Exploring improved primary education in Lao PDR

In Lao PDR there is a gap between the apparent strengths of the system - teachers regularly attending schools, strong rural communities - and the academic results children achieve. Donor supported interventions in the last 12... [ view full abstract ]

In Lao PDR there is a gap between the apparent strengths of the system - teachers regularly attending schools, strong rural communities - and the academic results children achieve. Donor supported interventions in the last 12 years have made little impact on achievement of rural and achievement in reading and mathematics poor. The Ministry of Education and Sport acknowledges a complicated situation, with each village presenting its own constraints including family and village poverty, a language other than the national language, distance to school, and local expectations of schooling. However “quality of schooling’ is seen by MOES as the major constraint.
A new organisation will, in the first place, work with two schools and their communities to explore practical ways to improve children’s achievement. The schools have been allocated by MoES. They are rural, multilingual and most families live largely by farming. The organisation will explore and record the conditions needed for improved schooling in those villages. The emphasis is on the teachers as experts in their own village with the expectation that, in a poor country, the teachers are an important resource. It is proposed that strengthened teachers can be the architects of better schooling in poor rural communities.
In March a preliminary survey is taking place. The conference presentation will facilitate discussion of the results of the survey and gain suggestions for moving forward.