Following the success of the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony, on September 29, 2026, the Institute of Education Sciences and Training Research (IES) held a working and discussion session with delegates from the Department of Early Childhood Education, Ministry of Education and Sports of the Lao PDR to agree on the implementation plan for the ERA Kids project.
Charing and attending the meeting on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Lao PDR were Mr. Kikham PHIMBOUNGNO and Ms. Viengsavanh VIRASITH – Deputy Directors General of the Department of Early Childhood Education; Mr. Sengsaden BOUNLAVONG – Director General of the Department of International Cooperation, along with all Heads of Divisions, specialists, and representatives from relevant departments of the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports.
On behalf of the Institute of Education Sciences and Training Research, attendees included Prof. Dr. Ho Duc Hung – Dean; Mrs. Tran Thi Que Chi and Mr. Luong Huu Tuan – Vice Deans; Mr. Huynh Thanh Sang – Senior Advisor, and representatives from relevant departments of the Institute.
The project is built upon a solid legal foundation, which is the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two entities, guiding the 2026-2031 period. The core objective of the program is to support Laos’s national educational priorities by enhancing preventive education capacity at the system, school, family, and child levels.
The initial phase of the project will be piloted in the capital city of Vientiane with 4 main focuses: Program localization; Training; Teaching implementation at educational institutions; and Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting. Both sides have agreed on a specific roadmap as follows:
– Program localization: Review, edit, and translate the curriculum. Digitize teaching materials into the Lao language to ensure compatibility with local culture and customs.
– Training: Conduct in-depth training for officials and core trainers. Organize professional training for members of School Management Boards and preschool teachers from both public and private schools.
Teaching implementation at educational institutions: Apply the program directly at preschools with class observation activities and teaching method consultations. Concurrently, collect feedback and regularly review effectiveness.
– Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting: Comprehensively evaluate the implementation results as a basis for proposing the expansion of the project in the following years.
Concluding the working session, both sides highly agreed on the key contents of the plan and are actively preparing for the next meeting to specify each work item. This event continues to mark an important step forward in the international cooperation efforts of the IES, affirming the commitment to bringing sustainable educational values and helping children in the region “grow up safely and confidently with heart and knowledge”.
