HÀ NỘI — On behalf of the Singapore's Ministry of Education, Ambassador Catherine Wong on Tuesday awarded the ASEAN Scholarship to seven Vietnamese students from northern provinces.

The annual ASEAN Scholarship Award Ceremony was held in Hà Nội by the Singapore Embassy.

The seven students, together with another five recipients from southern provinces, will commence their studies in Singapore from the 2020 school year.

The students were chosen from nearly 300 applicants.

Under the scholarship, students between the ages of 14 to 16 will study in selected schools in Singapore for four years, accumulating to pre-university qualification or the General Certificate of Education of A level.

Speaking at the awarding ceremony, Ambassador Wong said meritocracy was one of the key principles underpinning Singapore’s success.

Wong said each student could be considered a “young ambassador of Việt Nam” while studying in Singapore.

Stressing the importance of strengthening Singapore and Việt Nam ties, she urged the students to build friendships among the young people of the two countries.

“This will strengthen the already close people-to-people ties between Singapore and Việt Nam,” she said. — VNS