A high school based in Moscow, Russia, sought support for launching Vietnamese-language courses for Russians during a meeting between its delegation and Vietnamese diplomats in Hanoi on February 27.

The headmistress of High School 282, Irina Egorova, told Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son that her school needs Vietnamese textbooks and native Vietnamese teachers who are proficient in Russian.

Ms Egorova said her school launched a "Learning Vietnamese" movement in August 2008 and set up a Museum of Vietnamese Culture to introduce the country and its people.

High School 282 attracts the highest number of children of overseas Vietnamese in Russia. It frequently helps the Vietnamese community in Russia to learn Vietnamese and treats Vietnamese pupils the same as Russian pupils. All school fees are paid by the city of Moscow.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Son, who also heads the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (COVA), welcomed the visit to Vietnam by the High School 282 delegation and said that Vietnam has developed many projects to promote the Vietnamese language and culture among international friends.