Speaking at a seminar which opened in Ho Chi Minh City on December 8, Ms Horton said that Canada is Vietnam’s ideal partner in the educational sector.

To boost educational cooperation between the two countries, she said Canada has raised scholarships granted to Vietnam up to US$50,000 per year to attract Vietnamese students.

During 2007-2008, Canadian educational organizations launched many fact-finding tours to Vietnam and signed a number of educational programmes with the country, she said.

Canada plans to organize a large-scale exhibition with the participation of 57 educational organisations from four Canadian provinces in Vietnam in October 2010, which is expected to provide more study and research opportunities for Vietnamese students, she added.

According to the ambassador, Vietnam has made great progress in education, especially universalising primary education, thanks to the government’s positive educational policies.

However, the Vietnamese education has yet to develop as expected because of difficulties in budget and teaching staff, she said, adding that Canada may help Vietnam in educational programmes and training high-quality human resources./.