Internship at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Lao PDR（Emika Nishikawa）

From 9^th January 2024 to 9^th February 2024, I was greatly honored to conduct an internship in the Education Coordination Unit team under the Department of Planning at the Ministry of Education and Sports in Lao PDR under the supervision of Dr. Bounpanh Xaymountry, Director-General, and Mr. Anoupheng Keovongsa, Deputy Director-General. During the internship, I conducted various activities for five weeks given warm support. Here, I would like to write about three activities in this article.

First, I participated in a workshop regarding Global Partnership for Education Ⅲ： the Learning and Equity Acceleration Project for Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR). The meeting was held at Khammouane Province. And one of the objectives of the workshop was to understand the current situation and issues about the project and to encourage local officers gathering from six provinces to accelerate the project to achieve goals. At the meeting, the officers explained the detail of project and discussed and gave some advice to local officers regarding the current situation. From the local government side, current difficulties local governments are facing were shared during the session. The workshop promoted active interaction between central government and local officers in addition to interaction among departments at the point of cooperation for better quality of education. Through the workshop, I learned how Ministry motivates local government and promote active cooperation for improving quality of education to achieve goals the of the project. In addition, I learned how they deal with current difficulties that the local governments are facing.

Second, I conducted a comprehensive document review regarding the utilization of digital tools, primary education, and higher education for my research. In addition, I worked on writing reports about the utilization of digital tools, primary education, and higher education in Lao PDR through analyzing documents. It was a great chance to deeply understand about the educational issues related to my research interest.

Third, I had great opportunities to participate in meetings with Dr. Phout Simmalavong, Lao Minister of Education and Sports, Acting Director General of Department of Higher Education, Dr. Lavanh Vongkhamsane, project leaders at World Bank, and education policy adviser of JICA respectively. Through active discussion, I learned policy issues in detail, in addition to understanding how JICA projects and World Bank projects are currently going on in Laos. In addition, I got new insights by learning about the current situation and issues in higher education, especially regarding the utilization of ICT. In addition, Madam Daovieng Phongsavath, Deputy Director-General at the Ministry of Education and Sports warmly invited me to her relative’s stunning wedding. It was an amazing experience to attend a traditional Lao wedding.

With generous and great support, my internship was successfully completed as very valuable and incredible experience with deepening knowledge regarding policy issues in Laos by utilizing my studies in the field of public policy at Fudan University, where I am currently studying as a double degree student, understanding the current situation and issues in Laos especially about ICT, and gaining practical insights regarding implementing projects. In addition, I luckily had wonderful and exciting opportunities to learn Laotian culture from various angles, including Laotian weddings, food, music, and handcraft. I will make the most of these valuable and fantastic experiences and knowledge I gained through this internship in the future.

I would like to take this great opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to my academic supervisor, Professor Keiichi Ogawa for giving me this precious and amazing opportunity with his tremendous support and warm encouragement, Dr. Bounpanh for kindly giving me the amazing opportunity at the Ministry of Education and Sports of Laos, Mr. Anoupheng for his gracious support and for giving me splendid opportunities for experiencing various fascinating activities, Madam. Daovieng Phongsavath for inviting me to her relative’s beautiful wedding, Mr. Vongvilay Sounthavong for his hearty support and helpful advice during my internship, Mr. Phisitxay Soulinthone for his warm support and kind arrangements, government officials of ECU team, and all the other people who generously supported me during my internship journey.

Authored by Emika Nishikawa (Master’s student)