Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has asked to boost Vietnam-Russia cooperation in culture, education and science to the level of the two countries’ strategic partnership.

Deputy PM Nhan made the proposal at his working session with the Russian Centre for Culture and Science in Vietnam on April 15.

The country now only has nearly 300 Russian language teachers, more than 8,300 students and seven establishments specifically designed for Russian language training, said the session.

Nevertheless, the number of Russian language teachers is still quite small, said Deputy PM Nhan, asking the Ministry of Education and Training to finalise a scheme to improve the quality of Russian language teaching by May 2010 and launch a programme to train 300 additional teachers of the language.

To encourage and create stable jobs for around 2,000 Russian language students nationwide, the deputy PM emphasised the need to have a student summer exchange programme to help both learners and teachers gain a chance to explore Russia.

He also asked Russian language teaching establishments to renovate and apply international standard programmes.

Additionally, Nhan called for the re-establishment of the Puskin Sub-institute system in the country, sending at least 10 Russian language experts to Vietnam and the implementation of an electronic library project connecting Vietnam and Russia.

Other key bilateral cooperation projects, including the establishment of the Vietnam-Russia International University at Le Quy Don University and the bilateral arts educational cooperation project at the Hanoi Conservatoire must be implemented soon, he said.

He went on to emphasise the necessity of regularly organising common events in music, theatre and cinematography.

The Russian language Olympiad Contest will be continued. Apart from 10 scholarships granted by the Russian Centre for Culture and Science, the Ministry of Education and Training will grant scholarships to students with good Russian language results in south and central Vietnam and prizes for teachers for training top-performing students.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and relevant ministries and sectors will facilitate the finalisation of legal procedures, promote the activities of the Russian Centre for Culture and Science and the establishment of the Vietnamese Culture-Science Centre in Moscow, affirmed the deputy PM./.