ANNOUNCEMENTS
This study puts forward an effort to investigate the problem of access to career development among Lao youths, discussing the case of Kaisone district, Savannakhet province. It lies an attempt to understand the career patterns among the youths, which cover senior high school students, college/university students, and some who drop out of school. It also aims at understanding the possible factors which affect career development among youths and their decision with regards to their career prospects. A mixed method is applied; participant observation, which contributes mainly to the ethnographic note, is applied; interviews with key informants, mainly the focal point persons of various organizations as well as teachers, were conducted. Finally, in-depth interviews and a survey with the students were carried out. The themes of findings present six main assumptions, such as financial situation, social environment, education policy, cultural norms and values, quality of education, and access to career counseling. Under these main assumptions, cultural norms and values, quality of education, and access to career counseling are most prominent in the findings. The further implication with regards to the education policy is addressed to the Lao government for future improvement.
Keywords: Laos, Youths, human resources development, education, career development.
