HSBC Vietnam and Dariu Foundation, a Swiss non-governmental organization, inaugurated a floating school, carried by a ship, in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long on Saturday.  

The ship carrying the school, the first of its kind in Vietnam, was docked in Vung Liem District during the inaugural ceremony yesterday.

This school is equipped with 36 laptops to offer local students free courses in basic computer skills, including the use of Microsoft Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the Internet.

It will also provide Vinh Long students with guidelines about how to manage personal spending, make savings, and plan their own finance.

Students at Ho Duc Thang Middle School, located in the district’s Thanh Binh Commune, are the first to benefit from this floating school as about 300 of them have signed up for one such course that will run three times a week, with each class lasting for two hours.

The floating school will move to other islet communes of Vung Liem as well as remote districts in other Mekong Delta provinces after the first course is finished, according to Nguyen Van Hanh, director of the Vietnam branch of Dariu Foundation. 

Hanh added that the school aims to train roughly 1,200 students each year via four courses.

The floating school is part of a project funded by HSBC in three years with a total budget of more than VND7 billion (US$333,000).