The announcement was made by Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son during a meeting on June 2 with Khamphao Ernthavanh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Lao People's Democratic Republic to Vietnam.

Minister Son emphasized that educational cooperation is a vital pillar of the Vietnam-Lao bilateral relationship. He affirmed the Ministry’s strong sense of responsibility and commitment to nurturing and strengthening this partnership.

He noted that the two countries have closely coordinated to effectively implement the project “Enhancing the quality and effectiveness of Vietnam-Lao cooperation in education and human resource development for the 2021–2030 period.” The year 2025 will mark the five-year review milestone for the initiative.

Vietnam and Laos are also jointly implementing a government protocol on educational collaboration, particularly regarding entry standards for Lao students and measures to improve training quality.

“The relevant agencies in both countries should consider waiving visa and residence card fees for both Lao and Vietnamese students, whether on or off agreement-based scholarships,” Minister Son stressed.

Bilateral proposals to boost language education

Minister Son also proposed that the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports provide further details about Lao students studying in Vietnam to allow better preparation on the Vietnamese side.

He also suggested making Vietnamese a voluntary subject in Laos’ high school graduation exams and recommended introducing Vietnamese language textbooks compiled by Vietnam in Lao schools that have the demand and resources to teach the language.

He further shared that Vietnam’s MoET is actively preparing to introduce Lao as one of the eight foreign languages in the national curriculum. Initially, this would be piloted in schools near the Vietnam-Laos border. Expansion to a broader rollout would depend on the availability of qualified teachers.

The Minister also expressed hope that Laos would continue supporting areas such as textbook development, language instruction, teacher training, and the implementation of a joint project titled “Introducing content from the special historical relationship between Vietnam and Laos into school curricula in both countries.”

Thanh Hung