional competition.
On Sept. 1, officials from the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs met with the contestants to wish them success in the coming contest.
Vietnam is expected to rank among the top three at the competition.
Ho Chi Minh City welcomes overseas Vietnamese delegation
Senior officials of Ho Chi Minh City on September 1 warmly welcomed a delegation of overseas Vietnamese visiting their homeland on the occasion of the 61st National Day.
Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Tai, on behalf of the city's authorities, praised the past and present contributions made by overseas Vietnamese.
He expressed his wish that overseas Vietnamese would continue to make contribution to their homeland, and the friendship between the Vietnamese people and the people in their host countries.
At the reception given by the municipal administration, the delegates expressed their honour and delight at visiting the city named after the late President Ho Chi Minh, witnessing the tremendous changes and development into an economic, cultural and technological hub in Vietnam.
MA degrees presented to 12 ethnic minority researchers
The Cultural Research Institute on Aug. 31 presented the first Master degrees in folklore to 12 ethnic minority students from the Central Highlands.
The Master degree holders, who are of E De, M'Nong, Xtieng, Ba Na, Xo Dang, Hre, and Gia Rai ethnic minority groups, have studied three years for the degrees including a one-year refresher training course on social sciences and humanities.
In addition to their study in Ha Noi, the trainees spent 2-3 months each year going on field tours to survey and collect epics for their thesis, which mainly focus on the beliefs, rituals, customs and festivals of Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) ethnic minority people.
Prof. Ngo Duc Thinh of the Vietnam Institute for Social Sciences, said that the graduates will directly take part in conserving and developing the Central Highlands' heritage of epos and folklore culture.
UNICEF brings sanitation to Yen Bai schools
A clean water supply project initiated by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is teaching school children in the northern mountainous Yen Bai province the merits of maintaining hygiene and sanitation.
The UNICEF project has provided toilets and water for 12 primary and junior secondary schools in Yen Bai's Van Chan, Van Yen and Tran Yen districts for a total cost of 62,500 USD. The project was implemented by the provincial Centre for Rural Water Supply and Environment Sanitation.
Nguyen Thi Oanh, head of the Ho Chi Minh Pioneer League at An Thinh Primary School, who is in charge of training children to use clean water and practise sanitation, said that parents of students, with Tay and Nung ethnic minorities accounting for 20 percent of them, were happy with the project as water is limited in the commune.
The teacher, who has been working at the school for 10 years, said that the project had helped students learn the importance of sanitation.
Poor students in HCM City get scholarships
Poor students in Can Gio district in Ho Chi Minh City were granted scholarships and 50 bicycles, worth 982 million VND (61.4 thousand USD) in total on Aug. 31.
The students include 55 undergraduates, 865 secondary-school students, and 587 primary school children.
The grants were presented by the Board for the Poor under the HCM City's Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee.
On the same day, the HCM City's Labour Federation granted scholarships for 105 children of disadvantaged union members.
