The Liaoto Chinese School has begun construction of a new school building in Vientiane Capital that will allow it to accommodate thousands of students.
The new school building, valued at approximately USD 800,000 or over LAK 9 billion, will include four stories and 28 classrooms, and is scheduled to be complete within one year.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the new school building took place in Vientiane Capital on Friday, attended by Director of the Chanthabouly Department of Education and Sports, Mr. Thongdy Keomanythong, President of the Overseas Chinese Association, Mr. Leng Savanvaly, and Director of Liaodu Chinese School, Sompasong Chanthavong.
The new building covers some 3,400 square meters of land and will see up to 1,200 students attending the school, according to Chinese International Radio reports.
Mr. Leng Savanvaly, who also represents the project construction committee, says the Liaoto Chinese School now has over 3,000 pupils, with more than 2,000 Lao students and the remainder being international students.
“Former students and the general public have assisted to fund the construction of the new Liaoto School building, while the Chinese government will supply some school materials and deploy more instructors,” said Mr. Leng Savanvaly.
The building will house classes from kindergarten through high school, with plans to add a university campus in the future.
Liaoto Chinese School is a dual language school, providing instruction in both Lao and Chinese, while English has been included in the curriculum for primary school students.
It was founded in 1937 by the Chinese community in Vientiane, which pooled its resources in 1966 to construct the first permanent school building which has been in use until today.
