Laos to Try to Bring Educational Quality Closer to International Standards !

Date: Sep 14, 2007

Laos to Try to Bring Educational Quality Closer to International Standards !

Date: Sep 14, 2007

I like this topic. This is real situation in Laos. Thank you very much to whom who posted this topic. Unlike someone, who really loves to post to picture of the schools which had been taken about 12 years ago. If they really wanted to post the countryside schools, why don't they post the current one? If you don’t have the new, I think don’t post it would better for us. Do forgive me if hurt someone, I really don’t want do either. I don't know what their purpose is. Sometimes, it seems to me they just want to give a pretext for people who live in oversea and don't know the real situation in Laos well to criticize our country.
Take the schools in another topic as example. That picture was taken probably long time ago. I have read some comments from oversea, probably from Uncle Australia and Mr. Chiip probably from France. They are really concerned and felt sad for those pictures. In fact, the real current situation is not that bad as you have seen from probably 10 years ago pictures. Yes, I would think so and want to criticize our government like they did if I don't know the real situation. Now, our villagers in each village really care about their schools for their children.
However, I am really happy with three comments in that topic. One argued that his school is not like that, probably he is young school person and cannot write much, but I am proud of him that he loves our country. That is a good kind of our new generation. The second person, I presume educated person living in oversea, wanted to defend our country saying although satiation is like that, but better than no places for studying. The third one, I think he is young but smart, suggested that Lao government needs to give a scholarship to the smart people to study being the teachers. The smart one will make school prosperous. He is right. Yes, our government really needs the smart one but not only for the teachers, for another field also. That's why in our country there is an entrance exam. From that exam we select only the smart one, hoping they will make our country prosperous. One more thing some people may not know. There is an annual plan for university to educate in each field. For example how many students need to educate to be the teachers, engineers, medicine doctors and so on? That’s why we selected from 4300 students and take only 1500 students. In another word, that was a quote for this year. The rest, it’s fair enough to study in lower level. In fact, if the non-passed entrance exam people were taken to university, they also would be able graduate. The university standard is high as much other nation. They ability is not suitable for high level. As everyone knows God gave us not the same talent. I think, they don’t mind either to study in lower level. If I cannot do it, I would accept the outcome. Everywhere it is like not only in Laos.
I would like to say the number from 43,000 students finished high schools, of that number, only 1,500 passed the entrance exams to the national university doesn’t mean our education system is declining, but we have a quota and we have chosen only the smart one so that we can bring our educational quality closer to international standard. Thank you again for your picture.

Regards,
TSP

Date: Sep 14, 2007

Thank you TSP, you are right. you said something that I want to say too. If our Gov. focus on education I think alot of students they can get a good result if they have a chance. So we should comment about advantage and how we can improved our country better in the future.

Regards,
Teacher in NUOL.

Date: Sep 14, 2007

Thank you Teacher in National University of Laos for the fact that you support me. In fact, last time I also worked there in your place, but now I am in Singapore. No wonder we have a common language. Hope to see your comment again or see you later after some years.

Regards

Date: Sep 14, 2007

sabaidee puon sahai

At least we have a Positive topic.

Date: Sep 14, 2007

The best thing to do is get rid off this stinking goverment. This communistic goverment have been in power for 32 year now and there are not many things have been developed. However, I think it is time for Laos to have at least two or three goverments to run the country. Let people can vote who they want to be thier leards and what kind of goverment to govern the country. Let the Lao people vote, which goverment, democracy or communist that they want to . Just like I had said, this Lao communist goverment are not a real goverment. They are a bully and gangster.

FOREVER

Date: Sep 14, 2007

Unlike someone, who really loves to post to picture of the schools which had
been taken about 12 years ago. If they really wanted to post the
countryside schools, why don't they post the current one? If you don’t
have the new, I think don’t post it would better for us.

Right now, there are still schools in the rural areas that look like those in the pictures in the other topic. The school in my friends' village in Udomxai province is like that, & I have seen similar schools when I travelled to Bokeo, Luang Namtha, Udomxai, Phongsaly & Luang Prabang provinces in December 2006.

A 2006 video of a school in a village 3 hours away from my friends' village:

An earlier video of another village school: http://seaif.typepad.com/seaif_weblog/2007/09/ban-tha-din-dae.html

(These videos are not mine, but filmed by people who donated to the schools.)

The villagers do care about their children's education, but it can be difficult for them to improve things when they are faced with multiple problems at the same time (e.g. many families in my friends' village had their fields destroyed by floods). So you still see schools like that...

But at the same time I also visited high schools & colleges in Luang Prabang & Vientiane that have much better facilities & resources. I saw both the current campus & the building site for the new campus of Souphanouvong University - really a world of difference :)

I met university students from Phongsaly, Houa Panh & Savannakhet who were able to live & study in Luang Prabang or Vientiane because they had received scholarships from the Lao government, & they really impressed me :) But there are others who are not as lucky, one friend had to borrow money to get the application form for NUOL, others didn't apply to sit the entrance exam as even if they passed it, they wouldn't be able to afford the tuition. There are also students who don't have the time & resources to prepare for the entrance exams because they have to work to support themselves & their families & can't afford textbooks. Just hope that in the future there will be more scholarships available, so that more deserving students will have a chance :)

Date: Sep 14, 2007

Sabaidee puon sahai

I think the fellow named FOREVER is a mad person or a bastard. He said that Lao should run by many parties, that DIVIDED, and where you see many parties run the country, he talked trash. I bet he fully comprehend about MUTIPLE PARTIES, what does it need to make it really work? I want him to take a look at EAST TIMOR because this country was run by many parties and let him tell us what did he see in EAST TIMOR right now.
Stop write and talk rubbish ' BUCK HAR MUNG' biggrin

Date: Sep 15, 2007

Yes, I really appreciate the idea that all students should get scholarship or can study in university, I also got used to think like that and I must accept that you are right. I respect your thinking. But then when I look around the world and see nowhere unfortunately all people would be able to study in university even in developed countries such as USA, British, France, Australia, Japan, China and the like. You see, not only in our country the government cannot afford to give scholarships to all students, pursuing higher education. The idea that you have is socialist or communist ideal where people should be equaled. Unfortunately, that idea would never have happened soon. Even God cannot give us the same opportunity: some are beautiful, but some are ugly; some are rich, but some are poor; some are perfect, but some are unperfected: gay for example; and the worst case: some even cannot hear and see our world. Oh God why?????

Thanks to Australia people, especially Eloung who has sister in Pakse, who are always optimists to see the bright future of Laos. No doubt, our government is real and the one that we accept and respect, and that we will forever.

Never mind, let people talk rubbish, one day they stop talking, we hope that they are also educated and know how to think. They have their brains, please use them. No one needs a war. Lao people love peace, but not war. When you talk about communist, I assume, you know nothing about communist. I tell you what. “According to theory, the communism or socialism is the community where people are equaled: no poor, no rich, where people are happy with their life, even they do not work, but they still enjoy with their life”. But now our country is not communism, but we hope one day we can succeed. Please do know about that and don't be just a child repeating someone's words.
Please do forgive me if I hurt someone, I really don’t want to do, believe me.

Regards

Date: Sep 15, 2007

BUCK HAR MUNG, I think you are an idiot. Don't start it punk. furious

FOREVER

Date: Sep 15, 2007

Laos is already divided, one party or ten, it is already split over the oceans reaching into Europe and America. It is split between those who want to make things better and feel the best way to do this is to hold the elite modern bits of laos up as an example of how everything else should be (but isn't yet), and those who want to make things better and feel the best way to do this is to hold the poor marginalised bits if Laos up as an example so they don't get left behind (which some are). It is divided between people who don't know anything about history and who think new is necessarily better regardless of what it is, and people who know too much about history and cannot see that many of the new things in Laos are indeed actually better. It is divided between many ethnic groups who have very unequal access to the modernity that the government is trying hard to produce in Laos. It is divided between men, who dominate politics, and women who are still trying to find their way out of the kitchen and into positions of leadership. It is divided between kids with opportunity to study overseas, work in development or government or business and feel strongly about their country, and kids with no opportunity who drop out of school, break their backs as contract labourers or forget the **** struggle of their lives by taking methampethamines and probably don't even know where Laos is (regardless of whether they live in Illinois or Savannakhet). Laos is divided between Party leaders who see China as the new best ally and those who maintain close links with Vietnam, and those who see the new investment and aid from the West and Japan as a protection against other countries in the region who just want to strip Laos of its natural resources and leave. It is divided between the oldies who struggled against America and the newbies who now do business with America. Laos, the contemporary state-society that we live in now, is ultimately the product of a 19th century decision to accept a 'divide' that corresponded to no actual social reality. When the French fired canon rounds from their gunboat over the top of the palace in Bangkok a hundred and twenty years ago to force an agreement to turn the Mekong into a river boundary, they created the place called Laos that exists today, and would have been a part of Thailand if they hadn't done so. Laos 'is' division. Its great challenge is to find united purpose in such diversity, and not see differences of opinion and differences of experience as being bad things, but instead as things that enrich a place and provide the basis for a peaceful, tolerant society.

Date: Sep 15, 2007

Buck FOREVER piss off who do you think you are called lao people bully gangster biggrin

People get into your nerve....look at what you wrote you did not even understand what you have written....you are an real idiot not other people....let me tell you even in USA only 1 party which won election runs the country not many parties in power as you have said. Go and MALAKA. In France, England or Spain ( now has socialist government ) you see there are many parties compete for the throne but only 1 party rule country. He is crazy.

Date: Sep 15, 2007

Why are you talking rubbish? Lao people have never divided. We are always united under our government leadership. I don't understand what are you talking about?

No doubt, Lao people holding foreign passports are not Lao citizen. You are a Lao race person, but you are an American citizen; you are a Lao race, but you are a French person by citizen and so on. You are not counted to be Lao people. You are American, French people. Please don't forget that.

To FOREVER, my father always teaches me:" If you want other people respect you, you should respect them." I suppose you are an educated person and please don't disappoint me. Be polite and don't be rude, otherwise you are not suitable to be an American man, The American people are polite and reasonable, as far as I know. At the end I want to remind you: "According to American Law, its citizen is forbade to interfere an affairs of other country, you know that?"

Date: Sep 15, 2007

"we are always united under our government leadership" - what ****farm of ideological dribble did you crawl out of? You are a pathetic mindless follower who wouldn't know what most Lao people thought about their country if you had it broadcast on a loudspeaker as it was shoved up your tight little arsehole. Crawl off and look for a politburo nob to suck you little freak.

Date: Sep 15, 2007

Hey, to the guy who says people without citizenship are not counted to be Lao, i totally disagree that citizenship has anything to do with 'belonging' to a culture or having Lao identity. Citizenship can be purchased with money by people who are 'not' Lao - there are lots of chinese and vietnamese and even falang citizens of Laos, so to be Lao is not to be a Lao citizen. Laoness is unable to be controlled by any government. I admire your committment to the current regime and I do not doubt your sincere desire to build the Lao nation into a strong one, but I do think you need to open your mind a bit, because if you did then you might be much more useful that you are being at the moment. I am not expecting a constructive response to this comment because you are on the defensive against those silly anti-government types in america, but i do think you should look at countries that have a 'multi-cultural' system and start thinking about how Laos can become a little more open and flexible.

paris_vientiane · Guru

Anonymous wrote:

Laos is already divided, one party or ten, it is already split over the oceans reaching into Europe and America.
- It is split between those who want to make things better and feel the best way to do this is to hold the elite modern bits of laos up as an example of how everything else should be (but isn't yet), and those who want to make things better and feel the best way to do this is to hold the poor marginalised bits if Laos up as an example so they don't get left behind (which some are).
- It is divided between people who don't know anything about history and who think new is necessarily better regardless of what it is, and people who know too much about history and cannot see that many of the new things in Laos are indeed actually better.
- It is divided between many ethnic groups who have very unequal access to the modernity that the government is trying hard to produce in Laos.
- It is divided between men, who dominate politics, and women who are still trying to find their way out of the kitchen and into positions of leadership.
- It is divided between kids with opportunity to study overseas, work in development or government or business and feel strongly about their country, and kids with no opportunity who drop out of school, break their backs as contract labourers or forget the **** struggle of their lives by taking methampethamines and probably don't even know where Laos is (regardless of whether they live in Illinois or Savannakhet).
- Laos is divided between Party leaders who see China as the new best ally and those who maintain close links with Vietnam, and those who see the new investment and aid from the West and Japan as a protection against other countries in the region who just want to strip Laos of its natural resources and leave.
- It is divided between the oldies who struggled against America and the newbies who now do business with America.

Laos, the contemporary state-society that we live in now, is ultimately the product of a 19th century decision to accept a 'divide' that corresponded to no actual social reality. When the French fired canon rounds from their gunboat over the top of the palace in Bangkok a hundred and twenty years ago to force an agreement to turn the Mekong into a river boundary, they created the place called Laos that exists today, and would have been a part of Thailand if they hadn't done so. Laos 'is' division. Its great challenge is to find united purpose in such diversity, and not see differences of opinion and differences of experience as being bad things, but instead as things that enrich a place and provide the basis for a peaceful, tolerant society.

wow.... very very interesting comment, thx!

I don't see anything "talking rubbish" in this comment.... you just point out some differences between lao people's thoughts, points of view and situations... You just describe a reality that is nor good or bad, but just natural: it's impossible in a country to have everyone agree about everything... or this would mean people just don't think by themselves! Maybe "divided between" hurt some people because it's a strong word, and you should use "composed of", but the main meaning is the same.

People can be united despite their differences, as long as they share some common main values. That's the basis of any country! But the risk in the case of a "developing" country like Laos, where everything changes very fast, is that some people change their values too ("respect others" can become just "make more money", "respect nature" become "consume always more"... and so on), and this could destroy the unity of the country. That's why I think it's very important to preserve the main values of the culture while developping and modernizing the country!

-- Edited by paris_vientiane at 10:14, 2007-09-15

Date: Sep 15, 2007

Hi people in America,

I am Mr. Kid or just I am Kid. I am a first year student of Lao-American College in Vientiane. I don't know much English. May I ask you something say for example: I introduce myself "I am Lao".
What or how would you introduce yourself " You are American? or you are Lao?"
My friend told me you should introduce yourself like my college name, that means "You are Lao-American", but I don't believe him since there is no such country on earth.

So thank you American people for answer in advance.

With highly respect,
Kid