Wednesday 2 November 2011

Chinese University in Laos

I am currently in Vientiane, Laos, for my research project on poverty eradication and Multinational corporations. While I'm here one thing that comes across my interest is story about the establishment of a Chinese University in Laos.

Soochow University, in Jiangsu Province, is expected to open an affiliate in Laos in 2012, according to People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party.

Clearly,Soochow will be the first foreign education institution to receive approval from the Laotian government to offer undergraduate and graduate programs. The university plans to provide courses for about 5,000 students in Laos, a country of more than six million where only 13 percent of the undergraduate-age population is enrolled in higher education, according to 2008 Unesco statistics.




A university official quoted in the report said Soochow would offer 12 majors, including Chinese language and literature, economy and trade, and engineering. Soochow University, which has about 50,000 students in China, expects the Laos campus to begin enrolling students next year, the report said.

While the university will initially send Chinese academics to the Laos campus, it plans to gradually employ more local teachers. The campus is estimated to cost $25 million.

China's collaboration with Laos in the form of education development is significant as Laos certainly push education in the forefront of national long-term development. As an educator, I really appreciate this collaboration and would love to witness the long and short-term imoacts of such collaboration.

Viva Global education! สะบายดี from Laos!