A vocational training course for 50 street children in Hanoi funded by the Citibank Fund, opened on September 25. Total funding for the course, the third of its kind, will be US$15,000.

During the three-month course, the children will receive training in hotel services, refrigeration equipment repairs and welding.

The Citibank Fund has so far granted roughly US$44,000 to help provide vocational training for 132 street children in Hanoi. All the children who attended the first two courses have found jobs.

Statistics released by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs show that there are now around 21,000 street children in Vietnam, mainly in major cities such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.