Going French and English too
When the 23rd Francophonie ministerial meeting took place on 20 and 21 November 2007, students in Vientiane had two days off for special holiday. The parents and teachers on the other hand had to attend parents/teachers conference about new arrangements for the school system. My relatives in Vientiane told me the meeting was about a new bilingual program that will required students to learn French, starting early in elementary school. The second topic on the agenda was about increasing the school years from 11 years of study to 12 years. According to my relatives the pre-1975 educational system comprised of 12 years of study.
This is a big change for many of my relatives with children that are studying English. They were a bit anxious as to when the new system will be implemented. Some of my relatives are also thinking about the added pressure on their children having to study one year longer and also having to learn two foreign languages.
According to the Vientiane Times Newspaper, English and French will be officially added to the curriculum by the year 2010, starting in the third grade. At present, French is being implemented in Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Champassak provinces. It is the goal of the ministry of education to provide both languages in all primary schools in Laos. Depending on the availability of the teachers, some schools will teach English while others French. The main concern at the moment is finding foreign language teachers for the remote area of the country.
The Vientiane Times Newspaper also reported on the restructuring of the Lao educational system. By 2010, a new school system will be implemented with middle school having an extra year of study. At the moment the school system is 11 years, with five years of elementary school (Pa Thom Seuksa), three years of middle school (Matthayom Seuksa), and three years of high school (Oudom Seuksa).
I really like the idea of offering foreign languages as early as the third grade. With 3,760 primary schools I hope they will be able to find enough teachers for this special project. If you want to teach English in another country, this would be something to check out. This would be something that I would like to do as a volunteer. I can see myself teaching English at our school in Champassak.
Offering language course is good. I like it. Not sure what Laos will benefit speaking French. Considering there are waves of Chinese coming to Laos and business Laos is doing with China, Chinese would be a logical choice (unless it is already one of the option of language course in school)
I agree with you Dallas. I think it has something to do with being a member of the Francophonie and the promotion of the French language as common courtesy.
In reality we should all be learning Chinese. The Dutch is offering Chinese as foreign language here because China is becoming more important in trade relations.
I read in the news about some schools in Vientiane that are taught in Chinese and Lao. I don’t know if those are private schools or not.
I personally feel that we should learn the English language because it’s one of the languages use to conduct business, and this might be the language of choice by many Laotians living in Laos. I’m wondering if Laos made French as the mandatory language because of the agreement that Lao PDR has entered with the French under, ‘Framework partnership document France-Lao (2007-2011)’, which is the guide for French action in Laos for the next five years. Also in terms of International assistance, France is one of Lao PDR’s most important bilateral donors; therefore, they would have a lot of influence in terms of Laos’s education curriculum standard.
[...] Darly: I agree with you Dallas. I think it has something to do with being a member of the Francophonie and the… [...]
This will never work. Where would they get teachers? Not even english language graduates from Dong Dok university speak and write decent english. As for french, that must be even worse. Laos should concentrate on a proper school system where students learn to THINK for themselves, BEFORE more subjects are added that will come to nothing…
As for Laos being part of the francophonie, that is just wishful thinking on the part of Paris.
Being a foreigner interested in an education project like this, how would I go about finding more information if I wanted to teach English/French in Laos??