Last Updated: Tuesday, November 4, 2008 12:57:51 Vietnam (GMT+07)
Home schooling
Lao students study in a Vietnamese language class at a Ho Chi Minh City Pre-University school
After leaving his home country over a year ago, Lao student Pheupbouda Khounkeo thinks of his new Vietnamese teachers and fellow students as family.
“[Vietnamese] teachers are like my second parents,” said Pheupbouda, who came to Vietnam to complete a one-year pre-university course at the Pre-University School in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5.
Despite not speaking Vietnamese before moving abroad, the ambitious student can now speak the language fluently after taking a one-year course at the school.
After finishing daily classes, several Vietnamese students assist Pheupbouda with his Vietnamese language studies and also help him to integrate into the community.
Pheupbouda is among more than 200 Lao students, including graduate students, studying in HCMC under a cooperation agreement between the city and the Lao government.
Overwhelmingly, the Lao students report being impressed with the friendliness and warmth of the Vietnamese people, especially the teachers and students.
“[Vietnamese] teachers are kind-hearted, always trying their best to help foreign students like us understand lessons,” said Snan Sidavong, who studied at the Hanoi Finance Institute and is now preparing to take a master’s program at the HCMC University of Economics.
“One teacher visited the dormitory for Lao students to check whether the rooms had enough equipment or not,” Snan said.
The teacher even made special efforts to hire Vietnamese instructors for the Lao freshmen on weekends, Snan added.
“Teachers always try to explain lessons to me when I do not understand,” said Kham Xiem, a senior student completing a BA program in Vietnamese for foreigners at the HCMC University of Education.
Kham’s classmate, Panith Sen Phan Xong, said “I have never been absent from class, because I am always grateful to teachers for their help.”
“When my leg was broken in an accident last July, I had to stop for one semester to return to my home country,” Panith said. “When I returned to class, the teachers took me to another class to study some subjects I had missed and helped me keep pace with my classmates.”
Vietnamese teachers also helped Lao students obtain visas and passports, Panith said.
Before entering a university in Vietnam, Lao students must take a one-year language course in Vietnamese. After completing the course, most students can communicate in Vietnamese but still struggle to comprehend lectures.
But Lao students said their Vietnamese counterparts were always willing to help them with things they didn’t understand.
Snan said his Vietnamese classmate Nguyen Thi Huong, who now works for a bank in the northern port city of Hai Phong, would explain Vietnamese words and help him review his studies before tests.
“Vietnamese students also help us search for materials,” said Lao graduate student Lop pha lac who is taking an MA program at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education.
When they do not understand what Vietnamese teachers say, Lao students often borrow Vietnamese students’ notebooks or have their classmates explain the lectures to them.
“Without Vietnamese students’ help, our Vietnamese language skills cannot be improved,” said Sit Bouttivong, who is completing a master’s degree in industrial management at the HCMC University of Economics.
Traditionally, Laos found its security in close ties with Vietnam. Their "special relationship" can be traced back to the 1930s when the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) were fighting together against the French for their independence. These intimate links enabled Vietnam to exercise a controlling influence over the Lao communist movement, and put a strain on Lao-Chinese relations, particularly after Vientiane supported Hanoi's occupation of Cambodia in 1978.
Toward the end of the Cold War, Laos sought to reduce its dependence on Vietnam and reached out to more economically advanced countries to help rejuvenate the moribund economy. After diplomatic normalisation in 1988, China overwhelmed Laos with financial and technical assistance in an attempt to pull Vientiane into its orbit. The rise of China's soft power has compelled Vietnam to revise its strategy in order to maintain its influence in Laos. This was where China and Vietnam's tug of war over Laos began.
In October this year, Nong Duc Manh, secretary-general of the Communist Party of Vietnam, paid a visit to Vientiane ostensibly to strengthen bilateral ties and to offset growing Chinese influence. He reiterated his country's contribution to the Lao economy. Statistically, their two-way trade stood at US$2.2 billion from 1999-2005. In 2005 alone, it was valued at US$165 million, up 15.4 per cent from the previous year.
Vietnam is also one of the largest investors in Laos with 69 projects worth US$500 million, and continues to facilitate the transportation of Lao goods heading to other countries.
The Vietnamese leader also highlighted the traditional bond of solidarity between the two Parties, the LPRP and the VCP, by using terms such as "the victory of the struggle for national independence" and "security and development of the two countries" in his discussions with his Lao counterpart. This linguistic precision, of historical importance, was employed to remind elderly LPRP cadres not to forget Hanoi's place in Lao policy.
Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun
Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun is an independent writer based in Singapore.
