Nguyen Van Khoa, deputy director of Nghe An Province Department of Education and Training, Nguyen Ba Luan, country president of Cargill in Vietnam and delegates at the ceremony to hand over the Van Thanh primary school in Nghe An Province on December 11. — VNS Photo

Cargill opened its 100th school in the country in Nghe An Province’s Yen Thanh District on December 11.

The US company started its Vietnam School Building Project in 1996 with the stated goal of building 100 schools in rural areas by 2020 to help increase access to education, improve student enrolment and teacher retention in rural communities.

Van Thanh primary school is in a commune with a long-standing tradition of relying on agriculture. More than four decades old and with limited resources in the underprivileged community, its building had severely deteriorated and it lacked teaching equipment.

Cargill undertook its renovation, building nine new large classrooms, toilets, playgrounds, a front gate, and fencing.

It can now admit nearly 250 students from grades one to five.

The construction cost VND3.05 billion (US$131,850).

Nguyen Ba Luan, country president of Cargill in Vietnam, said: “Empowering local Vietnamese communities for a more prosperous future has been our aspiration, and we believe one of the best ways to achieve it is by promoting quality education for the next generation.

“This will open a new chapter for us to expand this meaningful programme over the years to come to regions that still lack educational facilities.”

The employee-led Cargill Cares Council, which has since 1997 raised around VND130 billion (over $5.6 million) to build schools, now has a new ambitious goal of building 150 of them by 2030. — VNS