Hanoi mayor Nguyen The Thao pinned a plate “Project in celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary” to the gate of the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School on the inauguration of the 2010-11 academic year on September 4.

The school has been reconstructed as the most modern in Vietnam and put on a par with other leading schools in the region.

Thao, whose official title is the Hanoi People’s Committee Chairman, said the project was an evidence of the municipal administration’s thoughtfulness and sense of responsibility to the school in an effort to nurture young talents for the capital city and the nation as a whole.

He expressed thanks to the Dutch people, especially Amsterdam citizens, for their assistance to the development cause in Vietnam, especially Hanoi.

“May such a friendship and cooperation, especially in education and training, further develop, thus contributing to improving the educational quality of the Hanoi-Amsterdam school to a new height,” said the municipal leader.

The Dutch Ambassador said he would do his best to boost the student exchange programme between the Hanoi-Amsterdam and a school of gifted students in the Netherlands .

He also presented five scholarships for a study visit to schools in Amsterdam in next summer.

The Hanoi-Amsterdam High School was first built in September, 1985 as a gift of the Dutch capital city to Hanoi . The school has contributed over 100 international prize winners to the nation.

In 2000, the school was awarded the title “Labour Hero in the Renewal Period”, a high State honour.

The school embarked on reconstruction on May 19, 2008 at a cost of 429 billion VND. It now houses 45 classes capable of accommodating some 2,000 students.

Its campus, covering 5 ha of land in the downtown street of Tran Duy Hung, includes nine classrooms specialising in fostering talented students and physical and hobby training such as music, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, football and basketball playgrounds./.