Vientiane (VNA) - Down in the bustling heart of southern Laos, Champasak is a hotspot for Vietnamese families who have called it home for generations. Here, teaching kids their mother tongue is a full-on mission to preserve the language and strengthen the bond between Vietnam and Laos.

The Laos-Vietnam friendship school in Champasak, founded in 1978, has offered over 43 training courses across nearly five decades. Currently, around 500 students are in training from kindergarten to lower secondary, with roughly 20% being children of Vietnamese living in the locality. The school distinguishes itself by embedding Vietnamese into its curriculum from the primary level, delivered by a mix of Vietnamese and Lao teachers, all trained at universities in Vietnam. For these educators, teaching the language is more than a job; it is a mission tied to pride and responsibility.

The school also runs activities to inspire interest in Vietnamese. Vietnamese competitions in language and storytelling, initiated by the Vietnamese Consulate General in Pakse, have sparked enthusiastic participation. Each year, many students also achieve top results in provincial academic contests, a proof of steady progress in Vietnamese-language education in Champasak.
Vice Principal Dang Thi Cuc credited the school’s progress to sustained support from the Vietnamese Party and State, plus partnerships with twinned cities and provinces, and local Vietnamese businesses. Modern tools, including computers, projectors, and learning robots, have been supplied to support teaching in math, English, Vietnamese, and science. It’s all part of Laos’ push for education reform, promoting a dynamic learning environment.

Students now have six Vietnamese lessons each week. More importantly, teachers aim to make students fall in love with Vietnamese culture and history, fostering a connection to their homeland.

In Pakse, Vietnamese Consul General Ta Phuong Dung pointed out that Vietnamese is also taught at prestigious schools like the Champasak-Lam Dong High School for the Gifted (Phonesavanh School) and the Champasak Ethnic Boarding School. These spots have been common homes for generations of Vietnamese and Lao students, with the Vietnamese language a bridge that binds communities, keeping cultural identity alive.

To improve teaching quality, schools have recently sent teachers to professional training courses, including the one hosted by the Vietnamese Consulate General in March and another by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August, she added./.