HIS grandson is studying at a Singapore International School and loving it, Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet said yesterday, highlighting one way in which Singapore has helped Vietnam develop.

'He likes the school very much,' Mr Triet told business representatives gathered at the Marriott Hotel to hear his advice on investing in Vietnam.

'Singapore's education system is very developed and has contributed to the development of Vietnam,' he said.

The school, located in the southern Binh Duong province, 30km north of Ho Chi Minh, is run by KinderWorld Group.

Ms Mary Xuan, deputy general director of the company's Vietnam office, told The Straits Times that Mr Triet's nine-year-old grandson, who is in Primary 4, enrolled in the school after it opened in August.

She said the school did not know who the child's grandfather was until he came to pick the boy up one day.

'He came on his own, without his bodyguards. One of our staff pointed him out - only then did we know the President's grandson is studying at our school,' Ms Xuan said.

The President, who was a schoolteacher, had discussions with Singapore leaders during his visit here on increasing bilateral cooperation in education and human resource development.

KinderWorld is one of the earliest education investors to venture into Vietnam.

From two pre-school centres in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 2000, it now has 13 schools from pre-school to pre-university level, with 3,500 students. Their curricula is a combination of the Singapore system's strengths in 'core' subjects like mathematics, and the Australian system's emphasis on 'soft' subjects such as creative thinking skills.

Ms Xuan said there is rising demand for quality education among Vietnam's 86 million people, 70 per cent of whom are younger than 40.

However, one hurdle her company faces is securing land for its plan to build 15 more schools.

'Land is getting more and more expensive and hard to obtain, especially in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi,' she said.

LEE SEOK HWAI

This article was first published in The Straits Times.