More than 110 ethnic minority students were honoured at a ceremony inHanoi on Nov. 1 for the outstanding achievements they recorded atnational academic contests and the university entrance exams in 2014.

The ceremony was co-organised by the Government’sCommittee on Ethnic Minority Affairs and the Vietnam News Agency incoordination with the Ministry of Education and Training, VietnamTelevision and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s CentralCommittee.

Addressing the event, Deputy PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praised the great efforts of the studentsthemselves as well as the dedication of their teachers so that thestudents from disadvantaged areas could have made the accomplishments.

He took the occasion to stress the importance ofeducation in sustainable poverty reduction, especially inethnic-inhabited and mountainous areas.

DeputyMinister and Vice Chairman of the Committee on Ethnic Minority AffairsNong Quoc Tuan, who is also head of the ceremony’s organising board,said the education and training sector in ethnic and mountainous areashas reaped significant fruits in improving people’s knowledge, traininghuman resources and nurturing talents over the past years.

He reported that the country has a total of 304 ethnic boardingschools, which have cultivated many outstanding ethnic students.

He said the committee will continue partnering with ministries,branches and social organisations to mobilise all resources forinvestment in education and training in ethnic and mountainous areas in abid to narrow the gap of education.-VNA