Laos has one of the lowest literacy rates in all of Asia, but most people agree that education levels are slowly improving. The government’s plan to eradicate poverty and dramatically reduce illiteracy by 2020, coupled with massive amounts of foreign aid for education projects, appears to be having a positive impact. Most of this effort, however, is focused on primary education. While this approach is appropriate for a nation at Laos’ stage of development, the need for an educated workforce is here now.