The function was to celebrate the 110th founding anniversary of the University of Indochina (May 16, 1906), which is now the Vietnam National University (VNU) in Hanoi.
Prof. Vu Minh Giang, head of VNU’s science and training council, said when France set up the University of Indochina, it was to train local intelligentsia for positions in its ruling system.
The University of Indochina can be considered the start of modern education in Vietnam and a milestone in the development of local education, he added.
At the symposium, French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean Noel Poirier said the establishment of the university put an end to a reign lasting over a millennium of education based on Chinese Nom characters (the Vietnamese script derived from Chinese characters) in Vietnam.
The school provided opportunities for the then researchers to join in the community of international scientists, he added, noting famous Vietnamese scholars of the school such as Nguyen Van To, Nguyen Van Huyen, Tran Van Giau, and Dao Duy Anh.
Prof. Giang said VNU was set up in 1993 and inherited many features from the University of Indochina. It has strongly developed over the past decades and is a symbol of Vietnam in the global tertiary system.
