Top students studying overseas to get cash

HA NOI — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday decided to use VND450 billion (US$21.6 million) from the State budget to help top Vietnamese students selected by the Ministry of Education and Training continue their studies abroad.

The money will also be used to help implement Project 911 for those who finished the ministry's Overseas Scholarship Project 322 and want to hold doctorate degrees.

This follows an announcement by the ministry in May that candidates who passed the entrance exam for Project 322 were no longer eligible to attend overseas training courses.

The decision confused about 150 candidates who claimed they had to work hard to prepare for their master's degree and doctorates.

According to the Viet Nam International Education Development (VIED), candidates will be informed to promptly implement procedures for study abroad.

Earlier, VIED's director Nguyen Xuan Vang, said the target for Project 322 from 2006-14 was 2,000 candidates - and the number of those who studied abroad had been reached.

Thus, there was no budget for the ministry to continue sending candidates abroad, he said, adding it was unexpected.

Previously, the ministry suggested two solutions. They could either choose to attend the training courses in the countries with which Viet Nam signs education co-operation agreements, or return to their previous universities. However, neither option was liked by students.

Project 322 has been implemented since 2000 and has sent an average of 400 candidates a year to study abroad for master's degrees and doctorates. — VNS