Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc (R) and New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Matthews at the signing ceremony of the agreement (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Hanoi (VNA) – The Strategic Plan on Education for the period from 2020 to 2023 will launch education initiatives between Vietnam and New Zealand.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and the Education New Zealand (ENZ) signed the Strategic Engagement Plan on Education for the period from 2020 to 2023 at a ceremony in Hanoi on July 21, marking a new stride in the two countries’ education relations and further bolstering knowledge and student exchanges and the development of skills through a host of initiatives.
Many cooperative initiatives will be implemented under the strategic Engagement Plan on Education for the 2020-23, including university-to-university joint programmes, advanced online educational models, blended learning, as well as cooperation in English training and programmes linking former students studying overseas.
Of this, advanced online educational models and blended learning are deemed essential for the countries’ enhanced education cooperation in the post-pandemic period.
New Zealand vowed to continue helping Vietnam reach targets in education in the 21st century towards training a generation of well-equipped graduates who stand ready to meet new demand of the fast-changing global market.
Xuan Khang (in white) is among the outstanding students of Vietnam awarded a scholarship of the New Zealand government in 2019 (Photo: VietnamPlus) The Engagement Plan on Education inked in 2015 laid a foundation for the strategic partnership in education between Vietnam and New Zealand while the freshly-signed agreement will foster current education initiatives and re-define new opportunities which enable both sides to work together and carry them out effectively.
First Chief Executive of ENZ Grant McPherson said the renewal of the plan on education serves as a key chance to enhance the long time education partnership between New Zealand and Vietnam.
New Zealand is happy to welcome more and more Vietnamese students to the country in recent years, the official noted. He pledged to offer Vietnamese students more opportunities to study in New Zealand and tighten cooperative ties with the Vietnamese education ministry.
New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Wendy Matthews also voiced her delight upon the renewal of the agreement in 2020, which marks the 45th founding anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties.
She added that the bilateral relations have been strengthened over the years, with education always playing a key role.
The diplomat noted that a growing number of New Zealand’s education establishments are setting up partnership with their Vietnamese counterparts. They support each other in the development of innovative and learner-centric access.
2020 marks the 45th founding anniversary of the diplomatic ties and the Strategic Plan on Education for the period from 2020 to 2023 will be an efficient platform to bring the countries’ education cooperation further and ensure successful implementation of practical programmes designed for students, the diplomat underlined.
New Zealand takes the lead in English-speaking countries and ranks third among the world’s education systems offering skills that prepare students for the future, according to the Worldwide Education for the Future Index 2019). The nation has been named in the top three for three years in a row since the rankings were first revealed in 2018.
As of 2018, there were more than 2,700 Vietnamese students in New Zealand, including 600 of the high school level. The figure in New Zealand tertiary establishments grows 8 percent each year and the number of high school students, 40 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
Since 1990s, post-graduate scholarships and English training courses in New Zealand were awarded to more than 300 Vietnamese students and 550 civil servants.
Meanwhile, the country’s Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia was rolled out in 2013, which sent 143 students from New Zealand to do internship and research in Vietnam./.
