The Vinh University in central Nghe An province has made volunteer activities a fine tradition for its students.

First established in 2007, the university’s international volunteer student group currently has 67 members, who are good at both their majors and foreign languages particularly English and Lao. They also receive training in necessary voluntary knowledge and skills.

Besides local students, Vinh University registers more than 350 foreign students in many faculties, many of them from the neighbouring country of Laos.

Therefore, a priority of the volunteer student group is to give assistance to their Lao peers at the university so that they can make the best of their study. At the same time, the group organizes various activities in Lao localities bordering Nghe An.

During their summer holiday, the student volunteers hold cultural and art performances to promote the traditional friendship between the two countries. They visit bordering areas in Laos to teach local people how to speak Vietnamese, use computers and cultivate crops in the best way.

Nguyen Anh Chuong, head of the volunteer group said last year, his team partnered with the Lao People’s Revolutionary Youth Union chapter in Xieng Khouang province to organise 20 Vietnamese language classes for nearly 500 local officials, students and people.

The group also advised more than 200 Lao students and officials on procedures to apply for enrolment at Vinh University.

In addition, the students tutored their Lao classmates in Vietnamese so that they can catch up with others in their study.-VNA