Sourced from the ADB’s Asian Development Fund, the loan covers about 79 percent of the project's total cost of US$43.18 million, said the bank on January 9. The Vietnamese government will contribute US$9.18 million to the project.

The ADB loan has a 32-year term, including a grace period of eight years. Interest is charged at one percent per annum during the grace period and 1.5 percent per annum for the rest of the term.

The project, known as the Upper Secondary and Professional Teacher Development project, will finance the training of teachers and the collection and analysis of education data.

The project will help secondary school teachers improve their skills and assist ethnic minority groups, especially women, to gain better access to quality training programs for teachers through scholarships, dormitories and enhanced facilities.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training will supervise the project, due for completion by 2012.

Vietnam is expected to need around 58,000 quality secondary teachers by 2010. As the country is growing faster than any other Southeast Asian nation, the Vietnamese Government wants to improve its quality of education to maintain economic growth and competitiveness.