-- National Instruments (NI) announces support for Sunflower Mission, a non-profit organisation that provides educational assistance to children in rural Vietnam.
-- Forty-one volunteers joined the 10th annual Sunflower Mission work camp in Hue province.
-- NI engineers facilitate a two-day robotics class for the children to inculcate engineering concepts.
SINGAPORE, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- National Instruments announced its partnership with Sunflower Mission, a non-profit organisation that provides educational assistance programmes in rural communities in Vietnam. Forty-one volunteers joined the 10th annual Sunflower Mission work camp in Hue province.
The volunteer team visited school sites in the Quang Loi and Phong Thu districts and helped complete schools, distributed medicine, interacted with local students, and contributed towards making quality education accessible to Vietnam's under-served communities. For the first time, NI engineers also conducted a two-day robotics workshop to inculcate engineering concepts through fun and interactive activities.
Using the LEGO Education WeDo robotics sets, students experienced hands-on learning with building using LEGOs bricks, fiddling with motors and sensors and then learning about programming to reinforce mechanical, electrical and software engineering concepts.
"Sunflower Mission is committed to improve the future of Vietnam, one student at a time. With the support of partners like National Instruments, we bring teaching and learning materials to communities where resources are scarce and education quality is poor," says Duy-Loan T. Le, member of the Board of Advisors of the Sunflower Mission.
Since 2004, Sunflower Mission has built over 62 classrooms in remote areas in Vietnam, and funded over 2,200 scholarship grants and subsidies to children across education levels. "Poverty in rural Vietnam is widespread. Investing our energy, time and resources in education is investing in the future of Vietnam," Le adds.
Chandran Nair, Managing Director of National Instruments in Southeast Asia, comments: "Sunflower Mission has made a significant impact in the lives of thousands of children inVietnam, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to be a partner."
NI has a solid presence in Vietnam with a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, supporting the country's research centres and booming technology sector. In partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Science Centre Singapore, NI also backs a regional training programme called the Science, Technology and Engineering Exchange Laboratory (STEEL), under which, Vietnam is one of three priority countries.
"Sunflower Mission and the STEEL programme are anchored on the same guiding principle: That if we raise the competencies of education officials and students through curriculum development and technology, and where needed, by augmenting national resources for school buildings and facilities, we can all look toward a brighter future and a more inclusively prosperous world," Nair highlights.
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SOURCE　National Instruments