Vietnam and Belarus Sign Agreement on Educational Cooperation

An overview of the meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and Belarussian Minister of Education Andrei I. Ivanets. Photo: VNA

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha hosted a reception in Hanoi on June 15 for visiting Belarussian Minister of Education Andrei I. Ivanets, during which the host affirmed that Vietnam pays great attention to the special traditional friendship with the European country, and bilateral partnership in education and training, VNA reported.

Ha noted that Belarus has helped Vietnam train many officials and experts serving the country’s national construction and development, especially in the fields of science and technology.

Underlining that the two sides have yet to optimise their cooperation potential, the Deputy PM said that the upcoming visit by the Belarusian PM is expected to help beef up bilateral ties in a more comprehensive and deeper manner, especially in economy, culture, environment, climate change, security and defence. Particularly, education will still be one of the priorities in bilateral cooperation.

A new education cooperation agreement between Vietnam and Belarus, is hoped to bring practical benefits to people of both sides and motivate the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries in the time to come, he said.

Ha expressed his hope that Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and Belarus’ Ministry of Education will promptly finalize cooperation programs and frameworks between the two countries with diverse forms such as delegation exchanges and experience sharing in general, tertiary and post-graduate education, along with the formation of joint science research groups and the exchange of students.

For his part, Ivanets affirmed that there is plenty of room for the two countries to further promote their education-training cooperation.

To date, 40 cooperation agreements have been signed among universities of Vietnam and Belarus, he said, expressing his belief that a new education cooperation deal to be signed between the two Governments will contribute to further promote bilateral collaboration in the field.

Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam Nguyen Kim Son at the talks. Source: giaoducthoidai.vn

On the morning of June 16, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education and Training, a meeting took place between the Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam Nguyen Kim Son and the Belarussian Minister of Education, according to giaoducthoidai.vn.

The signing ceremony of a cooperation agreement between the two Governments in the field of education took place within the framework of the talks.

The content of cooperation in the agreement includes experiences exchanges in the most important development directions of the education system; joint implementation of scientific research in the fields of natural sciences, technical sciences, social sciences – humanities, and pedagogical sciences that are of interest to both parties; bachelor, master and doctoral training; refresher courses, qualification improvement, science practice, and staff re-training; experts exchange.

Under this agreement, the two sides annually exchange 20 scholarships, including 5 undergraduate scholarships, 5 master’s scholarships, 5 graduate students, and 5 trainees. At the same time, Vietnamese students are allowed to receive a scholarship for one year of Russian preparatory studies in Belarus, and Belarusian students to receive a scholarship for one year of Vietnamese preparatory studies in Vietnam.

This is a new point, expanding opportunities for candidates who wish to study at the educational institutions of the two countries.

In addition to the exchange of faculty and students, cooperation in scientific research is also an area that needs to be promoted. Belarus has strengths in the field of science and technology, this is an area that Vietnam needs to develop in the near future.

Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam Nguyen Kim Son and Belarussian Minister of Education Andrei I. Ivanets at the talks. Source: giaoducthudo.giaoducthoidai.vn

In this regard, the Vietnamese minister said that the responsibility of the two ministries is how to further promote the increase in cooperation between universities and educational institutions of the two countries in the coming time.

Belarus is one of the countries in the post-Soviet space that is very active in connecting former foreign students, including Vietnamese students who have studied in the Soviet Union before and Belarus today.

Belarus has helped Vietnam train many highly qualified officials and experts in the fields of science and technology in which Belarus has strengths such as: applied mathematics, theoretical physics, nuclear, electronics, radio electrical, mechanical, materials, and information technology.

In the 80s, every year, hundreds of Vietnamese students and researchers came to study in Belarus. Up to now, thousands of Vietnamese citizens have been studying, researching, and training in Belarus.