A ceremony took place in the Lao province of Luang Prabang on December 22 to hand over Poongkham secondary school, a gift from former Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh.

The school cost more than 56 billion VND to build and covers an area of 4,778 square metres. It has 14 classrooms and can serve 560 students, according to Colonel Ngo Van Dang, Director of 705 International Cooperation Company of Vietnam’s Military Zone 2, who was responsible for the school’s construction.

Minister of Education and Training, Pham Vu Luan, said the work reflects the special friendship between the two countries, and the special attention of the Party, State and Government of Vietnam to the Lao education sector.

It is one of the practical activities to celebrate the 2012 Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year, he added.

On behalf of the Lao Party and Government, Phankham Viphavan, member of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Minister of Education and Sports, thanked the Vietnamese side for the gift as well as the support it has given Laos over the past years.

Vietnam has presented Laos with many schools, he said. The invaluable gifts will enable the country’s education and training sector to improve human resource that will serve national construction and development, he added.

He urged the school’s teachers to ensure education quality, helping consolidate the special friendship and cooperation between the two countries.-VNA