Ad-min man now with Laos govt

by John Harlow

Doug Edwards, the assistant registrar in the Vice-chancellor's Department at Victoria, has been sent to Vientiane as a Colombo Plan adviser to the [unclear: Lao]ian government.

He was sent there to organise advanced English classes for Laotian civil servants.

Mr. Edwards is no stranger to Laos. For two years he worked with UNESCO in Bangkok, and made a number of visits to Laos. Since then he has done a considerable amount of broadcasting, writing and lecturing on the country. He flew to Laos on his present assignment last December and expects to stay there for about two years.

I visited Mr. Edwards during a recent trip to Laos. I found Mr. Edwards has had to adapt himself to the Laotian method of administration ("everyone is doing anything but what he is supposed to be doing"), and has undertaken a number of other responsibilities until his main task is fully operational.

One of these additional jobs is to select and assist students coming to New Zealand under the Colombo Plan.

At present there are only about two or three students coming to New Zealand each year from Laos, but the NZ Government hopes this number will be increased in the near future.