According to the plan, Lao will be introduced in 2026, Cambodian in 2028, and Thai and Indonesian in 2030. Initially, Lao will be piloted in border regions before expanding nationwide once enough teachers are trained.
More than 14 million students currently attend primary, secondary, and high schools. English, Russian, French, Chinese, German, Japanese and Korean are currently studied. English is taught in all provinces, while French leads among the others with over 30,700 learners, followed by Japanese with 20,800 and Chinese with nearly 14,400.
To support the rollout of new languages, the ministry plans to strengthen teacher training, recruit more native speakers, develop teaching materials and apply technology, including artificial intelligence, in language learning.
