The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has pledged to expand its community college project which has already boosted socio-economic development in some areas of Vietnam.

The commitment was made by a CIDA representative at a forum to develop a Canada-Vietnam community college model held in Ottawa recently.

Leaders of the Association of Canadian Community College (ACCC) also vowed to cooperate with the Vietnam Association of Community College (VACC) and support specific cooperation projects between the two sides.

The forum included a review of cooperation in the past, especially Canada’s assistance to Vietnam in the field since 2000. The CIDA-funded “Canadian College Partnership Programme” (CCPP) has established a series of community colleges in the country.

The two sides discussed extending the project with a view to propogating the community college model throughout Vietnam as well as defining areas of priority in terms of training programmes, expert exchanges, teachers and students, and the transfer of knowledge and technology.

According to VACC President Pham Tiet Khanh, community colleges in Vietnam have developed rapidly and made remarkable contributions to training high-quality human resources.

During its working visit to Canada from Nov. 9-14, the VACC delegation will meet with educational leaders in the provinces of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia as well as visit several community colleges in Canada./.