Although the Lao People's Democratic Republic has speakers of up to 230 different languages belonging to four ethnolinguistic families, the Lao Government's policy as stated in its Education Law is that Lao is the official language of education at all levels. This creates a challenging situation for teachers in ethnic minority villages throughout…

Examines the political implications of linguistic policy and reports on a recent visit to an Ethiopian Teachers' Training Institute. The article discusses the difficulties inherent in the imposition of major educational reform under severe resource restraints. (20 references) (Author/CK)