Laos NOSPA(National Organization for the Studies of Politics and Administration) Capacity Building Workshop was held on Sep. 4~10, 2005. This workshop aimed to provide consultation to the faculty of NOSPA on innovative teaching methods and curriculum using the know-how of KDI School to increase the ability as a training organization of Laos government officials.

The KDI School and NOSPA have signed on MOU (Minute of Understanding) on the closing day, Sept. 10, 2005. This event aimed at contributing Laos’s modernization and economy development with educational support and initiation of Korean economy experience. 

What is a Memorandum of Understanding MOU

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is an agreement between two institutes to enter into a knowledge sharing partnership. The KDI School currently has over twenty such partnerships, and the list continues to expand as more and more institutions discover the quality of our programs and students.

Recently, MOU agreements have been signed, revised, or initiated with Lancaster University Management School (UK), the Institut Supérieur du Commerce (FRA), Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Public Policy (USA), the University of Missouri’s Truman School of Public Policy, (USA), Indiana University, and Australia National University (AUS). 

NOSPA (The National Organization for the Study of Politics and Administration)

NOSPA is a public sector institution established in 1995 to promote training and research. It is relatively advanced in many respects compared to comparable training organizations in many low-income countries. It has reasonable physical facilities, an established set of systems and procedures and progressive leadership. It has two main campuses, one in downtown Vientiane to maintain contact with Government ministries and the international community and one in Thangone Village in Saythany District about twenty-four (24) kilometers from downtown where the main academic and teaching facilities are located including the new residence completed in early 2003. It also has eighteen associated schools throughout Laos.

Its training mandate is to design and deliver courses for high and middle level public officials in both the government and the party to enable them to contribute to the development of Laos. NOSPA has an intake of roughly 350 long-term students annually plus over 1000 short-term participants.

In support of this mandate, NOSPA (see Table 1 below) offers the following range of short and long-term courses, some of which are being changed or redesigned. 

The central unit of NOSPA has a total of 162 staff covering teaching, research and management of which 50 are contract staff. Of this total, 63 are permanent teachers excluding the President and two Vice-Presidents. Of this total, twelve (12) are women.  The majority of these permanent teachers are over 46 years of age, a percentage which a good deal higher than the Lao average. NOSPA also has 60 visiting lecturers from other Government departments.