HA NOI — Kieu Thuy Van of the Thach That high school won the special prize at the final round of the Ha Noi Millennium English Contest, jointly held by Apollo English and the Department of Education and Training of Ha Noi, sponsored by Nokia Ovi-Chat, which took place yesterday in Ha Noi. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram of the Ha Noi-Amsterdam high school received first prize, Nguyen Thai Hoang of the Thang Long high school achieved second prize and Nguyen Hong Hanh and Nguyen Le Van Anh, both from the Son Tay high school, shared third prize.
Nguyen Huu Do, director of the Department of Education and Training of Ha Noi, said at the event, "The Ha Noi Millennium English Contest is one of the activities aimed at implementing the National Foreign Languages Programme 2020 and celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of the city."
The contest was an opportunity for Vietnamese pupils to explore Ha Noi's 1,000-year history and culture and improve their English communication skills. It also helps to encourage pupils' learning spirits, and thus widen their knowledge of both the English language and other cultural values, said Do
Khalid Muhmood, chairman of Apollo English, said after the final contest, "We are honoured to create a playground for pupils and it is also an opportunity for them to express their love of Ha Noi. We hope that there will be more educationally meaningful playgrounds like this for young people in Viet Nam."
Also in the final round, another first prize was presented to the Nguyen Hue high school for best musical performance to celebrate the 1,000-year old Ha Noi, among the 10 schools which had the largest number of candidates in the first round.
This contest was officially launched in May and has attracted nearly 2,000 students from more than 100 high schools in Ha Noi. — VNS