ABSTRACT
Gender and ‘minority’ discourses have put women and girls of ethnic minorities of Laos on an important platform for critical discussion in many places concerning development and human rights (see Helliwell 1993). According to the general platform of ‘universal human rights’, women, girls, and ethnic minorities have a right to access formal schooling and modern education funded by the state (e.g. UNESCO 2003, UNICEF 2005, IASC 2006). In Laos ethnic minority women and girls are considered ‘poor’ and ‘backward’, and are assumed to be ‘vulnerable’ and in need of help. Thus, the education of ethnic minority girls should be an important priority (GRID 2004b).
