Nearly half of Cambodian students have pursued a college or university degree in Vietnam, followed by 11 percent and 10.8 percent in agriculture and economics, respectively.

The numbers were announced at a workshop held by the Ministry of Education and Training (MET) in the southern province of Tra Vinh on October 30. Participants reviewed Vietnam and Cambodia’s cooperation in education and training from 2011 to 2015.

There are about 3,000 Cambodian students currently studying in Vietnam, 600 of whom received scholarships. Around 20 to 25 percent are in postgraduate programmes.

According to the MET’s International Cooperation Department, Vietnam’s Government has provided nearly 1,050 scholarships in both short-term and long-term courses for Cambodians this year with a focus on economics, culture, science, technology, defence and security.

Every year, Cambodia offers Vietnamese officials and students 15 university scholarships and 20 others in two-year Khmer language courses.

Cambodia is now home to 200 Vietnamese students, including self-funded ones.

The two governments have worked closely with their educational institutes and foreign affairs agencies to support students after the countries inked a protocol on education cooperation five years ago.

The MET plans to ramp up Vietnamese language courses for Cambodian university students, particularly in technology, medicine and pharmacy.

VNA