VietNamNet Bridge – Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan has urged the HCM City-based University of Law to ensure students are exposed to legal practice in addition to theoretical learning.

The school should establish links with courts and departments of justice in various provinces, she said.

"Students should be equipped with skills to be able to judge cases with international elements."

She also urged the school to help resolve problems arising in the justice system and play an active role in reforming the judiciary.

In an interaction with the students later, she advised them to work hard, read a lot.

"Do not ever complain when you are not clear about the cause."

She gave away scholarships worth VND2 million (US$95) each to 15 poor students with outstanding academic records.

She was accompanied by Hua Ngoc Thuan, deputy chairman of the City People's Committee, and the two were warmly greeted by hundreds of students and teachers.

Dr Mai Hong Quy, the University's rector, said the school aimed to become the premier law institution in the south, establish links with foreign counterparts, and contribute to judiciary reform.

* No decision on moving 12 universities

The Ministry of Education and Training has yet to ratify a proposal to move 12 universities to the outskirts of the capital city, said Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga.

The proposal to move universities aims to ease Ha Noi's high population density.

* High food prices force school, kinder meals up

The increasing prices of food is posing a challenge to not only families but also primary schools and kindergartens.

Market prices soared by 40-60 per cent since December last year. The price of cabbage increased from VND9,500 ($0.4) to VND13,000 ($0.65) a kilo, while beef price increased from VND100,000 ($5) to VND120,000 ($6).

Most primary schools in Ha Noi had to charge about VND17,000 ($0.85) for each student's meal, an increase of about 13 per cent against the first term and 50-70 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Principal Hoang Hong Thuy at Lang Thuong Primary School said that the current price could hardly be considered enough to pay for a decent meal.

Le Kim Oanh, principal of the Ly Thuong Kiet Primary School in Hoan Kiem District, also agrees.

"I think the cost is the minimum amount needed to ensure the nutritional demands for students," she said.

We must make sure that the meals we serve at schools provide children with 50-60 per cent of the calories they need per day, she added.

According to Le Hong Van, principal at Not Nhac Vui Private Kindergarten in Thanh Xuan District, the school's leaders are faced with many decisions.

The school has charged VND16,000 ($0.8) since the beginning of this school year, but with the current market prices, "we aren't charging enough," she said.

"We have not increased the fees because we cannot impose a new fee during the middle of the school year," said Van.

While some parents are willing to pay more, parents that earn low incomes are worried about paying higher prices.

Lam Thi Dan, a housewife, said parents who earn lower incomes would feel less burdened if kindergartens provided their children with meals without increasing the price.

"If the school increases prices, I would make my son take lunch to school. I simply can't afford to pay the higher amount," she said.

But for some schools in the city's centre, where most of children's parents are more well off, the situation is not dire.

Nguyen Thi Dung, who overseas the food supply sector at Cat Linh Kindergarten in Dong Da District, said the school would not face any difficulties, even if prices increased.

Do Huyen Thanh, an accountant whose four-year-old daughter attends Cat Linh Kindergarten, said, "It's reasonable to increase these charges, because we all know that prices are increasing. We want our children to have adequate and healthy meals."

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News