The Thai-Lao Teacher Training Workshop “Bringing Living Heritage to the Classroom” successfully concluded in Laos on August 6, 2023.

The event was co-organized by CRIHAP and UNESCO Bangkok Office. Dr. Silinthone Sacklokham, Secretary-General of Lao National Commission for UNESCO; Dr. Chalermchai Phantlert, Director of Social Science Institute, Office of Basic Education Commission of Thai Ministry of Education; and Zhang Jing, Deputy Director-General of CRIHAP, attended the closing ceremony and delivered speeches in person or via online video.

Zhang Jing said in his video speech that, since intangible cultural heritage is passed down from generation to generation, we have the obligation to let the next generation understand and inherit it, and the classroom is the perfect place for children to access and learn about cultural heritage. He also pointed out that this workshop provided a platform for educators from Laos and Thailand to learn and exchange experiences on intangible cultural heritage education, thereby strengthening the connection and allowing mutual learning and further cooperation between them.

The training workshop was themed “Bringing Living Heritage to the Classroom”, and mainly targeted educators from Thailand and Laos, with a total of 64 participants. Among them, there were educators from the northeastern region of Thailand, also known as Isan, which borders Laos. It has strong community ties with its neighboring region of Laos, and they are very similar to each other in culture and language. Therefore, educators from these two regions were selected as the main target group for this training.