Category: Technology

A new Clinical Legal Education Centre (CLE) was opened at the National Institute of Justice of Vientiane on Nov 1.

As part of the Lao efforts to build Rule of Law in the country, the Centre will have the specific mandate to strengthen the legal knowledge, skills and law values among the NIJ students and teachers, to promote exchanges and research on Law, as well as to provide people with legal advice and information.

The inauguration ceremony took place at the presence of the EU Ambassador Ina Maraciulionyte, Vice Minister of Justice Ketsana Phommachanh, and Director General of the Department of Treaties and Laws, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Douangmany Ngothsyoudom.

“The rule of law is one of the fundamental values of the Union and our external relations – said the EU Ambassador – Legal Education is essential to protect and uphold the law, to make sure it is correctly implemented and enforced”.

The opening was made possible through the “Citizens Engagement for Good Governance, Accountability and Rule of Law’ (CEGGA) programme, co-funded by EU, Germany and Switzerland and implemented by GIZ, in collaboration with BABSEACLE, the Ministry of Justice and the National Institute of Justice.

The Center is the third to be established in country, after the one already existing at the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the National University of Laos.

During the ceremony, two new textbooks on Criminal and Constitution law were also handed over to the NIJ. The textbooks produced under CEGGA will be used by teachers and students of the four NIJ campus (in Vientiane, Champasak, Luang Prabang, and Savannakhet) to support legal teaching and training.

As training institution of the Ministry of Justice, the National Institute of Justice represents, together with the Universities, one of the main providers of legal education in Laos.

Only in Vientiane, the NIJ hosts about 1,700 students and 100 teachers engaged in Law and Justice education along a 3 year diploma and 4 years bachelor programme led by the Ministry of Justice.

Source: Lao News Agency

The Ministry of Education and Sports and Australia congratulate educational staff at national and sub-national level for their ongoing efforts to ensure successful implementation of the new primary curriculum despite COVID-19.

Bounpanh Xaymountry, Director General, Department of Planning, Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and Anna Dyason, First Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), co-chaired the Basic Education Quality and Access in the Lao PDR (BEQUAL) technical meeting on Oct 13 to discuss progress, challenges, and upcoming activities for the implementation of the newly revised primary curriculum.

The meeting was organised fully online to comply with national COVID-19 prevention measures, resulting in more people being able to join than usual. Over 75 representatives from MoES departments, 18 Provincial Education and Sports Departments (PESD), eight Teacher Training Colleges (TTC), line institutes and centres and BEQUAL team members were connected across the country to share their results and challenges.

Both chairs congratulated participants on their commitment and dedication which has ensured the achievement of key milestones despite the challenges of COVID-19.

Dr Bounpanh noted that “despite the COVID-19 challenges, everyone has been working hard to find solutions and responses to the difficulties created by the pandemic crisis.

The new school year has officially begun, which means a new grade of the revised primary curriculum – grade 3 – has reached schools, and 90% of teachers have been trained in the new pedagogy.” He also thanked DFAT and the Government of Australia for their support to the Health Sector for the roll out of vaccination programmes and other initiatives which are already building Government of Laos’ capacity to respond to COVID-19 outbreaks and will ultimately enable easing of lockdown measures.

Anna Dyason also praised the efforts and hard work of all. “I would like to start by commending the Ministry at all levels and the BEQUAL team for their ability to quickly adapt and adjust their way of working to minimize the impacts of the recent COVID-19 outbreak on the programme implementation plan. Your commitment and dedication have ensured that key programme milestones have been met.”

Indeed, despite the lockdown, Australia, through the BEQUAL programme, has been able to support the Ministry to complete the printing and distribution of 612,600 Grade 3 curriculum textbooks and teacher guides to districts before the start of the school year, conduct training of 663 trainers and face-to-face induction trainings of up to 9,645 Grade 3 teachers and 366 Pedagogical Advisers for most provinces as planned with good COVID-19 prevention measures in place, continue with Grade 4 curriculum development, and launch the new pre-service curriculum in all TTCs.

The commitment and progress of the programme to mainstream Gender and Inclusive Education (G&IE) has been particularly highlighted: a progressive representation of G&IE is integrated in teaching and learning materials, practical guidance on G&IE practices is included in training materials and activities, several trainings on G&IE were organized with MoES media team and all teacher development videos are dubbed in sign language.

Moreover, several trial innovations that address barriers to G&IE have been implemented such as the Spoken Lao Pilot for children who don’t speak Lao at home, a blended learning pilot to support access and teaching through online training for participants in restricted or remote areas or the new Role Models docuseries that will feature an inclusive teaching champion.

The participants agreed that the biggest challenge of COVID-19 is the prolonged school closure, and they shared their concerns regarding learning loss and unequal access to remote and online education alternatives. Several PESS noted that parents were not enrolling their children in school and expressed concerns that many students may fully drop-out from school if face-to-face instruction can’t resume soon.

“Poor internet connection, affordability of online services, lack of devices to connect or unavailability of parents to help very young students with their lessons, creates challenges for online learning and teaching for most primary children. The most disadvantaged students in remote and rural areas, girls, and students with disabilities are even more affected. “Face-to-face teaching is the best option wherever possible, but we hope that in situations where schools cannot open yet, teachers are able to provide remote and online learning alternatives for their students,” said Dr Bounpanh.

At the end of the meeting, Australia and MoES endorsed the implementation plan for the remaining months of Phase I of BEQUAL project until June 2022. Dr Bounpanh concluded that “Phase 1 of the BEQUAL programme will end on Jun 30, 2022 and there are many positive signs that the work we have been doing together to improve curriculum resources and teaching practices is starting to have an effect. This is a critical time to discuss what we have learned through Phase 1 implementation so that plans for Phase 2 build on our successes and address the challenges we have identified.”

Source: Lao News Agency

More than 30 representatives of international students from Shanghai University (SHU) visited eastern China’s Jiangsu Province on a programme themed “Shanghai University’s Zhihua Practice Activities” between Oct 22-24.

During the three-day trip, they visited UNESCO’s world heritage Tiaozini Wetland, an important ecological site of China.

They also visited Yellow Sea Seashore National Forest Park, the largest artificial ecological forest park in eastern China. The 4,000-ha park houses more than 600 varieties of plants and 300 different bird species.

The students also visited Dafeng Elk National Nature Reserve, which is the world’s largest wild elk reserve and the world’s largest elk gene pool.

At night, they were entertained with a musical show dedicated to a love story between the kindhearted man Dong Yong and a goddess at Xixi Tourist and Cultural Scenic Spot. It is the birthplace of Dongtai history and culture.

“It is a blessing to visit such wonderful and mesmerizing places, where human beings are rehabilitating the environment to make life attractive and healthy. I am really amazed and intrigued by the determination and hard work of the Chinese people to make clean environment. I have enjoyed the Yellow Sea wetland natural beauty, the various games inside the forest, the animals in the zoo, the outdoor entertainments and others. I really recommend everyone visit them and gain lifetime experience of natural beauty,” said Tsigabu Teame, a PhD student from Ethiopia.

Likewise, Tofa Anton Milton Utufua, a bachelor student from Samoa said “We decided to wake up at 4 am to see the sunrise and walked for 2-3 hours. As we arrived to the wetland geographical sight the fresh air of the country side soothe me with such pleasantry as the sky was lit with brightness from the suns ray and the fresh air blowing from the ocean side. I enjoyed every minute of it as I was walking and it took me back to some memorable moments when I was a kid. This is what it feels like in that moment. At the same time, I felt like I was ready to take on the world without hesitation.”

Source: Lao News Agency

The Lao Red Cross has launched a fundraising campaign “Prevent and Control Covid-19” with an aim to help migrant workers in mandatory quarantine across the country.

The campaign is designed not only to provide assistance to migrant workers but also to support Covid-19 control and containment efforts.

General public members can make donation via the following PREVENT AND CONTROL THE Covid-19 accounts of the Lao Development Bank: 03020000 10004137 (LAK), 0302001010001498 (US$), and 0302002010001685 (THB).

Donation can be also made via the smartphone applications of the Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public: BCEL One, or OneHeart.

More information about the donation is available at: 020-995 89893. 020-5999 6059 and 020-5689 8079 or Facebook Lao Red Cross and its website: https://laoredcross.org.la

“The Lao Red Cross realizes the difficulties the Covid-19 outbreak has posed for families, jobs and businesses. Anyone, charities wishing to donate can do so by contacting the Lao Red Cross in Xiang Yuen village, Chanthabouly district, Vientiane or all Red Cross branches countrywide,” said President of the Lao Red Cross Society Phouthone Muangpak.

Source: Lao News Agency

Laos has confirmed 414 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours bringing the total to 26,876 including 6,393 active cases and 23 deaths, according to the National Taskforce Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

Some 304 patients were discharged from hospital today, Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Dr Sisavath Soutthanilaxay told a press conference today.

Of the new confirmed cases, 404 were classified as local infections including 146 cases in Vientiane, 143 in Luang Prabang, 54 in Savannakhet, 23 in Borikhamxay, nine in Xaysomboun, seven in Khammuan, six each in Bokeo, Champassak and Vientiane (province), and four in Saravan.

Only ten imported cases have been reported over the previous 24 hours with five in Saravan, three in Savannakhet and two in Champassak.

Source: Lao News Agency

Ms Sisomboun Ounavong, Director General, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Convener of the NIPN Secretariate, Mr. Vincent Vire, the Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to the Lao PDR, and Dr. Pia Rebello Britto, Representative of UNICEF to the Lao PDR, on Sep 2 co-chaired the National Information Platforms for Nutrition (NIPN) dissemination meeting aimed at sharing the latest nutrition data to support research and academic work around nutrition in the country, as well as to introduce the NIPN dashboard and data repository to government stakeholders.
The blended meeting was attended in-person by heads of faculty and academic staff from the National University of the Lao PDR and the University of Health Sciences of the Lao PDR, as well as researchers from the Lao Tropical Health Institute, while students from various institutions also joined the meeting virtually.
“Today’s meeting provides us with a great opportunity to share the most up-to-date findings on nutrition, especially those assessing COVID-19’s socio-economic impacts and impacts on children, adolescents and women in the Lao PDR, along with findings on the factors behind stunting in the country and impacts of malnutrition on the country’s economy. These are essential for policy-makers and relevant to the work of researchers in the field of nutrition as well. With access to quality nutrition data, we will be able to better address nutrition challenges in the country, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Ms. Sisomboun Ounavong, Director General, Department of International Cooperation, MPI.
The meeting comes after the launch of the NIPN dashboard and data repository in February of this year, adigital system that helps monitor nutrition progress and results at national and sub-national levels.
The data repository also acts as a data bank that houses nutrition data from assessments and population-based surveys that could be accessed by nutrition stakeholders.
The launch of platform was a major milestone in the process of nutrition data generation and the meeting provided an opportunity to introduce and familiarize government stakeholders and researchers with the platform as a credible source of data for research and academic purposes.
“The EU is proud to have contributed towards improving nutrition in the Lao PDR, including the development of the NIPN dashboard and data repository, which is ultimately a contribution towards strengthening nutrition data generation in the Lao PDR to better support ongoing research and work in addressing the issue of malnutrition in the Lao PDR,” stated Mr. Vincent Vire, Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation to the Lao PDR.
“Our meeting today is the beginning of a series of actions to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice. We recognize the role that research institutions play in evidence generation, where the use of data and information is critical. We are thus happy to partner with them to strengthen research, quality data generation and evidence-based decision-making to contribute to the Government of the Lao PDR’s policy decisions,” stated Dr. Pia Rebello Britto, UNICEF Representative to the Lao PDR.
The National Information Platforms for Nutrition (NIPN) project is an international initiative of the European Commission with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the UK Government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Currently, the Lao PDR is one of the nine countries globally where NIPN is being implemented. This initiative is an integral part of the Government of the Lao PDR’s nutrition programme, which is supported jointly by the EU Delegation and UNICEF in the context of their Partnership for Improved Nutrition.

Source: Lao News Agency