Hanoi, Wales step up education cooperation

Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi stands ready to support education facilities of Hanoi and Wales in carrying out training cooperation programmes to improve the quality of education, said Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung.

Hosting a reception for the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams on October 30, Chung said that Hanoi has more than 2,600 schools with 1.8 million students, and some 15-17 percent of the city’s budget is set aside for education every year.

Generally speaking, students in the capital city hold particular strengths in natural sciences, he added.

However, Chung pointed out that out-of-date facilities at some schools are one of the city’s biggest challenges in education, resulting in a shortage of practice and research space. In addition, although English is compulsory in the curriculum, the popularisation of the foreign language in schools is a pressing problem due to the distinct lack of qualified teachers.

Thus, Hanoi wants to cooperate with Wales to comprehensively develop its education system, he underlined.

For her part, Kirsty Williams said that Wales is willing to share its high-quality English training programme with Hanoi and, in return, it wants to learn of Hanoi’s experience to improve the capacity of Welsh students in natural sciences.

As Wales wants to double the number of students looking to pursue studies in foreign countries, including Vietnam, it hopes that Hanoi will create sound policies and support programmes for its students.

Responding to the issue, Chung said that Hanoi always creates favourable conditions for foreign students in general and those from Wales in particular to study and work in the city. –VNA