VietNamNet Bridge – A floating school, the first of this kind in Vietnam, with one classroom and modern equipment, has been put into operation in the Mekong Delta Vinh Long Province.

The floating school just put into operation in Vinh Long Province. -- Photo: DanTriNews

The mobile school project costs a total of 1.2 billion VND (57,140 USD) and received support from the Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corporation in Vietnam (HSBC Vietnam) and Dariu Vietnam, a Swiss non-governmental organisation, according to the Dan Tri online newspaper.

The school aboard a wooden ship has 36 laptops in addition to the normal classroom equipment.

According to HSBC, a total of ten mobile schools will help provide computer access to disadvantaged youth as well as lessons in computer skills and financial literacy. They will help transform the lives of local children living long distances away from local schools in the Mekong Delta, which is home to a large network of rivers and channels.

Students from Ho Duc Thang Secondary School in Vung Liem District is the first to benefit from the classroom.

“The classroom is great. I can use new and modern computers with connections to the internet,” Nguyen Thi Thuy Vi, a 7th-grade student at Ho Duc Thang Secondary School, was quoted by the online newspaper as saying.

The project is very helpful for remote and disadvantaged areas in the Mekong Delta. It will help to improve access to modern technology, particularly because the schools are mobile and can serve a number of areas. Nguyen Van Sy, Headmaster of Ho Duc Thang Secondary School.

According to Pham Tuan Anh, the project's manager, the school will be docked in Thanh Binh District for six months to provide two IT courses for local students, after which it will be moved to Quoi Thieu Commune and then to Tien Giang Province, then on to other localities in the region.

Source: Vietnam Plus