The Hoa Trang Nguyen Award for outstanding academic performance in 2008-09 was conferred on 852 high-school students from 27 northern provinces and cities.

President Nguyen Minh Triet presents the Hoa Trang Nguyen Award to last year’s outstanding students in Hanoi on September 13 (Photo: SGGP)

Of them, 65 were the toppers in university entrance exams and 15 won prizes at student Olympiads.

Scholarships to learn foreign languages were also awarded to many of the winners at the awards ceremony held in Hanoi on September 13.

President Nguyen Minh Triet, who graced the function, expressed delight at the winners’ achievements.

He exhorted them to overcome all challenges and ascend to the top of the knowledge ladder.

Studies must be accompanied by practice, knowledge at school must be connected with the needs of the society, and the methods of learning must be dynamic and creative, he said.

The Party and State have trust in the young generation’s ability to develop Vietnam into a more beautiful and prosperous country, he added.

The award is also set to be conferred on 195 others in the central region and 608 in southern provinces at similar ceremonies to be held later this month.

VietNamNet/SGGP