Internship at UNESCO Beijing Office (Xiaoxiao JIA)
I worked as an intern at UNESCO Beijing Office from July 27th until October 27th. During the period of my internship, I assisted the program specialist as well as my...
I completed a three-week internship at the Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR from August 24 to September 11, 2026. It was a valuable opportunity to gain a practical understanding of the education sector from both institutional and school-level perspectives. Through meetings and briefing sessions with different departments of MoES, as well as development partners and international organizations, I learned a lot from education planning, teacher development and administration, education statistics, higher education, non-formal education, and disaster risk reduction. These experiences helped me understand how different institutions and sectors coordinate to support education development in Lao PDR.
One of the most valuable aspects of the internship was learning how education-related information is collected and used in practice. I had opportunities to search for policy documents, statistical information, and other reference materials, and also to communicate with relevant personnel to identify appropriate sources. This experience strengthened my understanding of the relationship between administrative systems, education data, and policy planning.
The school visits provided another important perspective. By observing primary and secondary school environments and communicating directly with teachers and school principals, I was able to better understand how education policies and institutional arrangements are experienced at the school level. In parallel, I conducted questionnaire surveys with primary school teachers as part of an independent research study on teacher adaptation to linguistically diverse classrooms. This gave me practical experience in explaining research objectives, obtaining informed consent, collecting primary data, and communicating with research participants.
Overall, this internship strengthened both my professionalism and research skills. More importantly, it helped me recognize that education development requires coordination among different government institutions, schools, teachers, and even international development partners. This experience also deepened my understanding of the importance of adapting communication to different institutional and professional contexts. Through this internship, I gained a more concrete and practical perspective on education policy, field research, and international cooperation in Lao PDR.
At the end, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Anoupheng Keovongsa, Deputy Director-General, and all the staff members of the Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR for accepting me as an intern and providing me with valuable guidance despite their busy schedules. I am also deeply grateful to the representatives of international and development organizations, as well as the school principals and teachers, who kindly supported my interviews and school visits. Furthermore, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Assistant Professor Tatsuya Maisawa, Project Assistant Professor Ayumu Yagi, and Ms. Mikiko Bothra Osaka of Kobe University’s CAMPUS Asia Office for making this valuable opportunity possible and for their generous support throughout the program. Last but not least, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to Professor Keiichi Ogawa for providing me with this valuable learning opportunity and for his continuous guidance and support throughout my research activities.
Authored by Lantao Shi (Doctoral student)
