Strengthening educational cooperation and promoting Vietnamese language teaching in Poland

With the aim of enhancing educational cooperation and supporting the teaching of Vietnamese language to the Vietnamese community in Poland, a delegation of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) led by Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong paid a working visit to Poland. The visit also aimed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Poland.

Here, the delegation visited and worked with the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education , visited and worked with a number of Polish training institutions and Vietnamese language schools in Poland.

The delegation of the Ministry of Education and Training worked with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland

At the bilateral talks between Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong and Mr. Andrzej Szeptycki, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Poland, Mr. Andrzej Szeptycki warmly welcomed the delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and highly appreciated the long-standing traditional cooperative relationship between the two countries over the past 74 years, especially in the field of education and training.

Over the years, cooperation in education and training has always been a bright spot in the relationship between the two countries. Currently, there are 326 Vietnamese students studying in Poland. The Polish Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education highly appreciated Vietnamese students for their spirit, learning attitude, adaptability and contribution to social life in Poland.

Thanking the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education for the warm and enthusiastic welcome given to the delegation, Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong also thanked the Polish Government and people for supporting the training of high-quality human resources for Vietnam. With more than 4,000 people having been trained in Poland, many of them have held important positions in Vietnamese management agencies and enterprises, contributing to the socio-economic development of Vietnam.

Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong and Deputy Minister Andrzej Szeptycki chaired the working session.

The two Deputy Ministers agreed to try to complete negotiations soon to sign a cooperation document to implement 50 scholarships/year granted by Poland to Vietnam to send students to study at various levels in Poland. Currently, based on the document signed between the two Ministries in 2017, each year, Poland grants 20 scholarships to Vietnam to send international students to study in Poland.

Also at the meeting, Mr. Luong Ngoc Minh, Vice Rector of Hanoi University (HANU), said that there are currently 12 Polish students studying at Hanoi University. The school has classes on Polish language and culture. HANU hopes to receive more Polish students in the future and expand cooperation with Polish partners.

Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong suggested that HANU and universities attending the seminar strengthen cooperation and expand forms of cooperation with Polish training institutions, such as through lecturer and student exchange programs and training linkages.

The two Deputy Ministers agreed to continue promoting educational cooperation to contribute to the good cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong also announced that the purpose of the delegation during this working trip is to increase support for teaching Vietnamese to Vietnamese people in Poland. The Deputy Minister emphasized that to achieve this goal, in addition to the support of the Vietnamese Embassy in Poland and educational institutions, it is also necessary to have the support of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. From there, he proposed that the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education support the teaching of Vietnamese in Poland and consider making Vietnamese an optional foreign language at some Polish educational institutions.

In response to this proposal from Vietnam, the Polish Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education said that he is ready to support and encourage cooperation and training ideas of universities, including teaching Vietnamese, and will discuss further with the Polish Ministry of National Education to find appropriate forms of support.

The two Deputy Ministers agreed that educational cooperation between the two countries is very important and therefore needs to continue to be promoted to contribute to the good cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Delegation of the Ministry of Education and Training visited Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU)

Also within the framework of the visit to Poland, Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong and the delegation visited and worked at Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU). This is the only university in Poland and one of the few in Europe that has a Vietnamese Studies department. Currently, the department has 40 Polish students studying at the undergraduate level, 22 masters and 1 doctorate.

Thanking Vietnam for granting 10 scholarships for Vietnamese students to study short-term at Hanoi University, Ms. Bogumila Kaniewska, President of AMU, emphasized her desire to cooperate with Vietnamese training institutions to implement joint training programs for undergraduate and master's degrees in Vietnamese studies and teaching Vietnamese, expanding the scope of cooperation to the fields of administration, tourism, innovation and entrepreneurship... In the near future, AMU and universities can coordinate to organize seminars, forums, and workshops to introduce education, culture and people of Vietnam in Poland and vice versa.

Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong speaks at Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU)

With the aim of learning about the situation of teaching and learning Vietnamese in the Vietnamese community in Poland, the delegation of the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam visited and worked at Lac Long Quan Vietnamese Language School. This is a Vietnamese language school that has been established for 25 years. Having gone through many ups and downs with many difficulties, the school has now stabilized the teaching and learning of Vietnamese with 150-200 students coming to study on weekends. The school has compiled the book "I learn Vietnamese" and teaches all levels from elementary to advanced (from level A to E). In particular, the school accepts students from many countries in Eastern Europe and from cities far away from Poland to study.

The school representative said that the demand for learning Vietnamese in Poland is increasing, but the conditions of school facilities and materials are still very limited, so the school hopes to receive support from the Ministry of Education and Training and Vietnamese language training institutions in the country in the near future in terms of teaching materials, books and newspapers, and help to improve teaching methods and qualifications for the teaching staff.

The delegation of the Ministry of Education and Training visited Lac Long Quan Vietnamese Language School

During his visit to Lac Long Quan Vietnamese Language School, Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong acknowledged and welcomed the efforts that the community has made in maintaining and developing the Vietnamese language in Poland, and assigned the Ministry of Education and Training units and training institutions to have plans to support the teaching and learning of Vietnamese for the Vietnamese community in Poland and Polish people who want to learn Vietnamese.

Within the framework of the working trip of the Ministry of Education and Training led by Deputy Minister Pham Ngoc Thuong, Hanoi University and Ho Chi Minh City University of Education also had working sessions with Warsaw University and the Polish National Academic Exchange Agency to exchange cooperation documents and promote bilateral cooperation in training, scientific research and academic exchange.