English-language teacher Ha Anh Phuong (Photo: globalteacherprize.org)
The 29-year-old is the first teacher from Vietnam and also the youngest to enter this year’s top 10 list, along with her colleagues from Italy, Brazil, the UK, the US, South Africa, Nigeria, India, Malaysia, and the Republic of Korea, reported VNA.
The teacher of the Muong ethnic group was among the 50 finalists in March.
Most students of the Huong Can High School are of ethnic minority groups. Phuong has helped her students connect with their peers in schools worldwide via information technology, and promoted the “borderless classroom” model among her colleagues.
She also takes an active part in televised courses and helps other teachers in online teaching in the context of COVID-19.
The Global Teacher Prize, awarded annually by the Varkey Foundation, seeks to acknowledge impact of the very best teachers, not only on their students but also on the communities around them.
Last year, Tran Thi Thuy, a teacher at Duc Hop High School in northern Hung Yen province, was named in the 50 finalists.
Storm Vamco downgraded, makes landfall
Storm Vamco quickly weakened before slamming into the central region of Vietnam on November 15, according to the National Centre of Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.
At 06.00am on November 15, Vamco was churning near the coast from Quang Binh to Thua Thien-Hue provinces, packing winds of 60-90kph, much lower than November 14’s 135-165kph.
In the next three hours, Vamco is forecast to make landfall at a speed of 15kph, move further inland and weaken into a tropical depression.
However, Vamco is expected to bring another round of flooding rainfall and tidal surges to the region which has been devastated by a number of subsequent storms and depressions during the past one and a half months, meteorologists warned.
Heavy rain is expected to cause flooding in parts of the central region, particularly in provinces from Nghe An to Quang Tri, with rainfall of 150-200mm or even higher.
Local authorities have evacuated hundreds of thousands of residents from low-lying areas to higher ground before Vamco hit the region.
As the region has been repeatedly inundated by heavy rain since the start of October, flooding and landslides are likely to recur following Vamco’s landfall.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a dispatch, demanding urgent actions be taken in response to approaching Storm Vamco.
Requesting focus on measures to cope with this storm, the PM asked ministries, sectors, and related localities to continue calling on vessels at sea to move out of dangerous areas and take shelter while ensuring safety for people and vehicles involved in oil and gas exploration and exploitation, aquaculture, fishing, and other activities at sea.
Some Vietnamese airlines have decided to reschedule flights to/from the central region on November 14 and 15 as airports there will be closed due to Storm Vamco.
Netherlands increases imports of Vietnamese peppers and cashew nuts
Despite the Netherlands moving to reduce its pepper imports from most major supply sources, Vietnam's market share of peppers as part of total imports to the European country increased from 48.2% during the first seven months of last year to 55.8% this year, according to data released by the European Statistics Agency (Eurostat).
The VOV quoted that , most notably, the Netherlands imported 4,570 tonnes of pepper worth US$15.5 million from the nation throughout the reviewed period, representing an annual decline of 1.7% in volume and 9.2% in value.
Simultaneously, the Netherlands’ imports from Brazil recorded a plunge of 41% in volume and 41.4% in value, with the South American country’s market share as part of the Netherlands’ total imports suffering a drop from 26.4% last year to 18.3% this year.
With regard to cashew products, the Netherlands imported 27,000 tonnes of cashew nuts worth US$191.63 million from Vietnam during the seven-month period, representing a rise of 53.9% in volume and 29.4% in value from the same period last year, according to the International Trade Commission.
Furthermore, Vietnamese market share of cashew nuts as part of the Netherlands’ total imports of the product increased sharply from 68.1% during the first seven months of last year to 77.9% this year.
Moreover, the Netherlands’s imports of cashew nuts from India in the reviewed period fell sharply by 31.8% in volume and 38.6% in value, with India’s market share in the European country’s total imports dropping from 18.1% last year to a figure of 9.2% this year.