Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology signed on March 18 an agreement on boosting their cooperation in education and training. Under the pact, Japan pledged to help Vietnam upgrade some key universities to meet international standards and promote Japanese teaching in schools, while promising to accept more Vietnamese nurses, care workers and technical interns to work in Japan. The two sides agreed to boost their exchanges of students and accelerate the construction of Vietnam-Japan University. The education deal is one of a number of the agreements on cooperation in culture, sports and tourism, science and technology, healthcare and agriculture signed between the two countries during the same day. As one of the largest providers of official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam’s education sector, Japan had helped build hundreds of primary schools in 17 provinces in flood-prone areas and mountainous northern provinces. (Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Mar 19 p1, Nhan Dan – The People Mar 19 p1)
