Activities

I participated in the Campus Asia Plus Program’s short-term training program at the National University of Laos, which in 2023 included not only Kobe University students but also students from Fudan University and Korea University in China. The program lasted for four weeks. During the first week, the participants attended intensive lectures at the National University of Laos and deepened their knowledge of the Laotian economy from macro and micro perspectives. The second and third weeks of the program were spent doing an internship at the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Lao PDR. During the internship, we visited various departments of the Ministry of Education and international organizations such as the World Bank, UNICEF, and UNESCO to hear about the latest educational issues in Laos and their efforts to solve them. In addition, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Sports, we distributed questionnaires and interviewed teachers at four public elementary schools in the capital Vientiane. The fieldwork was conducted mainly at six public elementary schools in Kasi, Vientiane. During this fieldwork, we were able to deepen our understanding of the current state of education in Laos, which was not clear from previous research, such as seeing ethnic minority children who could not read Lao on the Questionnaire. Based on the experience of this training, I will devote myself to research so that I can contribute to solving educational issues in Laos.

　In closing, I would like to thank the professors of the National University of Laos who gave us lectures, Mr. Anoupheng Keovongsa, Deputy Director General of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Education and Sports, who accepted our internship at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Mr. Vongvilay Sounthavong and Ninthala Khanthavysouk a Ministry of Education officials who coordinated our work, Assistant Professor Masato Nakahara and Ms. Osaka from CAMPUS Asia Office, members of SIVIO, an international student cooperation organization, Ms. Nounee Ouloth, Ms. Bee Xaythanit, Ms. Ketmany I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who were involved in this program and cooperated in the research, including Professor Keiichi Ogawa, who gave us great support from the application to participation in this program and research guidance.