Government loans benefit 2 million poor students

More than two million poor students across Viet Nam have benefited from a Government low-interest loan scheme over the last three years, according to a report released at a meeting in Ha Noi on Thusday, March 10.

Student loans totalling more than VND24 trillion (US$1.2 billion) have helped children from 1.7 million families living in poverty keep up with their studies at universities and colleges since the 2007-08 academic year.

Under the credit scheme, the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies offers loans of up to VND800,000 ($40) per month for students at a monthly interest rate of 0.5 per cent, which is far lower than commercial loans. Students also do not have to start repaying their debts until 4 months after they graduate from university.

The bank should have enough resources to offer student loans until the end of next year, before it starts to recoup money from older beneficiaries to help the next generation of students in 2013.

Le Thi Linh, a farmer from Thanh Ba District in the northern province of Phu Tho, said that without the financial support, her daughter would not have been able to go to college.

Her daughter, Le Thi Huong, who is a second-year student of the provincial Economics College, has borrowed VND24 million ($1,200) from the bank for her first two years' study.

"As a single mum with two daughters, how could I afford her tuition fees (over $3 million per year) on my own?" said Linh.

"This Government scheme means a lot to my family."

World Glaucoma Week in Vietnam

The Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO) has organised various activities to mark World Glaucoma Week from March 6-13, including providing free eye checks-up and medicines for 100 patients at the VNIO, and information about glaucoma for patients and their relatives.  

Glaucoma is the second largest cause of blindness, after cataract, in most countries over the world, including Vietnam.

Experts forecast that the number of glaucoma patients will increase significantly in the next few years and will reach around 80 million patients in 2020. The growing number of blind people is put down to a population boom as most of them live in developing countries, especially in rural areas with poor eye care services.

In Vietnam, according to a survey conducted by the VNIO in 16 provinces and cities in 2007, the number of blind people accounted for 3.1 percent of population, and around 25,000 blind people were caused by glaucoma.

Dao Thi Lam Huong, head of the Glaucoma Department of the VNIO, said around 95 percent of interviewees knew nothing or little about glaucoma.

If cataract patient can be treated to regain sight glaucoma will cause blindness forever. In addition, glaucoma is a hereditary disease so its patients and their relatives should be fully aware of the disease to get timely treatment.

Those who are easy to catch glaucoma include over 35-year old people, relatives of glaucoma patients, people who use corticoid for a long time and diabetic and hypertensive patients.

First transformer produced

The first made-in-Viet Nam 500 kV transformer is ready to be put into operation, Tran Van Quang, general director of the Dong Anh Electrical Equipment Manufacturing Joint Stock Company (EEMC) said on March 9.

Quang said that his company and the Institute of Energy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade had finished the final tests on the machinery.

Viet Nam was the only South East Asian nation to succeed in producing this kind of transformer, he said.

The first locally-made VND118 billion (US$5.4 million) transformer would be installed and operate at the 500kV Station in Nho Quan District in the northern province of Ninh Binh, Quang said.

To produce the machine, EEMC had sent skilled workers and management and technical staff to work at local and foreign transformer stations to learn and exchange production experiences.

Few countries are capable of manufacturing 500kV transformers, including Germany, France, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea and China; and their import prices were very high, the director added.

The EEMC was 25-30 per cent cheaper to produce than the imported products of similar quality, meaning the 500kV transformer production would help save State spending, contribute to reducing the trade deficit and improve the efficiency of the country's electricity sector, he stressed.

Central Highlands get gifts, scholarships

Vietnam News Agency and Vinacafe Bien Hoa Joint Stock Company on March 9 presented gifts and scholarships worth VND230 million (US$11,500) to needy people at Map Village in Eapok Town in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highland) province of Dak Lak's Cý M'gar District.

Ten scholarships, each valued at VND5 million ($250), were awarded to ethnic disadvantaged schoolchildren who are attending school or had to drop out halfway due to their families' financial difficulties.

Thirty poor ethnic households each received VND5 million as support to buy fertiliser and pesticide while 300 households were presented with gifts each worth VND100,000.

The village is home to 393 households, 79 of which are listed as poor with six being Kinh ethnic group and the remainder being Ede ethnic group.

Fishing boat with 12 crew on board rescued

Twelve Vietnamese fishermen were rescued by a fishing boat from the Philippines on March 9, according to Duc Pho District People's Committee

The Vietnamese vessel, owned by a local resident, Nguyen Van Tam, was damaged after hitting a rock in the East Sea on March 8.

Former US parliamentarians make fact-finding tour of dioxin-affected areas

The US parliamentarians have made fact-finding tour of dioxin-affected areas at Da Nang Airport.

VNN/VOV/VNS