The delegates discussed whether teaching materials should be bilingual and proposed that Vietnamese should be taught on-line and via radio or TV first.

Deputy Minister Tran Van Nhung said teaching Vietnamese would help uphold the cultural identity of some 3 million Viet Kieu (Overseas Vietnamese) living abroad.

The Government approved the project in early 2004 with the aim of helping overseas Vietnamese remember their mother tongue and maintain their national identity.

Vietnamese would be taught as a subject included in local schools’ curricula or in classes organised by the Overseas Vietnamese Associations.

The ministry has worked with other ministries and sectors to prepare for the implementation of the State-funded project.

Head of the project’s steering board Tran Ba Viet Dzung said two teams were dispatched to the United States and France last year to study the demand for learning Vietnamese and local laws and policies concerning the issue.

Mr Dzung said most Vietnamese youth have not been fluent in the mother tongue as Vietnamese materials were not professionally compiled adopted in some foreign countries and teachers were mostly volunteers. Mr Dzung added that the curriculum, expected to be completed by the end of February, should emphasise the nation’s cultural values and include cultural activities.