These models support Laos in training human resources to serve socio-economic development while deepening people-to-people relations between the two countries.
In mid-March 2024, Huu Nghi 80 School, a branch of the Viet Nam - Laos Friendship Association in Hanoi, coordinated with the Viet Nam - Laos Friendship Association in Son Tay town to organize a ceremony to welcome sponsor families for Lao students.
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| International students from Laos in the 2022-2023 school year of Huu Nghi T78 School participate in a field program in Tho Loc commune (Phuc Tho district, Hanoi). |
This is the 8th year that the school has coordinated with the Viet Nam - Laos Friendship Association in Son Tay to organize the program for Laos students to receive sponsor families as members of the association. Through the deployments, 540 Lao students were sponsored by 108 families of association members.
In particular, in the 2023 – 2024 period, the school will expand the program to receive godparents for Lao international students to all faculty and staff of the school. As a result, up to 100% of Lao students studying at the school have had sponsor families.
According to the leaders of Huu Nghi 80 School, the sponsor family adoption program is a meaningful and human activity, contributing to building good relationships between sponsor families and Lao students in particular, and between the people of Viet Nam and Laos in general. Not only do they have the opportunity to practice Vietnamese communication skills, but they can also interact and learn about Vietnamese life, people, and culture, thereby integrating and becoming more confident. The children have found their second family in Viet Nam , their parents and foster families always welcome them with open arms, treating them as family members.
The program to receive sponsor families for Lao students at Huu Nghi 80 School mentioned above is one of three typical models the Viet Nam - Laos Friendship Association in Hanoi has recently implemented. Pham Ngoc Tram, Deputy General Secretary of the Viet Nam - Laos Friendship Association in Hanoi, said the Association also sends students on field trips to local villages at Huu Nghi T78 School. This is an advanced learning model, that connects theory with practice. Through eating, staying, and living with Vietnamese people, the students improve their ability to use Vietnamese and better understand the culture and customs of the country and its people.
From 2014 to 2015, the program scale has increasingly expanded in terms of area and number of students participating. The program has helped nearly 1,000 Lao students have the opportunity to learn about the life, culture, labor, and production of Vietnamese people.
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| Teachers and students of Tan Mai Primary School and the Vientiane Youth Union (Laos) participated in the inauguration ceremony of the "Friendly Toilet" project. (Photo: thtanmai.edu.vn) |
The training course on teamwork skills for officers of the Vientiane Youth Union (Laos) at Le Duan School is also a typical model in the training and fostering of Laotian students of the Association in Hanoi. The training course, which lasted more than 20 days, equipped the trainees with important skills in children's work.
After returning home, many students have applied the knowledge and skills they learned into practice, successfully organizing children's activities and movements in their localities. Teachers and students of Tan Mai Primary School and the Vientiane Youth Union had many exciting activities such as cultural exchanges imbued with the national identities of the two countries, participating in the Inauguration Ceremony of the "Friendly Toilet" Young Bamboo Project at the Union level, and visiting the friendly library, traditional room and children's activity models at the school.
“These models not only affirm the role of the Viet Nam - Laos Friendship Association in Hanoi in training and fostering Lao students but are also solid bridges, contributing to promoting the relationship between Laos and Viet Nam,” Pham Ngoc Tram said.
Source: Vietnamtimes
