Fund elementary and secondary teacher training for 15 young women from the most economically deprived ethnic minorities in the Province of Oudomsay, Laos, in order to initiate a movement of women’s empowerment in a region of traditional culture.
The 15 student teachers will be selected based on strict criteria of level, motivation, maturity and personal situation. They will not receive personally the scholarship funds, but the provincial educational administration will pay for their registration tuition at the Teachers College and at the Luang Prabang University, and for their housing and food expenses out of the grant extended by Compter sur demain. After graduation following one year of study for primary school teachers or 3 years for secondary school teachers, they will return to work in their native province suffering from a dire shortage of teachers. The local authorities have committed to hire and pay them under civil servant status. The ultimate goal is to divide by half the number of pupils in overcrowded classrooms and open new one. Concurrently, a women’s empowerment initiative will be set up with the various local stakeholders.