| Education System in Laos |
The Laotian government has universal education in mind for all its citizens, and has embarked on a national program for building primary schools where pupils learn for 6 years. The quality of the facilities (and of the teachers too) may still leave much to be desired in certain rural areas though, which is encouraging the continuance of a two-tier society.
Cultural and language minorities are under-represented at secondary schools, as are girls too. This is perpetuating a self-fulfilling prophesy of structural discrimination. The secondary education program comprises two periods of 3 years each, with an additional year added in 2010. Generally speaking, only students going on to tertiary education complete the second phase.
The French colonial government built an education system on the foundations created by traditional temple teaching. Later the Laos government extended the system considerably in the hope of achieving education for all.
The University of Laos was established in 1996 as a re-grouping of a number of existing colleges and institutes. Its faculties include education, literature, social science, economics & management, agriculture, forestry, architecture, engineering, science, medical sciences, and law & political science.
