UNESCO National Education Support Strategy - Lao PDR 2008-2013

May 2008 (Draft)

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Development Challenges and Priorities............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Political, Economic, Social and Human Development Context .......................................................... 1 1.2 National Development Priorities ......................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Educational Challenges, Priorities and Strategies ............................................................................. 6 2.1 Educational Context and Challenges ................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Education Sector Overview ................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 National Priorities and Strategies in Education ................................................................................. 21 Chapter 3: Priorities and Interventions of Development Partners ..................................................................... 26 3.1 Development Partners’ Strategies and Activities............................................................................... 26 3.2 Summary of Development Partners’ Activities ................................................................................. 33 Chapter 4: UNESCO’s Programmatic Thrust.................................................................................................... 35 4.1 UNESCO’s Past and Ongoing Support for National Education Development ................................. 35 4.2 Partnerships and Coordination with GOL and Development Partners .............................................. 42 4.3 UNESCO’s Programmatic Priorities in Education ............................................................................ 42 4.4 Evaluation of UNESCO Programmes ............................................................................................... 43 Chapter 5: Strategies of Cooperation for National Education Development..................................................... 45 5.1 Gaps and Emerging Needs in National Education ............................................................................ 45 5.2 Proposed Interventions: Areas and Strategies.................................................................................... 48 References ......................................................................................................................................................... 52 Appendix 1: Progress Towards the MDGs ........................................................................................................ 54 Appendix 2: Structure of the Formal Education System ................................................................................... 55 Appendix 3: Organization Chart of the Ministry of Education ......................................................................... 56 Appendix 4: Situation Analysis in the Education Sector................................................................................... 57 Appendix 5: Comparison of Major Targets in Education Plans ........................................................................ 70 Appendix 6: UNESCO’s Past and Ongoing Support to Lao PDR (2004-2005 and 2006-2007)....................... 72 ENDNOTES ...................................................................................................................................................... 76

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Abbreviations ABEL

Access to Basic Education in Laos

ADB

Asian Development Bank

ADS

Australian Development Scholarship Scheme

ADTA

Advisory technical assistance

AFTA

ASEAN Free Trade Area

ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

AusAID

Australian Agency for International Development

BESDP

Basic Education Sector Development Program

BEGE

Basic Education and Gender Equality

BEGP

Basic Education (Girls) Project

BTC

Belgian Development Cooperation

CCA

Common Country Assessment

CLC

Community Learning Centre

CRC

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

DEB

District Education Bureau

DGE/MOE

Department of General Education, Ministry of Education

DIC/MOF

Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Finance

DNFE/MOE

Department of Non-formal Education, Ministry of Education

DOF/MOE

Department of Finance, Ministry of Education

DPC/MOE

Department of Planning and Cooperation, Ministry of Education

DTT/MOE

Department of Teacher Training, Ministry of Education

EC

European Community

ECCE

Early Childhood Care and Education

ECD

Early Childhood Development

EDP-I

Education Development Project

EDP-II

Second Education Development Project

EDWG

Education/Gender Donor Working Group

EFA

Education for All

EFA NPA

Education for All National Plan of Action

EGSWG

Education and Gender Sector Working Group

EGWG

Education and Gender Working Group

EMIS

Education Management Information System

EQIP-I

First Education Quality Improvement Project

EQIP-II

Second Educational Quality Improvement Project

ESITC/MOE

Educational Statistics and Information Technology Center

FDI

Foreign direct investment

FTI

(EFA) Fast Track Initiative

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FY

Fiscal year

GAP

Global Action Plan to Achieve the Education for All

GDP

Gross domestic product

GEMUE

Gender and Ethnic Minority Education Unit

GER

Gross enrolment ratio

GFP

Gender Focal Point

GIS

Geographical Information System

GOL

Government of Lao PDR

GMS

Greater Mekong Sub-region

HIV/AIDS

Human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome

IAI

Initiative for ASEAN Integration

ICT

Information and Communication Technology

IDA

International Development Association

ILO

International Labour Organization

IMF

International Monetary Fund

INGO

International Non-governmental Organization

JBIC

Japan Bank for International Cooperation

JICA

Japan International Cooperation Agency

KOICA

Korea International Cooperation Agency

LABEP

Lao-Australia Basic Education Project

Lao PDR

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

LDC

Least-developed country

LECS

Lao Expenditure and Consumption Survey

LECS3

Lao Expenditure and Consumption Survey 2002/03

LNLS

Lao National Literacy Survey

LPRP

Lao People’s Revolutionary Party

LSTC

Lao-Singapore Training Centre

LWU

Lao Women’s Union

MDA

(EFA) Mid-Decade Assessment

MDG

Millennium Development Goals

MDTF

Multi-donor trust funds

MMR

Maternal mortality ratio

MOAF

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

MOE

Ministry of Education

MOF

Ministry of Finance

MOFA

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

MOIC

Ministry of Information and Culture

MOPH

Ministry of Public Health

MPI

Ministry of Planning and Investment iii

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NER

Net enrolment ratio

NFE

Non-formal education

NGO

Non-governmental organization

NGPES

National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy

NRIES

National Research Institute for Education Sciences

NSEDP

National Socio-Economic Development Plan

NTC

National Training Council

NUOL

National University of Laos

ODA

Official Development Assistance

PES

Provincial Education Service

PIP

Public Investment Program

RDMA

Rural Development in Mountainous Areas of northern Lao PDR

PRSO

Poverty Reduction Support Operation

PRSP

Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

PTR

Pupil teacher ratio

SCN

Save the Children Norway

SDP

Sector Development Program Loan (ADB)

Sida

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

SMATT

Project for improving science and mathematics teacher training

SME

Small and medium-sized enterprise

SWAp

Sector-wide approach

TA

Technical assistance

TEI

Teacher education institution (generic name for all teacher-training institutions)

TESAP

Teacher Education Strategy 2006-2015 and Action Plan 2006-2010

TTEST

Teacher Training Enhancement and Status of Teachers Project

TUP

Teacher Upgrading Programme

TVET

Technical and vocational education and training

UNCT

United Nations Country Team

UNDAF

United Nations Development Assistance Framework

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund

UPE

Universal primary education

UXO

Unexploded ordnances

WB

World Bank

WFP

World Food Programme

WHO

World Health Organization

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Chapter 1: Development Challenges and Priorities 1.1

Political, Economic, Social and Human Development Context

Introduction The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is a small, sparsely populated, landlocked country with a rich but vulnerable natural resource base - water, forests, and minerals. The country became independent in 1975, following decades of civil war and heavy involvement in the larger Indochina war in the eastern and northeastern provinces. It covers an area of 236,800 square kilometer and shares borders with Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Geographic conditions restrict both the quantity and quality of agricultural land and pose difficulties in the development of trade, social infrastructure, and transport and communications links. A highly dispersed and thinly spread population further compounds this. Nevertheless, Lao PDR is located at the geographic centre of the dynamic and prospering Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), and as such has the potential to provide a strategic resource base and land-link to its bordering neighbours. The population of Lao PDR, estimated at 5.62 million (Census 2005), is growing at a relatively rapid rate of 2.1% per annum. People are scattered in 10,552 villages across the country, with an average village size of approximately 500 inhabitants. A typical village has some 80 households with an average size of 5.9 persons. Some 62% of the population is under the age of 24, while 44% is under the age of 15. Life expectancy is estimated at 59 years for males and 63 years for females. Urbanization remains relatively low, at 27%. The Lao population is ethnically diverse with 49 officially recognized ethnic groups, each with their own custom and language. The ethnic groups are widely categorized in terms of four major ethno-linguistic families: (i) Tai-Kadai (also referred to as Lao-Tai) comprises eight ethnic groups, which includes the ethnic Lao group (30% of the population) and lowland Tai speaking groups (36%), (ii) Austro-Asiatic, 32 ethnic groups (23%), (iii) Hmong-Yu Mien, two ethnic groups (7%), and (iv) Sino-Tibetan, seven ethnic groups (3%). 1 The literacy rate for the population aged 15 and over among the Tai-Kadai (Lao-Tai) groups was 84%, compared to 49% for the non-Tai-Kadai groups (Census 2005). 2 Geographical conditions of a landlocked country with a lot of mountainous areas imply difficulties in the supply of school buildings and facilities, teaching and learning materials and teachers in sparsely-populated, remote areas, and needs for multigrade teaching. Ethnic diversity also has great implications for educational provision in terms of language of instruction, recruitment of teachers who are from the same ethnic group as the children, and flexibility of the curriculum to allow local authorities to include relevant cultural content and pedagogy into instruction.

Political Developments Lao PDR is a unitary state comprising 17 provinces (Vientiane Capital and 16 provinces) and 140 districts. 3 The Government is run by the Council of Ministers, whose decrees provide the main legislative basis for government operations. Political power rests with the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), whose Politburo and Central Committee are the organs for making the policy-guidelines. Their decisions are ratified by party congresses held at five year intervals, with the last congress held in March 2006. 4 A single party control has enabled consistency and clarity in policy direction, and while public accountability has been limited, it is showing signs of improvement. The 8th Party Congress of the LPRP, which was held in March 2006, elected the 11 members of the Politburo, including the first female member, and endorsed the Sixth Five Year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP6) covering the period 2006-2010. 5 Since 2000, the central government has been steadily devolving decision-making and financial management powers to the provinces, districts, and villages, supported by the Prime Minister’s Decree on Decentralization. This gave the provincial governments a high degree of autonomy over resources, expenditures, and services. Responsibilities, however, have not always been coupled with the requisite human and financial capacity. Fiscal decentralization and tax collection are both politically and administratively complex, which has 1

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contributed to wide horizontal and vertical inequities in resource availability. Accountability systems and fiscal controls at the village levels remain fragile and inconsistent. This is believed to be causing substantial revenue losses at the national and sub-national levels and inevitably leading to heavy reliance on the Official Development Assistance (ODA). 6 Tackling these aspects of decentralization, particularly the economic risks, is an urgent matter for the government and its development partners. 7 Decentralization is expected to make educational management closer to where learning is taking place and to enable local authorities to better respond to local needs without delay. However, it also implies a need for training local staff to take up new responsibilities. In addition, there will be a possibility of disconnecting information flow, especially about the budget and disbursement between the central Ministry of Education and Provincial Education Services.

Economic Developments

A large majority of the population relies on subsistence agriculture. 8 Although its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) share is declining, agriculture is still the largest sector in the Lao economy, contributing 42% to GDP in 2006 and employing nearly 80% of the labour force. Industry accounts for around 32% of GDP and services for nearly 26%. 9 In 1986, the Government embarked on reforms to shift from a centrally planned to market-based economy, with the introduction of the New Economic Mechanism. Restrictions on private enterprise were eased, prices and trade of goods and services liberalized, and a number of state-owned entities privatized. Over the five years of 2001-2005, the macroeconomic environment has largely stabilized, following an uncertain period in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and a temporary lapse of fiscal and monetary discipline in 1998. During 1990-2005, real GDP grew at an annual average rate of 6.2%.10 Economic growth accelerated to 7.3% in 2006, to average 6.5% over the five years of 2002-2006. 11 This growth is in large part due to foreign investment inflows in mining and hydro-power and growing mineral exports. Agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors are expected to sustain growth, due to rising the foreign direct investment (FDI) in agriculture, manufacturing, and increasing trend in services especially tourism. 12 Economic development will increase the opportunity of employment especially in industrial and service sectors, which implies demand for a labour force who has a moderate level of literacy and communication and other specialized skills which are linked to secondary or higher levels of education. Regional integration: Lao PDR is increasing its integration, both regionally and globally. Sub-regionally, Lao PDR is an active partner in the emerging GMS Economic Cooperation Programme. On a broader regional and global level, Lao PDR joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997 and it is a member of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). In 1997, Lao PDR applied for the WTO membership and is presently in the process of accession. The membership of WTO will open up the country’s economy and help to accelerate the economic reform process. 13 Economic prospects and challenges: Lao PDR has significant potential for the development of hydropower, mining, eco- and cultural tourism, commercial agriculture, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development, regional employment, and transit trade. Several preconditions for structural change and acceleration of economic growth are largely in place: basic economic infrastructure connects the Lao PDR to buoyant regional markets; a growing share of the labour force is literate and numerate; private sector activity is rapidly increasing; annual tourist arrivals have topped the one million mark; and implementation of a number of selected hydropower and mining projects has enhanced the nation’s reputation as an investment destination. 14 On the other hand, challenges to macroeconomic management include a weak domestic revenue base, high reliance on external support for the budget, a large stock of public debt, and less attractive trade environment to foreign investment, which has limited the government’s ability to maintain public assets and finance poverty reduction priorities 15. Assistance from development partners: Though ODA inflows as a share of GDP have been declining for a 2

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couple of years (mainly due to fast economic growth), there is new momentum in donor support for policy reform implementation, side by side with continued strong support for health and education sectors. Budget support is on the rise, with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and European Community (EC) joining the World Bank Poverty Reduction Support Operation (PRSO) co-financing, as initiatives for setting up multi-donor trust funds (MDTFs) in two key reform areas (trade and public financial management), adding to the technical assistance support that is already being provided. The Government is also seeking greater donor coordination and harmonization of foreign assistance through more organized joint Government-donor working groups, in support of policy reform as well as investments in health, education, infrastructure and agriculture. 16

Social and Human Developments According to the Census 2005 and the Lao Reproductive Health Survey 2005, the decline in fertility rates has been faster than anticipated over the past decade in Lao PDR. The fertility rate has declined from 5.0 in 1995, to 4.8 in 2000, and to 4.5 in 2005 (Census 2005) with somewhat higher rates in rural areas and declining rates linked to years of education. In the urban areas, the fertility rate has stabilized at just over 2.04, which is close to the fertility rates in Europe. In the rural “on road” areas, the fertility rate is still relatively high as 3.70. In rural “off road” areas (that is, in remote and often non-Lao-Tai ethnic communities), the fertility rate is still quite high at 4.74. 17 Relatively high fertility rates in rural areas imply the need to increase educational opportunities for more children in the places where the current education system struggles to provide full coverage of education services. Poverty: 18 Economic progress has resulted in a substantial reduction in poverty over the past decade, although poverty remains high. Using the national poverty line, the poverty incidence fell from 46% in 1992 to 33% in 2003 and food insecurity has almost been eliminated over the past two decades. Much of this poverty reduction took place in the poorest parts of the country, and the poorest groups have benefited substantially from the overall poverty reduction process. Factors contributing to this remarkable reduction in poverty incidence include higher rice production, greater labour mobility of educated rural youth, urbanization, SME development, improvements in market access internally and to neighbouring countries, and the introduction of commercial agriculture. Lao PDR is on track in terms of meeting the income poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. 19 Despite considerable progress, Lao PDR lags behind on a number of non-income MDGs - life expectancy at birth (61 years in 2005) is low, child malnutrition (30% in 2005) is high, and infant mortality (60 per 1,000 live births in 2005) and maternal mortality (350 per 100,000 live births in 2005) are very high compared with conditions in other countries in the region. About 27% of the adult population aged 15 and over, and more than one third of females, cannot read or write, and 57% of the population has not completed primary schooling (Census 2005). 20 Improving literacy levels and the completion rate of primary education would be instrumental to achieving progress in these areas. In relative terms, Lao PDR is the second lowest ranking country in South-East Asia according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index (2006), where it is ranked 133 out of 177 countries. Lao PDR remains one of the poorest countries in the Asia and Pacific region, and it is classified by the United Nations as a least-developed country (LDC), one of four in South-East Asia. 21 Still, poverty continues to be primarily a rural phenomenon, with the poverty prevalence twice as high as in urban areas. The prevalence of poverty is lowest in the capital city. Poverty in the 47 poorest districts is twice as high as in the 70 non-poor districts. Poverty in the uplands is 43%, compared to only 28% in the lowlands. Some 75% of poor households are made up of members of non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups living in remote and upland areas on marginally productive land. The upland non-Lao-Tai ethnic communities also suffer from high rates of infant and maternal mortality, lower access to health and education services, higher illiteracy, lower access to electricity and clean water, and less involvement in the market economy. 22 Remoteness and variation in access to basic infrastructure are key determinants of the regional distribution of 3

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poverty. About two fifths of the population lives in districts classified as mostly steep and another 12% in districts with some steep land slopes. Just two-thirds of villages have access to roads, 35% have access to electricity, and only 6% use piped water. Some 8% of villages have their own health centre, and, while 80% have a primary school in their area, only 36% of these were categorized as complete which offers the full five grades of primary education. The predominance of subsistence agriculture partly reflects very limited opportunities for formal employment. The ability of the poor to earn a living outside farming depends primarily on their level of human resource development. Widespread income poverty renders many basic social services unaffordable to the poor, while geographic isolation and inadequate infrastructure hinder physical access. There are also language and cultural barriers to the use of social services, particularly among non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups. Women in Lao PDR are more vulnerable and deprived than men because of their unequal access to land, food, education, and health care, and their long working hours. Women have a far lower average literacy rate than men, and in 2004 girls were 30% less likely to be participating in upper-secondary education than boys, and 40% less likely to participate in tertiary education. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR), while it has steadily declined from 750 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 530 in 2000 and to 350 in 2005, is still one of the highest in Asia. Frequent pregnancies without adequate birth spacing place a serious strain on the health of rural women. There is a need to find effective ways in which education can respond to contribute to reduce these disparities/inequalities. The progress towards MDGs is summarized in Appendix 1.

1.2

National Development Priorities

The Government of Lao PDR (GOL) aims to achieve rapid economic growth in order to improve the living conditions of its poor, graduate from its status as an LDC by 2020 and meet the MDGs. The development strategy to achieve these goals was articulated in the 5th National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP5, 2001-2005) and later in the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES). In November 2004 the latter was approved by the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the official Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for Lao PDR. The NGPES process was initially launched as a parallel to the national planning process and served as a basis for support by donors while introducing key PRSP principles to the national planning process, such as broad participation, poverty focus and result-orientation. Since 2005 efforts had been made in updating the NGPES and integrating it into the 6th National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP6) covering the period 2006-2010. 23

National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES) The poverty eradication strategy commenced in 1996 when the country’s 6th Party Congress defined its long-term development objective as freeing the country from the status of LDC by 2020. In 2003 the Government launched its PRSP, known locally as the NGPES. The United Nations system and donor partners established working groups to support its implementation and operationalization. MDGs and targets were localized to fit with the NGPES priorities. The NGPES provides the framework for the country’s future growth and poverty eradication programmes. Following a long consultation and drafting process, the National Assembly mandated the GOL to implement the NGPES in October 2003. The NGPES has dual objectives: promote sustainable growth and alleviate poverty, particularly in 72 poor districts from which 47 are priority poorest districts within four main sectors: agriculture, education, health and infrastructure. The three pillars of the NGPES are to: (i) foster economic growth with equity, (ii) develop and modernize Lao PDR’s social and economic infrastructure, and (iii) enhance human resource development. The NGPES: (i) acknowledges the importance of governance challenges, (ii) begins to articulate solid strategies for improving service delivery and infrastructure, (iii) sets appropriate directions for sustaining growth, (iv) seeks to address inequity and vulnerability, and (v) provides a framework for monitoring and implementation. The NGPES also recognizes the importance of improving Lao PDR’s international competitiveness, attracting FDI, and undertaking governance reforms. It emphasizes the value of rural infrastructure and the need to enhance human development through a strong agenda for improving 4

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education. 24 NGPES operationalization faced a number of challenges due to the fact that it is perceived to be outside the ambit of the NSEDP5 (2001-2005) and the constituent Annual Plans. To remedy the situation, it was felt desirable to integrate the NGPES with the regular five-year plans of the country as poverty reduction is seen to be integral part of overall development. Accordingly, with encouragement from the partners in development, the Government has integrated the NGPES in the NSEDP6 (2006-2010). 25

Millennium Development Goals Progress Report Lao PDR In 2004, the Government set up its localized targets and relevant indicators within the framework of the MDGs and published its first National MDGs Progress Report, which went a long way in establishing solid baselines to track the country’s progress towards the achievement of the MDGs by 2015. The MDGs Progress Report contains statistical indicator trends for the MDG goals and targets, and on the basis of the statistical analysis, presents the key issues and also the likelihood of MDGs being met by the target year(s). 26 Goal 2 seeks to ensure that by 2015, all primary school age boys and girls in the Lao PDR are enrolled in school and Goal 3 calls on the country to ensure that girls have equal access to education by 2015 and to improve empowerment of women. It should be recognized that both Goals assume the importance of literacy that provides the foundation for primary and other levels of education. It should be recognized that both Goals assume the importance of literacy that provides the foundation for primary and other levels of education.

Sixth Five Year National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2006-2010 (NSEDP6) In 2005 the Government started preparing its NSEDP6 (2006-2010) that would subsume the operationalization of the NGPES and thus the MDGs. The development of NSEDP6 is also based on: (i) the Long-Term Strategy of Socio-Economic Development to the Year 2020, (ii) the Ten-Year Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2001-2010), (iii) the Strategy on Industrialization and Modernization, (iv) the Regional Development Strategy, (v) various sector, thematic area and sub-sector strategies and plans, and (vi) the analysis of the international and domestic contexts for the development of the Lao PDR. The NSEDP6 incorporates the NGPES and its priority sectors, and it is a strategic agenda to enlarge economic opportunities, enable the provision of basic social and essential economic services, ensure security, and facilitate the participation and empowerment of the poor. Expansion of economic opportunities is the first component of the strategy, with an emphasis on agriculture, rural development, infrastructure development, and fostering SME development. The second component is improved provision of basic social services, with a focus on health, education and clean drinking water. The third component is improved human security, including measures aimed at fostering food security, reducing the threats from unexploded ordnance, and ensuring protection against natural disasters. The fourth component is enhanced participation of the poor in decision-making and empowerment of the poor so that they can better determine their future. The fifth component is a concentrated effort to develop the poorest areas through a range of targeted interventions, including the focal area development programme, and through the use of village and district development funds and the Poverty Reduction Fund. The NSEDP6 aims to reduce the poverty level to below 15% by 2010, to completely abolish seasonal hunger (rice scarcity) at the household level, to reduce the ratio of malnourished children under 5 to below 30%, to provide universal access to primary education, to provide clean water to 65% of the population in rural areas, and to lower the population growth rate to 1.9%. The NSEDP6 would, however, have benefited from stronger prioritization and costing of actions, since findings from the Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review (2007) indicates that a total implementation cost of the NSEDP priority programmes in the three priority sectors (excluding agriculture) is twice as much as the current sectoral allocations. Successful implementation of the NSEDP6 and progress towards the MDGs will require a shift in resources toward NSEDP6 priorities, including greater emphasis on recurrent outlays, a substantial increase in domestic revenue mobilization, a reduction in the Government’s commercial activities, and steady improvement in expenditure management. Fostering labour-intensive growth will be essential if higher rates of private investment are to translate into sustained poverty reduction. 27 5

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Chapter 2: Educational Challenges, Priorities and Strategies 2.1

Educational Context and Challenges

The Education System The formal education system in Lao PDR consists of general education, technical and vocational education and training (including teacher education), and higher education. In addition, non-formal education is offered predominantly to out of school youth and adults. The structure of the formal education system in Lao PDR is illustrated in Appendix 2. General education consists of: (a) pre-school which consists of crèche for children ages 0-2, and kindergarten for children ages 3-5, (b) primary education which consists of five years of schooling (Grades 1-5) for children of ages 6-10, (c) lower secondary education which consists of three years of schooling (Grades 6-8) for children of ages 11-13, and (d) upper secondary education which consists of three years of schooling (Grades 9-11) for children of ages 14-16. Under the Five Years Education Development Plan 2006-2010 and the proposed National Education System Reform Strategy 2006-2015, the GOL plans to increase the length of schooling in general education from 11 years (5+3+3) to 12 years (5+4+3) by extending the lower secondary education to include Grade 9 (Grades 6-9) and making upper secondary education three years of schooling (Grades 10-12) for children of ages 15-17. This will bring the Lao’s general education system in line with prevailing international norms of a 12-year school cycle. The GOL is also considering introducing Grade 0 either in pre-schools or in primary schools in order to allow for a smooth transition into primary education and to address high repetition rates in early grades in primary education. 28 Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) admits students after they complete either Grade 8 or 11. Technical and vocational education offers (a) programmes for preparing skilled workers at the upper secondary level (8+3) which admits lower secondary graduates, and (b) programmes for preparing technicians at the post-secondary level ((11+2) and (11+3)). There is another path for lower secondary graduates that includes three years of vocational education and two years of specialized training for graduation at the technician level (8+3+2). Teacher education offers prospective teachers five options. They can enrol in a one-year programme at the end of upper secondary school (11+1) to become pre-school teachers. They can enrol in a three-year training course at the end of lower secondary school (8+3) or they can enrol in a one-year programme at the end of upper secondary school (11+1) to become primary teachers. 29 They can enrol in a three-year training programme upon completion of the upper secondary school (11+3) to teach at the lower secondary level. To teach at the upper secondary level, they must enrol in the Faculty of Education in the National University of Laos (NUOL) (11+5). 30 Higher education admits students at the NUOL after graduating from general secondary education. They go through 1-2 years of foundation studies, followed by 4 to 5 years of professional studies offered in specific faculties. On graduation, students receive a bachelor degree. In 2002, a branch of the NUOL was opened in Champasack (Champasack University), while another branch was opened in 2003 in Luang Prabang (Souphanouvong University). 31 In 2007, the Faculty of Medical Science at the NUOL became the fourth university under the authority of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH). The non-formal education programmes target three groups: (a) children and young adults aged 6-14 who did not have an opportunity to attend primary school and are willing to follow literacy and continuing education courses, (b) adults aged 15-40 who are illiterate and are willing to follow literacy and continuing education

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courses, and (c) youth and adults aged 15-24 who do not have definite vocations and are willing to follow basic vocational training. Private education is provided in parallel with the public formal education system. The sector is increasingly playing an important role in the education system. Private schools, especially at the pre-school, TVET and higher education levels, are growing in numbers, and are concentrated primarily in urban areas.

Legislative Framework 32 The Article 19 of the Constitution in 1991 gives the state responsibility for the development of the education system and authorizes the operation of private schools. It refers specifically to developing education in areas where the non-Lao-Tai people reside. Article 25 guarantees all Lao citizens a right to education. The Prime Minister’s Decree on Compulsory Education in 1996 makes a five-year primary education free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 14 years. The Ministry of Education (MOE) is given responsibility for identifying and providing basic educational materials to schools, providing qualified teachers in sufficient number, and determining curriculum and instructional time. The responsibility of MOE for educational provision in mountainous, isolated, ethnic, and poor areas is specified. The Education Law of 2000 established the education system as unified with a non-formal system that is parallel and equivalent in content and status at all levels. It stipulates that all Lao citizens have the right to education without discrimination regardless of their ethnicity, origin, religion, gender, or social status. Article 14 establishes MOE’s responsibility for providing education for persons with disabilities, within regular schools whenever possible. This law was amended in 2007.

Administration The MOE is the government’s central organization. It has a secretariat role and function for the Party Central Committee and the government in educational matters on planning and determining policy, as well as supervising, leading, implementing and controlling the educational tasks nationwide (Decree No. 61 of 1993). The MOE therefore is responsible for formal and non-formal education at all levels, and for both public and private education. The organization chart for the MOE is shown in Appendix 3. However, under the government’s decentralization process, the MOE shares responsibilities with the Provincial Education Services (PES) and the District Education Bureaus (DEB). PES is responsible for (i) secondary schools and (ii) technical and vocational schools which are not under the control of the MOE. DEB is responsible for pre-schools, primary schools and non-formal education institutions in its own district. The NUOL is given autonomous administrative authority.

Financing 33 The resource management mechanism in Lao PDR is undergoing the process of decentralization. Overall, the recurrent budget is funded out of domestic resources under the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and the investment budget is to a large extent funded by external resources and managed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) with MOF’s involvement. The formal process of budget preparation takes place within the framework of decentralized planning and involves both central ministries and provincial governments. There are both "bottom up" and "top down" processes. Budget requests move from schools to the districts (DEB) and from the districts to the provincial governments (PES). PES submits their budget requests in the second quarter of the year, and they are finally consolidated by MOE to its budget proposal to be submitted to MOF and MPI at the same time. The "top down" phase starts with review by MOF and MPI followed by regional conferences in mid-year to establish the overall budget limits for each province, the shares for each sector, and recurrent and capital shares. After a series of revisions and further negotiations, the recurrent budget is finalized by MOF and the capital budget by MPI. Both are submitted to the National Assembly in October-November. The fiscal year and school year are defined as October 1-September 31 and September 1-August 31 respectively.

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Public spending on education improved substantially during the early 1990s. However, overall public expenditure virtually collapsed with the onset on macroeconomic difficulties and was worsened by the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98. Recovery took place during the first half of the decade, and by 2005/06 public educational expenditure had nearly recovered its level of the early 1990s, both in relation to GDP and as a proportion of total public spending. The education budget as % of GDP and as % of total Government budget became 3.2% and 15.0% respectively in 2006/07.34 The share of the recurrent budget allocated to each sub-sector shows that since the beginning of the decade the shares of the total expenditure allocated to primary and lower secondary education have slightly declined while the shares allocated to upper secondary and higher education have increased (Figure 1). Nevertheless, more than 40% is still allocated to primary education. The GOL primarily aims at universal primary education (UPE) which is widely supported by major donors. On the other hand, rapid enrolment growth for other sub-sectors, caused partly by success of moving towards UPE and by increased social demand, has been realized by (i) private sector involvement, (ii) increase of the Government budget allocated to those sub-sectors in absolute terms and an increased share of those sub-sectors in the education sector, and (iii) donor support. Figure 1: Distribution of Recurrent Education Expenditure by Sub-Sector (1999-2006)

Source: Estimates based on data from MOE (Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report (Draft). Vientiane.)

2.2

Education Sector Overview

This section gives an overview of the progress in enrolments and key issues and challenges in the education sector with detailed description about the current situation, achievements, and key issues and challenges by sub-sectors. The section is based on the situation analysis in Appendix 4.

Progress in Enrolments Primary and secondary enrolments have progressed over the past ten years (Figure 2), driven strongly by better female enrolment. According to the data from the Lao Expenditure and Consumption Survey 2002/03 (LECS3), urban girls often have higher age-specific participation rate than urban boys. However, there are signs of divergence within the female population, with a widening schooling gap between rural Lao-Tai and non-Lao-Tai women, and between rural and urban women. There is a clear picture of faster enrolment growth at the higher levels of education. TVET, teacher education and higher education have led the way in recent enrolment growth. 35

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Figure 2: Enrolment Growth Levels (1994-2005) 35,000

1,000,000 900,000

30,000 800,000 25,000

700,000

Primary

600,000

20,000

Low er secondary

500,000 15,000

400,000

Upper secondary TVET

300,000

10,000

200,000 5,000

Teacher training Higher education

100,000

04 /0 5

03 /0 4

02 /0 3

01 /0 2

00 /0 1

99 /0 0

98 /9 9

97 /9 8

96 /9 7

0 95 /9 6

94 /9 5

0

Source: World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. Note: Numbers represent number of students. Primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education are measured by the left vertical axis. TVET, teacher training and higher education are measured by the secondary axis on the right vertical axis.

Key Issues and Challenges in the Education Sector Access and equity: There are widespread disparities in education access. A closer focus on access by income level shows that the poorest districts in the Lao PDR experience systematic disadvantages in a wide variety of educational indicators. 36 Children from poor households, non-Lao-Tai groups, and rural areas display prominently different enrolment trends than those from non-poor households, Lao-Tai group and urban areas. At the primary level, the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) of non-poor children (74.5%) was 14.2% higher than that of the poor children (60.3%) in 2002/03. The NER of the male and female Lao-Tai children in rural areas (76.8% for boys and 74.4% for girls) were 18.2% and 23.4% higher than those of the male and female non-Lao-Tai children in rural areas (58.6% for boys and 51.0% for girls), respectively. In addition, the NER of male and female urban children (78.6% for boys and 78.1% for girls) were 9.2% and 13.4% higher than those of male and female rural children (69.4% for boys and 64.7% girls). Gender disparity of the NER in urban areas was not so great, while it was 4.7% (5.8% for poor children) in rural areas and 7.6% (9.5% for poor children) for the non-Lao-Tai groups in rural areas. The NER ranges from 79.3% and 78.4% for urban non-poor Lao-Tai boys and girls to 54.5% and 45.0% for rural poor non-Lao-Tai boys and girls - a range of 34.3 percentage points between urban non-poor Lao-Tai boys and rural poor non-Lao-Tai girls. At the lower secondary level, the differences between sub-groups (poor/non-poor, Lao-Tai/non-Lao-Tai, and urban/rural) became more significant, but the gender disparity was wider in urban areas because the lower secondary level NER was still very low in rural areas even for boys. 37 It has been observed that the most disadvantaged populations cannot be reached with the conventional approaches alone, that is, more classrooms, more teachers, and more textbooks. New and group-specific approaches are required that meet the special needs of these groups; e.g., multigrade teaching and teaching adapted to the needs of children who come to school speaking a language other than Lao. 38 Quality: It is perceived that the quality of Lao education has neither reached international standards nor met the demands of society and the labour market. Poor quality is shown in the inadequate infrastructure and facilities, a shortage of textbooks and teaching materials, insufficient instruction time, curriculum deficiency, and a shortage and low quality of teachers at all levels of education. Internal efficiency is low due to high repetition and drop-out rates, especially in primary education. On average, it takes about eight years to complete five years of primary education. The proportion of students completing the full cycle of primary and secondary schools compared with entrants is also relatively low. The completion rates are approximately 58% 9

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for primary, 74% for lower secondary and 81% for upper secondary education. 39 For every 100 males and 100 females who enrol in Grade 1, only 27 and 23 will subsequently graduate from Grade 11 (upper secondary education) respectively. 40 A 2001 survey of functional literacy in Lao language in adults aged 15-59 years found that only 54% of men and 37% of women reached the level of basic literacy. There were significant disparities by urban/rural, ethnic group, and socio-economic quintile. The survey also found that primary education does not ensure the acquisition of basic literacy. Just over 50% of primary graduates attain basic literacy. 41 Despite having information from sporadic surveys of this type, until recently, GOL has had no regular access to data on student learning achievement. Now, however, the MOE has developed a sample-based testing instrument that will provide regular information, initially on Grade 5 students, in the three subjects of Lao, mathematics, and general science (World Around Us). The first survey (2007) revealed that in the subjects of Lao and the World Around Us the results were as expected but in mathematics the achievement was very low. Most Grade 5 pupils were performing at Grade 3 level. 42 There is a shortage of primary and lower secondary teachers even though the teacher education institutions have trained enough primary teachers to meet demand. The reasons for the continuing shortage include limitations placed on the quota of new teachers that can be recruited each year, inefficient deployment, limitations of provincial allocations and teachers leaving the profession for many reasons. The lack of teachers is particularly acute in remote areas where ethnic groups live and especially in poor districts. The majority of teachers who attained a Bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Education at the NUOL, i.e. qualified upper secondary teachers, did not return to their home provinces and did not go to teach where they were assigned. This attrition contributed to the creation of a drain of lower secondary teachers (who are not qualified to teach at upper secondary schools) into upper secondary due to a shortage of qualified upper secondary teachers in some areas. 43 Due to security, cultural and family reasons, there is a shortage of female teachers in, and it is difficult to deploy female teachers to, the remote rural areas. The lack of female teachers from the non-Lao-Tai group who are able to teach in both Lao and mother tongue, especially in remote areas, is found to be one of the key reasons for the low enrolment of girls in school. 44 A recent study showed that teachers’ salaries were below subsistence level and they were often paid three and four months late. 45 Consequently, many teachers teach for less than their official number of instructional hours because they need time for outside employment to compensate for their very low salaries. Low salaries likely lead to low quality, low motivation, and an inability for the GOL to supply education to poorer and more remote areas. 46 Management: Weak institutional capacity for planning, management, and delivery of education at all levels is an obstacle to implement education reforms. The situation is worse at provincial and district levels. Decentralization of the political structure in 2000 vested responsibility for education planning, budget allocation and service delivery with provincial and district administrations. At both levels there is limited capacity and very limited financial resources to collect and analyse data and influence policy or government allocations and limited opportunity or skills to engage in policy dialogue or advocate for increased budgets. 47 In addition, PES and DEB staff have little chance of training to effectively take up new responsibilities and requirements transferred under decentralization. The lack of regular monitoring and supervision support from the PES and DEB staff at school level is severely hindering the GOL’s aim of improving the quality of education. Teachers and school administrators require regular support from the provincial and district staff. Three issues provide a challenge for improving the quality of education at school level: (1) the lack of sufficient numbers of provincial and district technical staff to provide support, (2) the low quality of provincial and district technical staff in providing adequate support on educational and managerial issues, and (3) a shortage of funds for monitoring and supervision by provincial and district technical staff. 48 The Education Management Information System (EMIS) is operating in an unfavourable environment. Human resources for the EMIS are insufficient to adequately perform its functions and tasks, especially at the central (MOE) and district levels. At central level, EMIS infrastructure is insufficient, and at district level there are 10

Draft (May 2008)

still 25 DEBs which do not have public electricity supply and more than half of which do not have a computer. Current EMIS has limited outputs and is coupled by the existence of several parallel data collection systems by different MOE departments, collecting from the same source at the same time. 49

Early Childhood Development (ECD) 50 Enrolments in kindergartens were 46,237 in total, with 22,766 boys and 23,471 girls in 2005/06 (see Table 1). The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in kindergartens was 11% (10% for boys and 11% for girls). The number of ECD (crèche and kindergartens) teachers was 2,882 (17 males and 2,865 females) and the pupil-teacher ratio (crèche and kindergartens) was 17.1. Private schools account for 29% in enrolment of kindergartens. Table 1: Enrolments, GER and teachers in 2000/01 and 2005/06 2000/01 2005/06 Total Male Female Total Male Female Enrolments 37,110 18,082 19,028 46,237 22,766 23,471 GER 7% 7% 7% 11% 10% 11% Teachers 2,259 6 2,253 2,882 17 2,865 Source: Ministry of Education. 2001 and 2006. Annual Bulletin 2000-01 and 2005-06. Vientiane, MOE and MOE. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft).

From 2002 MOE, with support from UNICEF and Save the Children Norway (SCN), piloted programmes adding a pre-primary class to existing primary schools in rural and remote areas. The pilot programmes were found successful (2005) and opened the way for expansion nationwide. Key issues and challenges in ECD Access: There is a growing awareness in Lao PDR that ECD is vital for children’s (holistic) development. However, as a result of the lack of comprehensive policy on ECD and of financial resources (as a result to it) for ECD programmes, as well as the lack of health, water and sanitation facilities for the vast majority of ECD provisions/programmes, enrolments in ECD remain limited to urban and wealthy communities. Many children five years old and younger in rural and remote areas, from small non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups, and whose parents cannot afford to send their young children to ECD programmes, continue to be deprived of an early childhood care and education. The government’s plan to establish public and community ECD programmes in rural, remote, and ethnic communities so far does not appear to be succeeding in reducing the gap in enrolment ratios between urban and rural areas. Although of late ECD programmes have managed to attract more students, Lao PDR is likely to fall short of the 2010 and 2015 targets (11% enrolment rate for 3-4 year-olds in 2010 and 17% in 2015, and 30% enrolment rate for 5-year-olds in 2010 and 55% in 2015) set out in the EFA Plan, considering the current GER of 11% in kindergartens. If Lao PDR is to achieve the EFA targets, MOE will have to pay particular attention to the expansion of ECD provisions/programmes to rural and remote areas in the country. 51 Quality: The percentage of new primary school entrants who have experience in ECD programmes is still very low (about 10% in 2005/06) and the vast majority of children who enter Grade 1 have never participated in organized learning programmes and activities, and has had little introduction to simple concepts of mathematics, colour, size, counting, ordering, texture, shapes, and spatial and quantitative relationships. Non-Lao-Tai ethnic children face the added challenge of rarely encountering the language of instruction (Lao language) before entering primary school. 52 These facts are probably among the major causes of high repetition and drop-out rates in Grades 1 and 2 in primary education (see quality issues in primary education).

Primary Education Enrolments in primary education were 891,881 in total, with 480,670 boys and 411,211 girls in 2005/06 (see Table 2). The Net Enrolment Ratios (NER) and GER in primary education were 84% (87% for boys and 81% for girls) and 116% (123% for boys and 109% for girls) respectively. The number of primary teachers was 27,776 and the pupil-teacher ratio was 32.1. In 2004/05 the number of primary schools was 8,541, out of which 4,881 (57%) were incomplete schools which offer fewer than five primary grades. There were 105 private primary schools with a total of 21,020 students (2.4% of the total primary enrolments) in 2004/05, 11

Draft (May 2008)

compared to 74 private primary schools with a total of 17,046 students (2.1% of the total primary enrolments) in 2000/01. Table 2: Enrolments, NER, GER and teachers in 2000/01 and 2005/06 2000/01 2005/06 Total Male Female Total Male Female Enrolments 828,113 452,387 375,726 891,881 480,670 411,211 NER 80% 83% 76% 84% 87% 81% GER 110% 118% 102% 116% 123% 109% Teachers 27,475 15,439 12,036 27,776 14,777 12,999 Source: Ministry of Education. 2001 and 2006. Annual Bulletin 2000-01 and 2005-06. Vientiane, MOE and MOE. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft).

The primary education sub-sector continues to show steady progress in enrolment rates. The NER increased from 59% in 1991/92 to 84% in 2005/06. The increase in enrolment has been higher for girls than boys and enrolment in primary education has been moving towards gender parity. The increase in the proportion of both students and teachers of non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups in primary school has been dramatic, and the entire increase in primary school enrolment in the past half-decade is due to enrolment of non-Lao Tai ethnic group students. There are many success stories behind the achievements described above, notably the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded Basic Education (Girls) Project and the co-financed Lao-Australia Basic Education Project (LABEP) both of which have been very successful in providing access to primary schools, especially for girls, and providing qualified teachers to poor, remote, and non-Lao-Tai ethnic communities. The quantitative improvement in primary school teacher qualifications over the past half decade is a significant success. The proportion of qualified primary school teachers increased from 77% (70% of male teachers and 86% of female teachers) in 2000/01 to 89% (85% of male teachers and 93% of female teachers) in 2005/06. The LABEP Ethnic Teacher Group Training programme, the three-year sandwich style teacher training programme with bridging courses for ethnic groups, was found successful as the graduates from the programme on average were viewed as better than graduates from the normal programme. Even though the low education levels of the trainees on entry caused a lot of concern, especially in relation to Lao language and mathematics, the graduates from these programmes were found well suited for teaching in Grades 1, 2 and 3. As part of the Teacher Upgrading Programme (TUP), MOE, with support from development partners had been successful in providing training to 12,340 untrained teachers (9,640 male and 2,700 female teachers) in poor, remote, and ethnic communities during the period of 1992-2007. 53 In 2006 the MOE and a consortium of development partners agreed to finance printing of a new round of the existing textbooks (one set of textbooks for one primary student) and teacher guides, and they are being distributed nationwide. In addition, revision of the existing primary school textbooks and subsequent production and distribution are now under way, under the World Bank (WB)-funded Second Education Development Project (EDP-II). The first WB-funded Education Development Project (EDP-I) was successful in providing schools and textbooks, especially in poor communities, and the EDP-II is in the process of providing the same kinds of outputs, in addition to revision of the existing primary curriculum. Key issues and challenges in primary education Access: Physical access remains a major barrier. Approximately 15% of villages are still without a primary school within commutable distance. Almost 57% of all primary schools and an estimated 70% of primary schools in the poorest districts are incomplete schools which do not offer the full five grades of primary education. Low population density and remoteness make provision of cost-effective and sustainable education services difficult in remote rural areas. Thus, children in the poorest areas, particularly girls and non-Lao-Tai groups, are distinctly disadvantaged in terms of limited access to education. 54 About 123,000 school-aged children (16% of the primary school-aged children) were not enrolled in primary schools in 2005/06. According to the World Food Programme (WFP) survey, factors impeding enrolment are 12

Draft (May 2008)

distance from school, cost, and labour demands placed on students. Health, nutrition and hygiene, while not barriers as such to enrolment, have an impact on attendance, performance and completion 55. The LECS3 also found that distance to school was one of the major reasons of never attending primary education. The other major reasons included children who were too young, had no interest, and had to work. 56 It is also possible that language of instruction, as different from the mother tongue, may be another barrier to enrolment. A substantial number of new entrants to primary schooling are outside the official starting age of six, 47% (49% for boys and 45% for girls) nationally. The provincial variation in the proportion of new entrants outside the official age is significant. In some provinces, more than two-thirds of all new entrants are outside the official age of entry. The reason for this pattern is that many children, especially in remote communities, are not sent to school until they are several years older than the official school age because the school is too far away or too difficult to access for five-year olds. 57 Quality: There has been a slow improvement of internal efficiency in primary education, but repetition and drop-out rates in Grades 1 and 2 remain extraordinarily high (repetition rates of 33% in total, 34% for boys and 32% for girls and drop-out rates of 13% for boys and girls in Grade 1, and repetition rates of 18% in total, 20% for boys and 17% for girls and drop-out rates of 7% for boys and girls in Grade 2), and reducing these to an acceptable level will be a great undertaking. High levels of repetition and drop-out represent inefficiencies within the school system that lead to wastage of financial and human resources in the education system. They also represent opportunity costs for students who require two or more years to complete a single grade. The high opportunity cost is probably one of the major factors of the high drop-out rates. It is not likely that the 2010 EFA targets related to internal efficiency (e.g., to reduce the repetition rate in Grade 1 to 10% by 2010) will be achieved. Students’ achievement in primary education has been found low in the recent surveys. Improvement of student performance is an even greater challenge, because student learning outcomes are dependent on many factors. It is not enough that the teachers are better educated and trained, or that improved textbooks are developed and distributed, or that curricula are improved. It is the combination and interaction of all these factors and others. It will be challenging for MOE to ensure that the required inputs are provided at school level to ensure improvement in learning outcomes. Some 11% of primary school teachers (15% of male teachers and 7% of female teachers) are still not qualified. There are great provincial differences with Oudomxay and Houaphan having the highest proportion of unqualified primary teachers of around 30%, and Champasack, Vientiane Province and Sayaboury having the lowest proportion of less than 5%. Many of these untrained primary school teachers are serving in small and remote communities. This problem will continue and could grow as primary schooling reaches out to more rural and remote communities. Just the quantitative task of providing qualified primary school teachers to these remote communities and other communities where unqualified teachers are serving will be a major challenge. This problem is exacerbated by the practice of the informal “promotion” of qualified primary school teachers to be lower secondary school teachers. Management: Although the Prime Minister’s Decree on Compulsory Education makes primary education free, parents are asked to pay for registration fees in primary education. Parents and communities also make contributions to schools which are mostly used for school operation and maintenance, school supplies, subsidies to teachers, and small repairs of school buildings and facilities. In addition, there are many kinds of hidden costs which prevent the poor from sending their children, especially girls, to school. They include transportation costs, clothing, books and other materials. 58

General Secondary Education Enrolments in general secondary education were 243,131 in total, with 137,043 males and 106,088 females in lower secondary education, and 147,510 in total, with 85,041 males and 62,469 females in upper secondary education in 2005/06. NERs and GERs were 29% (28% for males and 29% for females) and 52% (57% for males and 46% for females) respectively in lower secondary education, and 16% (13% for males and 18% for females) and 35% (39% for males and 30% for females) respectively in upper secondary education (see Table 3). In 2004/05 the number of secondary schools included 596 lower secondary schools, 31 upper secondary 13

Draft (May 2008)

schools, and 204 complete secondary schools (lower and upper secondary schools). The number of secondary teachers was 15,164 and the average pupil-teacher ratio for lower and upper secondary education was 25.8 in 2005/06. There were 34 private secondary schools with a total of 6,198 students (1.6% of the total secondary enrolments) in 2004/05, compared to 16 private secondary schools with a total of 2,447 students (0.9% of the total secondary enrolments) in 2000/01. Table 3: Enrolments, NER, GER and teachers in 2000/01 and 2005/06 2000/01 2005/06 Lower sec. Total Male Female Total Male Female Enrolments 195,845 114,276 81,569 243,131 137,043 106,088 NER 23% 23% 22% 29% 28% 29% GER 47% 54% 40% 52% 57% 46% Upper sec. Total Male Female Total Male Female Enrolments 88,525 53,218 35,307 147,510 85,041 62,469 NER 9% 8% 11% 16% 13% 18% GER 23% 27% 19% 35% 39% 30% Teachers 12,209 7,215 4,994 15,164 8,614 6,550 Source: Ministry of Education. 2001 and 2006. Annual Bulletin 2000-01 and 2005-06. Vientiane, MOE and MOE. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft). Note: The number of teachers is the total of lower and upper secondary teachers.

There has been a rapid quantitative progress of admissions and enrolments in secondary education. The GER reached 52% for lower secondary and 35% for upper secondary education in 2005/06, compared to 47% and 23% respectively in 2000/01. As with primary schooling, substantial progress has been made towards gender parity. As for quality, the GOL and ADB have agreed to print and distribute selected existing lower secondary textbooks and teacher guides to all lower secondary schools in the country under the ADB-funded Basic Education Sector Development Program (BESDP), starting in 2008. Similarly, the GOL and the Republic of Korea have agreed to print and distribute existing upper secondary textbooks (all subjects) and teacher guides to all upper secondary schools in the country under a Korea-funded two-year project, starting in late 2007. BESDP also includes the development of a rationalized curriculum framework for Grades 1-12, focusing on the secondary curriculum (lower and upper secondary), in response to revision of the primary curriculum which was made under the WB-funded EDP-II. Key issues and challenges in general secondary education Access: Significant disparities in access to lower secondary education exist by gender, urban/rural location, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. It should also be noted that disparities between different sub-groups (male/female, urban/rural, Lao-Thai/non-Lao-Thai, and poor/non-poor) become wider at lower secondary level compared to primary level. Members of the Lao-Tai groups generally have the highest rates of enrolment in lower secondary school no matter whether male or female, or urban or rural. By contrast, rural, low-income non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups fare very poorly. Both males and females in rural locations display enrolment rates far lower than their urban compatriots, and minority poor rural females are particularly disadvantaged, with 3% of the lower secondary NER. The rapid enrolment increase in the period 2000/01-2004/05 has not been accompanied by a parallel expansion of the number of secondary schools. The number of secondary schools has remained virtually unchanged. The secondary schools have been getting bigger in student numbers but this is not the result of additional classrooms. What has happened instead is that more students are being squeezed into each class and the average class size is currently 50. The critical constraint in reducing class size is not the lack of teachers in general; it is the lack of classrooms 59, although there are teacher shortages in certain geographical areas (poor remote areas) and in certain subject specializations. Quality: Teacher qualifications in Lao PDR are measured by two criteria: the number of years of formal schooling and the number of years of teacher education. Thus, an “11+1” has completed upper secondary 14

Draft (May 2008)

school (11 years) and then gone on to complete one year of teacher education. The formal requirement for teaching in secondary school is currently a minimum of “11+3”. In 2005/06 almost half (46%) of all secondary teachers did not meet this formal minimum qualification, and more than one third (37%) of all secondary teachers had an “8+3” qualification or less - meaning that they had no more basic schooling than the level of the students they were teaching. There are great provincial differences with Phongsaly and Houaphan having the highest proportion of under-qualified secondary teachers of almost 70%, and Sekong, Attapeu and Vientiane Capital City having the lowest proportion of around 30%. 60 Children attend secondary schooling not because it is compulsory but because they and their families see the benefits of schooling. As for primary education, there are high levels of drop-out rates in secondary education (drop-out rates of 14% for males and females in Grade 6, and 14% in total, 15% for males and 12% for females in Grade 9), representing inefficiencies within the school system. The opportunity costs for many students are considered to be too high for continuation of their secondary education. Management: Adding one grade, Grade 9, to lower secondary education in 2009/10 will result in an additional need for classrooms, teachers, textbooks, and materials. Although the ADB-funded BESDP will support this reform, the scope of some activities such as construction of new school buildings and classrooms, procurement and distribution of newly revised lower secondary textbooks and teacher guides, and in-service teacher training is limited to the six targeted provinces. In addition, though this reform will have a great impact on upper secondary education as well, there is no concrete planning on how to deal with the reform at this level and there is not yet a plan of support from development partners. It will be challenging to ensure that this reform gets implemented by 2009/10 and without too many disturbances to the education system.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) In 2005/06, there were 12 public vocational schools (under the MOE, the MOPH and the Ministry of Information and Culture (MOIC)), and 33 public technical schools (17 under the MOE, three under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MOAF), four under the MOIC, five under the MOPH, and four under the MOF). A total of 2,675 students was enrolled in the 12 public vocational schools and a total of 18,632 students (7,235 female students, 39% of the total public technical schools’ enrolment) in the 33 public technical schools. The private sector offered a further 14 technical schools, with a total of 4,020 students (1,731 female students, 43% of the total private enrolment) in 2005/06 (see Table 4). Table 4: Number of schools and students in 2005/06 Type of schools

No. of schools Total 2,675

No. of students Male -

Female Vocational schools 12 Technical schools MOE 17 10,219 6,816 3,403 Other Ministries 16 8,413 4,581 3,832 Total (public) 33 18,632 11,397 7,235 Private 14 4,020 2,289 1,731 Source: Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft)

The number of public and private technical schools and their enrolments significantly increased during the period of 2000/01-2005/06. While there were 15 public technical schools with a total of 9,550 students and no private technical schools in 2000/01, there were 33 public technical schools with a total of 18,632 students and 14 private technical schools with a total of 4,020 students (18% of the total enrolment) in 2005/06. The establishment of the National Training Council (NTC) in 2002 represents a major advance and will enable the development of an appropriate regulatory environment, programmes, and standards that support employment, growth, and development. 61 The NTC is expected to initiate coordination and collaboration between the public and private sectors to develop professional standards and curriculum and to prepare the dual training system. Key issues and challenges in TVET 15

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Access: Although demand for TVET is growing and TVET enrolment is increasing, this sub-sector is still small and underdeveloped. Enrolments in vocational schools for Grade 8 graduates and technical schools for Grade 11 graduates represent only around 1% and 5% of the relevant age cohorts respectively. 62 Inequity in terms of access to TVET exists due to poverty, customs and tradition, and distance to the learning sites. In almost all programmes, girls are significantly under-represented. In total, less than one third of all TVET students are girls. Further, non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups still take very little part in TVET training. The rich participate more at TVET programmes than the poor. Those who live in the central regions participate more than those who live in the peripheral regions. The main goals of the education policy formulated in the NSEDP6 are the development of quality human resources to meet the needs of the socio-economic development of the nation and thus contribute to poverty reduction. For a nation that is rapidly developing, it is essential that it is equipped with a sufficiently educated vocational workforce. It will therefore be a vast undertaking for GOL to increase the enrolment and graduation rates of TVET students in order to serve the goals set out in the NSEDP6. Quality: The quality of TVET is in general low due to many reasons: the budget for operations and investment in TVET is very limited; there is a lack of textbooks and teaching and learning materials in Lao; some technical and vocational schools have inadequate facilities and workshops; provision of machinery, equipment and tools for the practice do not satisfy minimum needs and they are obsolete in many schools; and the quality of technical and vocational teachers is relatively low with very limited practical professional experiences due to the lack of practical training in enterprise. It has been noted that the current graduates do not fit within labour market requirements. Hence, the major challenges for TVET involve revision and development of TVET programmes serving the labour market. Getting this market connection right will be a continuous challenge, especially in a rapidly developing economy, but will need to be striven for if TVET is to become an attractive option for further learning. In this context the lack of qualified trainers and instructors, teaching and learning materials, academic staff for development of TVET curricula, and management in TVET will form great challenges. 63 Management: Coordination for TVET development between the MOE, Ministry of Labour and other line ministries in the framework of the NTC is not yet adequate. The role of the NTC needs to be strengthened as a coordination agency among ministries concerned and between public and private sectors, and as an apex body to boost the development of TVET. Further, the PES and Provincial Labour Services lack experiences in implementing the TVET system at the provincial level and in dealing with cooperation between public and private sectors. The strict separation between general education and TVET provides a real challenge for improving the relevance of educational services provided in both sub-sectors. The separation between both education systems makes the transition from one to the other difficult, and therefore TVET is rather felt to be an unattractive option for further study. 64

Teacher Education There were 11 Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) in addition to the Faculties of Education at the NUOL, Champasack University and Souphanouvong University in Lao PDR in 2006/07. Eight TEIs implement various sub-degree programmes for pre-school, primary and lower secondary teacher education. The Faculties at the three universities offer tertiary education, including degree level programmes for upper secondary teacher education. Two additional TEIs are responsible for training physical education and art teachers for all levels. The last TEI is responsible for training monk teachers. There were 520 TEI teachers and 11,910 students respectively employed and studying in the eight TEIs in 2004/05. 40% of TEI teachers and 49% of students are female. The average TEI has approximately 1,500 students and the national student:TEI teacher ratio is 22:1. 65 Since 2000/01, the total number of the eight TEI teachers and students has increased by around 50% and 100% respectively. The proportion of female teachers and students has risen towards gender parity over this period. 16

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Along with the improvement of teacher trainee selection procedures, the capacity, knowledge and teaching skills of teachers in TEIs have been improved. Providing opportunities for students to work more closely with schools has enhanced teacher education pedagogy. TEIs have conducted school action research programmes and used the results to improve the quality of teacher education. Untrained primary teachers have been given the opportunity to obtain qualifications through the TUP. The number of untrained teachers has been reduced to 15.4%. Apart from the TUP, primary teachers have opportunities to participate in in-service training events in order to improve their teaching techniques; for example, 4,000 primary teachers were trained in teaching multigrade classes. In addition, lecturers from TEIs have been recently involved in in-service programs. They have worked as provincial trainers together with the PES staff to train primary teachers. An in-service program of “Active Learning” has also been introduced to support primary teachers from rural and remote areas in learning participatory methods for teaching and learning, which have encouraged and supported education development in remote areas. Key issues and challenges in teacher education 66 Over recent years, the MOE has set up a system for recruiting female students from areas of non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups to study in teacher education institutions; the ADB-funded Basic Education (Girls) Project supports this strategy. However in many areas the proportion of female students from these non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups attending schools remains lower than the national average. Newly graduated teachers from TEIs are often not attracted to teaching in remote areas where there is a shortage of teachers, even though there is a policy for promoting teachers who work in remote areas. The majority of newly graduated teachers are looking for employment in cities or other urban areas. Even though the government has made a large investment in buildings in TEIs, especially during the implementation of the first ADB-funded Education Quality Improvement Project (EQIP-I), existing basic physical facilities are not sufficient or appropriate for current needs. In some teacher education institutions, classrooms have to be shared or used in multiple shifts in order to run sufficient classes. Equipment for experiments and materials for teaching and learning are insufficient. Management systems in TEIs are not yet effective due to the majority of the TEI management teams not having had specific management training. Most TEI managers appointed to the post learn how to manage their institutions on-the-job. In addition, there are problems of socio-economic circumstances and poor financial conditions, so that TEI management teams have to spend a high proportion of their time in solving day-to-day problems, many related to the living conditions of teachers and teacher trainees. As a result, these managers cannot contribute fully to professional quality improvement in the teacher education institutions. Working procedures, task delegation and decentralization of responsibility to different levels within the institutions are not yet satisfactory. Though there has been curriculum and material development in the past, the rapid progress internationally in education, science and technology means that the teacher education curriculum requires continual revision. Recently the curriculum has been substantially revised to make it more relevant to the current situation. These changes will require further revisions to make the teacher education curriculum more holistic and flexible enough to reinforce the integration of new issues and appropriate educational topics such as multigrade class teaching, inclusive education, gender equality, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, life skills, information and communication technology (ICT), ethics, education for sustainable development (ESD), and language of instruction. TEIs have endeavoured to improve the quality of teacher education focusing on managing the teaching-learning process. Rules and regulations for quality control have been difficult to implement, partly because there was no feeling of ownership of the mechanisms. This is partly due to the lack of a quality assurance system in TEIs. At present, there are approximately 1,000 permanent primary teachers (excluding contracted teachers and village-employed teachers) that have not been trained in teacher education institutions and therefore have not obtained the 5+3 teacher training certificate. In addition, some teachers trained as primary teachers on 8+3 and 17

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11+1 programmes are teaching in lower and upper secondary schools. These teachers face difficulties in performing their duties. Therefore, there is a need for upgrading programmes in order to help these teachers gain knowledge and skills relevant to their work. Primary and secondary school teachers have not had the opportunity to upgrade their professional competencies continuously and systematically. This has made it difficult for them to assimilate and perform new techniques and methods in teaching and to develop beyond basic academic knowledge in their subject areas. Most teachers do not have opportunities for in-service training. When they do have the chance to attend, there is no mechanism for keeping and certifying their training records. There is no credit point system used in in-service training programmes that allows for the accumulation of credit points and their utilisation as credits for additional award bearing programmes. Newly graduated trainees from TEIs recruited to teach in schools face many challenges in the school environment, especially during the first year. New teachers have to adapt themselves to the existing conditions of the school, understand the children's different learning styles and try to use various types of teaching techniques. Therefore, a mentoring system to assist new teachers is needed. The Party and the GOL have policies to support supplementary incentives for teachers. However, the incentives provided are still not enough to allow teachers to devote themselves to effective teaching.

Higher Education Higher education in Lao PDR comprises the NUOL, the Souphanouvong University, the Champasack University, the five TEIs (or Teacher Training Colleges: TTCs), and 31 private higher institutions. 67 There were a total of 40,115 students in higher education institutes (excluding the five TEIs) in 2004/05, out of which 57% were enrolled in NUOL with an additional 7% in the two NUOL branches of Souphanouvong and Champasack Universities, and 36% in private higher institutes. About one third of enrolments were female students at NUOL, while 46% of enrolments were females in private higher institutes. Table 5: Number of students in 2000/01 and 2004/05 2000/01 2004/05 Total Male Female Total Male Female NUOL 15,372 10,746 4,626 22,984 15,588 7,396 Souphanouvong None None None 1,230 Champasack None None None 1,530 Private Colleges 4,187 2,259 1,928 14,371 7,814 6,557 Total 19,559 13,005 6,554 40,115 Source: UNESCO Bangkok and SEAMEO. 2006. Higher Education in South-East Asia. Bangkok, UNESCO.

The number of enrolments in public and private higher education institutes has been rapidly increasing in recent years. While there were a total of 15,372 and 4,187 students at NUOL and private higher institutes respectively in 2000/01, enrolments at NUOL increased by more than 10% annually and reached a total of 22,984 in 2004/05, and enrolments in private higher institutes became a total of 14,371 in 2004/05 which is more than three times as many as enrolments four years previously (4,187). Gender disparity in enrolments has been slowly improving over the years. About 32% of the enrolments were female students in 2004/05, compared to 23% in 1996/97 when the NUOL was established. The rapid increase of student enrolments in private higher education institutions could be due to a number of reasons. One reason being that there is excess demand of higher education which cannot be met by public higher education institutions and so private higher education institutions were established to meet the excess demand. It could also be that the private higher education institutions are providing a different type of education such as an educational programme taught in English which is not available in the public universities or diploma and certificate programmes which are in great demand among upper secondary school leavers especially among those who can afford some forms of post-secondary education so as to improve their employability in the job market. In view of the rapid expansion of private higher education, there is an urgent need to establish a regulatory framework and/or quality assurance body to assess and accreditate higher education institutions and/or programmes both in the public and private sectors.

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Key issues and challenges in higher education 68 Access: The country's public higher education and training system has significant difficulties in ensuring access across gender, ethnic and disabled groups. The number and type of institutions that can conduct relevant training and education programmes and supply an adequate number of trained graduates need to increase. Laos has only one higher education institution at the national level, namely NUOL, which is able to offer a comprehensive set of undergraduate and graduate degree programmes. This is clearly insufficient to fully develop the intellectual base of the country's human resources and help the Government to achieve the goals of the New Economic Mechanism. Quality: The present degree granting institutions, higher technical college and technical colleges do not meet acceptable regional quality standards. To solve this issue, a multi-dimensional framework of variables needs to be developed that addresses the following: non-instructional resources, instructional resources, instructional media resources, curriculum development, involvement of employers through programme advisory committees, health and safety standard development, and the setting of instructor/administrator qualifications. Efficiency: The higher education and training sector comprises a large number of relatively small institutions controlled by too many governing bodies. Most of these institutions are significantly over-staffed, as measured by both their very low student-staff ratio and by their very low instructional contract hours per week. Effectiveness: Reviews of the operational performance of these institutions need to take place. Presently, the majority of institutions find it difficult to achieve regional performance standards. Failure and drop-out rates are high and a large percentage of graduates from higher learning institutions do not find employment that matches their formal training and education, so that education and training outcomes are not achieved cost-effectively. Management: There is a lack of overall planning, management and monitoring within the post-secondary education and training sector. Although a 1993 government decree gave the MOE and specifically its Department of Higher, Technical and Vocational Education responsibility, further institutional changes will be required to enable them to effectively perform their roles. According to the government’s policy for reorganizing the MOE’s structure in 2007/08, the Department of Higher, Technical and Vocational Education (DHTVE) will be divided into two departments, i.e. the DHTVE and the Department of University which is a new organization. The MOE expects development partners to provide technical and financial support in order to develop a higher education strategy, curriculum standard for a doctor degree and some disciplines for management and to revise the standard curricula for degrees such as higher diploma, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees. 69

Adult literacy and non-formal education (NFE) According to the Census 2005, the literacy rate of the population aged 15 and over was 73%, with 83% for males and 63% for females. This means that approximately 930,000 adults (290,000 males and 630,000 females) are illiterate in Lao PDR. However, these figures should be carefully interpreted because the information about literacy in the Census 2005 is based on simple questions such as “Can (name) read and write” with a response alternative “Yes/No”. On the other hand, the Lao National Literacy Survey (LNLS) in 2001 found that only 45% of the population aged 15-59 attained basic literacy with 54% for males and 37% for females, and it was estimated that there were 1.47 million illiterate adults in Lao PDR, out of which about 600,000 were men and 870,000 were women. In 2005/06, 44,357 people were trained in the NFE literacy programme; 96,955 enrolled at primary level; 1,890 at lower secondary; 4,278 at upper secondary; and 3,826 trained in the skills development programme. More females were enrolled than males in the literacy (19,692 males and 24,665 females) and primary (43,428 males and 53,527 females) programmes, while more males were enrolled than females in the lower (1,277 males and 613 females) and upper (3,235 males and 1,043 females) secondary programmes. Over the recent decades, literacy rates have risen considerably among the population, especially for the female 19

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population. The Census (1995 and 2005) showed that the adult literacy rates increased from 60% (74% for males and 48% for females) in 1995 to 73% (83% for males and 63% for females) in 2005. This was largely a consequence of rising participation rates in primary education but to some extent also a consequence of adult NFE programmes. Key issues and challenges in adult literacy and NFE There were significant disparities in literacy rates by gender, province, urban/rural location, age group, and ethnic group. According to the Census 2005, the literacy rate was highest in Vientiane Capital (92%) and lowest in Phongsaly (43%). The rate was also higher in urban areas (89%) and lowest in rural areas without road access (54%). There were improvements across all age groups compared to 1995, with greater progress by women. The result also showed the impact education had on literacy; in lower ages the literacy rates are high and the ability to read and write declines with age. The literacy rate differed considerably among ethnic groups. The literacy rate for the non-Lao-Tai groups was 49%, with 33% for females and 65% for males. This was relatively low, compared to the Lao-Tai group, 77% for females and 90% for males. There are considerable differences in literacy rates between the Lao-Tai ethno-linguistic group and the other ethno-linguistic groups. For the sake of nation building and social, economic, and cultural integration, it is important that children and adults of other ethno-linguistic groups learn to read, write, and speak Lao and to understand spoken Lao. Ensuring initial literacy in a mother tongue with a strong transition to literacy in Lao may be one way to do this. But given the demographic, linguistic, and pedagogical complexities involved, it is not likely that any one approach to second language learning will suit the needs of all communities. The LNLS in 2001 assessed both reported and tested literacy rates. It tested for literacy in respect of reading, writing and numeracy skills 5,976 persons who were registered as “literate” in the household survey (i.e. reportedly literate) but who had not completed lower secondary education. The survey found that almost half of the test participants in fact had not attained basic literacy. Universalization of primary education will gradually lead to further declines in illiteracy rates, but sustained literacy will remain a challenge for many years to come. Efforts are made to promote a “culture of reading”, but such a culture can only thrive in an environment in which interesting and attractive reading material is available for work, public information, and leisure enjoyment. Further, it must be noted that without having sufficient and affordable children’s books available in and outside the classrooms, an opportunity will be lost for creating a nation of people that “loves to read”. The lack of adequate reading materials for differing target groups therefore will continue to form a considerable challenge for increasing literacy among the Lao people. 70 NFE personnel have very limited capacity and training. On average, there are two NFE personnel at district level, and most of them have had little chance to receive pre-service and in-service training. Due to the very limited budget allocated to NFE, it is very difficult to make proper and timely supervision, monitoring, and evaluation of NFE programmes. NFE teachers have the same situation (very limited capacity and training) and the honorarium for them is not enough to keep their living condition at the subsistence level. There is a severe shortage of textbooks, teacher guides and teaching-learning materials. Community Learning Centres (CLCs) are not functioning well in general and some CLCs do not organize learning sessions but are used for meeting rooms and village authority offices. 71 The Way Forward – Achieving EFA by 2015 In the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008 (UNESCO, 2007), for the three goals with explicit quantitative targets – goal 2 (UPE), goal 4 (reduction by half in the level of adult illiteracy) and goal 5 (elimination of gender disparities in primary and secondary education) – relevant education indicators were projected to 2015 and 2025, extrapolating trends observed in each country between the early 1990s and 2005. Countries that have the NER ≥ 97%, adult literacy rate ≥ 97%, and GPIs between 0.97 and 1.03 are considered to have achieved each of the three goals. Lao PDR was classified as a country “at risk of not achieving the goal 2 (UPE) by 2015 (moving away from the goal or progress too slow)”, “at serious risk of not achieving the target of universal literacy by 2015 (moving towards the goal, but progress too slow), and “at risk of not achieving the goal of gender parity in 2015 or 2025). 20

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The Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report (MOE, 2008) concludes that some progress has been made in expanding primary and secondary education opportunities. Equally, there are a number of promising innovative strategies, especially related to addressing the problem of incomplete schools, stimulating demand for education and strengthening community governance that will help inform future strategy. Nevertheless, the GOL recognizes that the implementation of its 5-4-3 system of schooling can only be achieved if a number of fundamental challenges are addressed. The key challenge, especially for the poorest families, will be to stimulate demand for increased primary and secondary education opportunities through assuring easier access, demonstrating schooling is relevant and leads to income generating opportunities and take measures to address direct and indirect cost barriers to schooling. A related challenge will be to take steps to improve the internal efficiency of primary education in order to allow progression of the majority of students into secondary and post-secondary education. Without an assured throughput of well prepared students, the Government’s objective of expanded technical and higher education opportunities, relevant to an increasingly knowledge based and service economy, is potentially constrained.

2.3

National Priorities and Strategies in Education

The Government of Lao PDR (GOL) accords high priority to education and recognizes that education and literacy are prerequisites for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. This is emphasized in all major policy and planning documents that provide a vision for national development. The GOL adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000 and has articulated, in some detail, its vision, aspirations, and goals for education development in a series of subsequent documents. They include: (i) Education Strategic Vision up to The Year 2020 (October 2000), (ii) Educational Strategic Planning 20 Years (2001-2020), 10 Years (2001-2010) and 5 Year Development Plan for Education at the Fifth Plenary Session (2001-2005) (August 2001), (iii) Millennium Development Goals Progress Report Lao PDR (January 2004), (iv) National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES) (June 2004), (v) Education for All National Plan of Action 2003-2015 (EFA Plan) (2005), (vi) Five Year Education Development Plan (2006-2010) (2006), and (vii) National Education System Reform Strategy (NESRS) 2006-2015 (2007). The major targets included in the second, fifth and sixth documents mentioned above are shown in Appendix 5, while the other documents are discussed hereafter.

Education Strategic Vision up to The Year 2020 The Education Strategic Vision up to The Year 2020, prepared by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in October 2000, provided a framework as a basis for discussions between the MOE and the donor community and offered a general directive for the development of education from 2000 to 2020. Based on the assessment of the educational achievements over the last decade (1990-1999) and the remaining issues to be tackled in the future, the document described the future of educational development. It emphasized that the focus remain on access and quality improvements for developing national human resources to meet the need of the country’s socio-economic development plan and for poverty alleviation. The educational vision was identified as follows 72: • Universalization of quality basic education at the primary level and continued expansion of participation at the lower secondary level, ensuring that all people have the opportunity to apply their education to support the socio-economic development programmes, • Eradication of illiteracy among the target population, thus providing the poor with a means of improving their quality of life, • Expansion of vocational, technical and higher education to meet the demands of the new labour market and to improve economic rates of return on human capital investment, • Training of skilled workers, technicians, professionals and intellectuals to have the capacity to apply modern science and technology to serve the needs of socio-economic development, • Gradual improvement of the quality of national education to international standards, • Establishment of education as a core of human resource development, the more efficient planning and 21

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•

management of appropriate investment in education, and encouragement of community participation in education, Establishment of education as a right and responsibility of all people in the society.

The Education Strategic Vision also described the eight future general goals of education development. These, corresponding to the above vision, included the improvement of education quality and internal efficiency (drop out and repetition), effective use of science and technologies, reduction of disparities in education opportunities between location, sex and ethnic groups, and more attention to talented students and the disabled. The vision and future general goals in the Education Strategic Vision were then well integrated into policy objectives in the Educational Strategic Planning (see below).

Educational Strategic Planning The Education Strategic Vision was followed in August 2001 by the Educational Strategic Planning, covering 5, 10 and 20 year periods. The Educational Strategic Planning links education to the broader socio-economic development, as well as to the immediate local situation. It recognizes the need for lifelong educational opportunities to ensure that all persons can continue to upgrade their level of education as circumstances change during their lifetimes. The document clearly aims to incorporate international trends and standards into education in the Lao PDR and to develop all levels of education systematically and continuously - including strengthening the role of the private sector in the provision of education. In general, the Educational Strategic Planning seeks to mobilize education as a core component in overall human resources development for the development of Lao PDR. 73 The Educational Strategic Planning summarizes policy objectives for 20 years (2001-2020) and 10 years (2001-2010) in eleven basic points that can serve to guide the development of the education sector: • Educational development needs to serve two criteria: (1) promotion of political, ideological and sociological consequences, and (2) promotion of educational quality to international standards. • Teaching/learning should be well-rounded to promote desirable behaviours and attitudes in the moral, intellectual, artistic, physical, and work ethic dimensions of the individual. • Greater focus should be placed on developing the pre-school level. • Basic education should be expanded to include compulsory primary schooling, abolition of illiteracy, and the upgrading people’s education levels through continuing education. • Education authorities must aim for universal lower secondary education; increase upper secondary, vocational and university education; and promote science, language and modern technology. • Education must be expanded in rural areas, and especially focus on girls, the disadvantaged, ethnic groups, and the disabled. • Talented students should be guided towards science and management. • Focus on the quality of education at all levels should be maintained. • Community involvement in education and the expansion of private education are critical and should be encouraged. • Higher effectiveness can be achieved through better administration and management. • Foreign countries and international organizations have an important role to play in helping the country to realize its EFA goals. The Five Year Education Development Plan (2001-2005) in the Educational Strategic Planning was the first phase of the 20-year Strategic Vision. This plan provided the overall targets to be achieved by 2005 together with the educational development framework under the three pillars of (i) improving equity and access, (ii) improving quality and relevance, and (iii) improving administration and management.

Millennium Development Goals Progress Report Lao PDR MDG Goal 2 seeks to ensure that by 2015 all primary school age boys and girls in the Lao PDR are enrolled in school and Goal 3 calls on the country to ensure that girls have equal access to education by 2015 and to further empower women. Indicators to measure the progress towards these goals and the 2015 targets for Lao PDR are: the NER in primary school (98% in 2015), the proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 (95% in 2015), and the literacy rate in the age group 15-24 years (99% in 2015) under the Goal 2, and the 22

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ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary, and tertiary education (100% in 2015) and the ratio of literate women to men, 15-24 years old (100% in 2015) under the Goal 3. 74 Only the NER in primary school is included as one of the overall targets in the Educational Strategic Planning. However, the 2015 MDG target of the NER (98%) is the same as the 2020 target in the Educational Strategic Planning.

National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES) The NGPES mentions the seven points of the educational vision included in the Education Strategic Vision as the government’s goals for education and training. Specific targets for education and training (enrolment rates for pre-school, primary, lower and upper secondary and higher education, and literacy rates) to the year 2020 are included in the NGPES. Although most of the targets are more or less the same as those in the Educational Strategic Planning, the targets of the GER for lower secondary education in 2010, 2015 and 2020 in the NGPES are (much) higher than those in the Educational Strategic Planning. The education component - Poverty-focused Education Development Action Plan - in the NGPES describes the broad strategic framework for the development of the education sector under the three pillars of (i) increasing equitable access, (ii) improving quality and relevance, and (iii) strengthening education management and improving efficiency. It also describes the poverty-focused application of the strategic framework which focuses on the 47 poorest districts, with selected education targets such as enrolment and literacy rates in 2006. The NGPES also emphasizes that, in addition to increasing equitable access to quality education for all Lao people, especially the poor, the GOL must address a number of emerging and cross-cutting issues that involve the education system. These include: HIV/AIDS, drugs and drug control, information and communication technology (ICT), distance education, unexploded ordnances (UXO) decontamination, school feeding programmes, population and health education, gender equity, and children with special needs.

Education for All National Plan of Action 2003-2015 To provide a road map to achieve basic education goals and targets included in the above-mentioned policy documents, the GOL officially adopted in 2005 the Education for All National Plan of Action 2003-2015 (EFA Plan). The EFA Plan covers the areas of early childhood education, primary education, lower secondary education, and non-formal education and skills training. As mentioned in the Educational Strategic Planning and the NGPES, it also has three tasks: (i) equitable access, (ii) improved quality and relevance, and (iii) strengthened education management, and embodies most of the goals and targets in the above-mentioned documents for the four target groups. Close coordination between the NGPES and the EFA Plan is essential because those areas where EFA problems are most severe are those in which poverty is greatest. In other words, achieving EFA nationally means that the greatest efforts will need to be made in the poorest districts. Therefore, the education strategy of the NGPES is, in effect, a key component of the EFA Plan and vice versa. Implementation of an education programme in these 47 districts serves the needs of both poverty eradication and EFA achievement. 75

Five Year Education Development Plan (2006-2010) The MOE prepared its Sixth Five Year Education Development Plan (2006-2010) in the framework of the NSEDP6. The NSEDP6 continues to put an emphasis on the importance of education as one of the four pillars of the NGPES and describes that education is a crucial priority to develop quality human resources to meet the needs of the socio-economic development of the nation and thus contribute to poverty reduction. The Five Year Education Development Plan (2006-2010), like its predecessor, continues to focus on three pillars of educational development in Lao PDR: (i) equity and access, (ii) quality and relevance, and (iii) administration and management, and provides the detailed targets for the five-year period in order to implement the policy objectives of the Educational Strategic Planning. The 2010 targets of the enrolment rates for lower and upper secondary schools and the student ratio per 100,000 population in higher education (68.4%, 40.2% and 1,140/100,000) are higher than those set in the Educational Strategic Planning (63%, 28% and 520/100,000). This must be a reflection of the increasing demand and rapid expansion for secondary and 23

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higher education in Lao PDR. On the other hand, the 2010 targets of literacy for the population aged 15-40 years and 15 years and above (88% and 80%) are slightly lower than those in the Educational Strategic Planning (90% and 83%). The Plan also includes an important reference to the restructuring of the current 11 year general education system. The GOL plans to add one year to the general education to make it a 12 year system which is in line with prevailing international norms 76

National Education System Reform Strategy (NESRS) 2006-2015 Reform of the national education system is urgently required for the improvement of educational quality and standards. The aims of a reformed national education system will be to educate the Lao people to be good citizens, to be knowledgeable, to be creative and enthusiastic, and to contribute to the development of both the country and themselves. Through education, people will gain employment, will learn to protect their own health, and will behave with the integrity necessary to meet the demands of the socio-economic development of the country and its growing movement towards globalization. Over the years, the national education system has gradually improved in terms of quantity and quality. However, the education system still has not achieved an appropriate balance between quantity and quality. In its development it has not directly followed a national education strategy and it does not adequately complement the current goals for socio-economic development. In addition, the status of, and incentive systems, teachers are still not sufficiently advanced to allow them to devote themselves to effective teaching. It is therefore time to solve these problems by reforming the national education system. The NESRS aims to gradually improve the national education system leading to better growth and quality and moving the education system towards international standards. In order to carry out education reform, the education sector will focus on the four prioritized government projects. These projects are: • The NESRS will increase the length of schooling in general education from 11 years (5+3+3) to 12 years (5+4+3). • The Quality Improvement and Access Expansion Project consists of two programmes - an access expansion programme and a quality and relevance improvement programme, which are currently being implemented in the education sector. • The Problem Solving for Teachers and Instructors and Upgrading the Capacity of Educational Administrators and Managers Project is currently being implemented through the Teacher Education Strategy 2006-2015 and Action Plan 2006-2010 (TESAP). • The expansion of technical schools and vocational training in all provinces throughout the country is currently being implemented within the Strategic Plan of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training up to 2020.

Summary of National Priorities and Strategies in Education The Education Strategic Vision identified the education vision as a general directive for the development of education up to 2020. It was followed by the Educational Strategic Planning which established the broad policy objectives for 5, 10 and 20 years; the Five Year Education Development Plan 2001-2005 provided detailed targets for the first phase of the 20-year strategic planning. The Education for All National Plan of Action 2003-2015 (EFA Plan) is much more than a broad statement of non-contentious objectives; there was a clear acknowledgement that EFA would only be achieved if the rapid enrolment growth at the upper levels of the system shown in Figure 2 was carefully managed. A further key strand of policy is that education is one of the four “pillars” or priorities of the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES) which can be described as a sensible policy of poverty-focused educational development. 77 The Five Year Education Development Plan 2006-2010 plays a crucial role in implementing the education development policy guidelines set out by the 8th Party Congress and the NSEDP6. This Plan will be the vehicle for implementation of the Educational Strategic Planning (20 years and 10 years), the education component of the NGPES, and the EFA Plan, and will be carried out to ensure that the overall targets outlined in these documents are achieved. The National Education System Reform Strategy 2006-2015 intends to tackle 24

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issues compounded in the education sector for a long time; i.e., to achieve an appropriate balance between quantity and quality by reforming the national education system. It will focus on restructuring general education, implementing the quality improvement and access expansion project, and implementing of the Teacher Education Strategy 2006-2015 and Action Plan 2006-2001 (TESAP) and the Strategic Plan of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training up to 2020. Major targets included in the above-mentioned documents are included in Appendix 5. Some targets in the Educational Strategic Planning (e.g. NER in primary education and GERs in lower and upper secondary education in 2010) were revised when they were included in the Five Year Education Development Plan 2006-2010 to reflect situational changes after 4-5 years of development under the Educational Strategic Planning. The EFA Plan was fully costed and there was a link to the macroeconomic framework, while

the others were costed to some limited extent. There has yet to be a specific budget for implementation of the EFA Plan. Rather, the EFA Plan has been an integral part of the overall education sector development plan. It is generally observed that all these documents (except for the EFA Plan) address a wide range of issues and challenges faced by the GOL in the entire education sector, going from pre-school to higher education, including formal and non-formal settings. The education sector is under-funded and lacks both financial and human resources, and it is not likely to meet all the targets set out in these documents. As the EFA Plan suggested, more balanced sector development should be pursued to direct scarce funds to areas of highest priority to the GOL.

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Chapter 3: Priorities and Interventions of Development Partners 3.1

Development partners’ strategies and activities

Overview Official Development Assistance (ODA) plays an important role in relation to both overall public expenditure and the Public Investment Program (PIP) in Lao PDR. According to the Foreign Aid Report 2004-2005 (August 2006), ODA accounted for 50% of the total expenditure of the Government and 73% of the PIP in 1999/00. Although the general trend shows that the share of the ODA has gradually decreased over recent years, it still accounted for 28% of the total expenditure and 42% of the PIP in 2004/05. Total ODA disbursements by bilateral and multilateral donors to the Lao PDR amounted to US$371.32 million equivalent in 2004/05. The disbursement of ODA for the education and human resource development sector was US$52.76 million (14% of the total amount) in 2004/05, with which this sector was ranked the third among the 14 sectors, following the development administration and transport sectors. Bilateral donors disbursed a total of US$37.15 million while multilateral donors disbursed US$15.61 million for the education and human resource development sector. US$37.15 million came from ten bilateral donors: Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA 78. The multilateral donors which disbursed US$15.61 million include the International Financial Institutes (the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank), UN agencies, and the European Union. In addition, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) were an important source of development assistance for Lao PDR, and their disbursement for the education and human resource development sector was US$1.81 million in 2004/05. 79 The education sector received substantial external support in relation to the Government’s budget for the education sector. ODA accounted for 57% of the Government’s education budget and 92% of the capital budget in education in 2005/06. A high proportion of support was directed to primary and higher education sub-sectors in 2004/05 and 2005/06. Lower and upper secondary education and technical and vocational education received 2-8%, and pre-school and non-formal education received less than 2% respectively. 80

United Nations (UN) UN assistance in the education sector usually uses a project-based approach. Coordination of activities among UN agencies and bilateral/multilateral donor agencies has been increased in recent years. For example, UNICEF-Lao PDR and UNESCO Bangkok provided the MOE with technical and financial support in a co-ordinated way to conduct a literacy survey in 2001. A joint programme of Access to Basic Education in Laos (ABEL) is another good example of coordination, being implemented by AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. As of October 2007, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP were registered as members of the Education and Gender Sector Working Group (EGSWG). Each UN agency tends to focus on its respective area of specialization. WFP focuses on food aid to primary school children in remote areas while UNFPA is working on population/reproductive and sexuality education. UNICEF’s focus is on basic education (pre-primary and primary education), but it also supports capacity enhancement for basic education reform at the national and provincial levels. UNESCO’s technical assistance covers a wide range of activities, including EFA, ECD, secondary education, NFE, ICT in education, gender, HIV/AIDS, and planning and management. UNICEF The UNICEF Country Programme 2007-2011 comprises six key programme areas, each of which has an education component and associated policy directions. These include Children and HIV/AIDS, Child Protection, Young Child Survival and Development, Child Policy Advocacy, Communication, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. However, the primary focus of UNICEF’s education support to the GOL is through the Basic Education and Gender Equality (BEGE) programme, which is contributing to the achievement of the 26

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MDGs goals 2 and 3. The budget for this programme in the period of 2007-2011 is estimated at US$13.8 million. The BEGE programme will adopt a two-pronged approach by supporting capacity enhancement for basic education reform at the national and provincial level, and at the same time focus on expanding access to quality basic education, especially of girls and children from small non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups in the remote areas. This mutually enforcing approach will support the formulation and implementation of evidence-based policies and strategies, thus creating a virtuous cycle of education reform. At the same time, the field-focused, learner-friendly activities will directly benefit teachers and children in the communities in the targeted districts/provinces. Some of the envisaged key results of the BEGE programme by 2011 are: • The realization of a comprehensive education sector development programme, towards enhanced access to quality and learner-friendly education, with special focus on girls and ethnic groups, • Enhanced coordination of donor support as reflected in the presence of a commonly agreed upon policy matrix for the development of the basic education sub-sector, • A set of nationally-defined criteria for child-friendly schools developed and validated, • At least 100 child-friendly schools (model schools) in the UNICEF supported provinces, • A set of nationally defined Early Learning Standards and their application in at least 80% of UNICEF-supported primary schools with pre-primary facilities. The MOE and Lao Women’s Union are the main implementing partners for the BEGE programme. The MOE will implement specific activities related to its jurisdiction. In the targeted provinces, the PESs and DEBs will be the key implementing partners. At the local level, the School Cluster Administrative Committees and Parent Pupil Associations will lead the expansion of quality basic education services for the children of their communities. World Food Programme (WFP) The WFP’s education project is school feeding which aims to assist the GOL to improve access to primary school education in remote areas of Laos (Phongsaly, Lunag Namtha and Oudomxay provinces). In partnership with the MOE, WFP provides nutritious mid-morning snacks to primary school children in remote, food-insecure districts with poor educational indicators. In addition, girls and boys receive a take-home family ration as an incentive for parents to send them to school. WFP also provides informal boarders - children who have no primary school in their own village - with rations to encourage them to study and attend school a long way from home. Through a network of district based School Feeding Committees, the project stimulates community participation and in particular the involvement of women. Capacity-building is provided to DEB officers on monitoring and evaluation activities, gender awareness and project management. On a pilot basis district officers from the Lao Women’s Union have joined the project. In 2006, WFP began a new partnership with UNICEF, funded by AusAID known as Access to Basic Education in Laos (ABEL). In an effort to provide beneficiaries with a comprehensive package of nutrition, health, education and hygiene, UNICEF provides water and sanitation facilities, teacher training and education materials in schools supported by WFP’s School Feeding project. WFP significantly increased implementation and monitoring capacity by engaging more field monitors and is working to improve the quality of the project, with assistance from AusAID and ABEL. A nutrition, health and childcare training initiative is being piloted under ABEL. Village level assessments have been conducted and a Training of Trainers is planned. Training efforts in the villages aim to ensure more balanced diets to keep children healthy and prevent school absenteeism. It also plans to address the state of chronic malnutrition in the country. In September 2008, WFP plans to expand the School Feeding project to three new provinces in the south; Sekong, Saravane and Attapeu to reach an additional 50,000 students. UNFPA UNFPA launched its Third Country Programme of Assistance in Lao PDR, covering the five-year period 27

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2002-2006, in 2002. The overall aim of the UNFPA Country Programme is to support Lao PDR's efforts to achieve sustainable social and economic development and to improve the quality of life of the people of Lao PDR by contributing to: (i) improved reproductive health status of women, men and adolescents, (ii) a reduction in gender inequality, and (iii) a sustained balance between population, resources and socio-economic development. The Third Country Programme proposes activities within two complementary components: Population and Development and Reproductive Health.

Multilateral Donors Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) are the major donors in the field of education in Lao PDR. ADB has provided a loan for the Second Education Quality Improvement Project (EQIP-II, US$20 million) in the period of 2001-2007 to enhance the quality of education by improving teacher competences and the learning environment and increasing access to and participation in primary education in targeted underserved areas. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) has provided a parallel grant of US$9.6 million to co-finance the Project. ADB will also start in 2008 the Basic Education Sector Development Program (BESDP, a program loan of US$8.9 million for 2007-2010 and a project grant of US$12.66 million for 2007-2012) to expand equitable access to, and improving the quality of, school education, particularly lower secondary education. In BESDP ADB is using its sector development program loan (SDP) to the education sector for the first time in Lao PDR, which is budget support. World Bank The WB has provided a loan for the Second Education Development Project (EDP-II, credit of US$5.3 million and grant of US$7.7 million) in the period of 2004-2010 to: (i) increase the primary enrolment and completion rate of school-aged children in the 19 poorest districts in the six poorest provinces, (ii) improve quality, and (iii) strengthen capacities to develop policies and strategies and to monitor and manage primary education. The WB has also provided budget support for the GOL through the Poverty Reduction Support Operation (PRSO, credit of US$4.5 million and grant of US$5.5 million) in the period of 2005-2007 to support the implementation of the NGPES. European Community European Community (EC) assistance to Lao PDR started during the early 1990s when the main priorities were rural development, urban development and support for refugees returning from Thailand. The Country Strategy Paper 2002-2006 expanded the scope of cooperation to the social sectors (education and health) and trade, while maintaining the focus on rural development as the main area of support. Governance was identified as a cross-cutting issue. For 2002–2004, the EC committed €14 million, with €5 million allocated for rural development, €6 million for the education sector, and the remainder for trade and governance respectively. Since 2004 Lao has benefited from EC financing in the field of higher education. Activities carried out in this field will be financed within the context of the regional programming for Asia. The Lao PDR-EC Strategy Paper for the period 2007-2013 describes that the ‘added value’ of EC assistance will be maximised through concentration of activities, promotion of ownership by the GOL and coordination with EC Member States and other donors. To achieve these goals, budget support will be introduced and traditional stand-alone project development will be phased out. The EC’s financial contribution will concentrate on a strictly limited number of initiatives in order to prevent assistance being spread too thinly. Thus, structural reforms, policy dialogue and aid effectiveness, in line with the Paris Declaration of March 2005, are placed at the centre of the strategy. The focal area of the EC Country Strategy 2007-2013 will be support for the GOL’s reform agenda under the NGPES. This will receive 58% of the budgeted allocation. The non-focal actions comprise three sectors: (i) support for sustainable development in the uplands and policy dialogue on relocation (24% of the budgeted allocation), (ii) governance and human rights (5% of the budgeted allocation), and (iii) support for trade and economic cooperation (13% of the budgeted allocation). The indicative budget for EC assistance to Lao PDR for the period 2007-2013 is €69 million. EC’s current assistance in the education sector is its financial assistance to the basic education sector in Laos 28

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worth six million euro (US$6.4 million) that should benefit over 40,000 students and some 500 schools. It is the six-year (2004-2009) Basic Education Development Project in Northern Communities. Working in impoverished and non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups’ areas in Phongsaly, Luang Namtha and Luang Prabang provinces, the initiative sets out to boost access to quality primary schooling, improve basic literacy, and support decentralized management of education. This initiative will make a major contribution in getting girls and non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups into school. Standards of education will be improved, teachers trained and adults who have never had the chance of a proper education taught how to read and write. EC’s future support for Lao PDR will be through the PRSO. This is a reform programme of the GOL supported by the WB. PRSO offers a results-oriented budget support instrument that supports a policy reform programme delivered in a three-year series. PRSO has a set of objectives as outlined in the NGPES which is fully in line with EC development goals, has strong government ownership, offers opportunities for donor coordination and participation in policy dialogue with government, will make disbursements based on outcomes/results and will offer great added value for EC cooperation. PRSO includes education-related objectives which mainly focus on primary education.

Bilateral Donors Several bilateral donors are extending assistance to the education sector in Lao PDR. While the UN agencies and the international financial institutes mainly focus on the development of basic education, bilateral donors’ interventions cover almost all the sub-sectors of ECD, primary education, lower and upper secondary education, TVET, and higher education. Their assistance in the education sector is based on grants agreement and uses a project-based approach. EC is moving towards budget support by joining the PRSO. Australia, Belgium, China, the EU, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, the United States, and Viet Nam are members of the EGSWG. The EU supports primary education in the northern provinces. Australia’s main support is directed to primary education, but it also takes a lead role in donor coordination for the education sector together with UNICEF. Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg mainly focus on TVET. Japan, the Republic of Korea and Sweden provide support for various areas including primary education, teacher education, higher education, policy support, and community involvement. France mainly focuses on primary education and capacity development for education staff from central to school levels. Singapore provides its support for training of Lao officials and the United States mainly provide scholarship for tertiary study in the United States. Viet Nam extends its support to primary, secondary and higher education, but it also provides its specific support in building boarding schools. 81 Australia A core strategic objective of the Lao-Australia Development Cooperation Country Strategy is to build human capital through improved access to education and support for applying new skills and knowledge. While Australia’s development strategy for Laos will be reviewed late in 2007, the education sector support will continue to be a key theme and will likely see increased funding. Australia’s current assistance in the basic education sector is delivered through partnership approaches with MOE and ADB (Laos-Australia Basic Education Project (LABEP)), MOE, UNICEF, and WFP (Access to Basic Education in Laos Programme (ABEL)). Australia also provides 40 Australian Development Scholarships (ADS) each year for tertiary study in Australia and 64 scholarships for provincial students to study at the National University of Laos. Australia is committed to the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and its localised version, the Vientiane Declaration of December 2006. To this end, Australia takes a lead role in donor coordination for the sector through co-chairing of the EGSWG at Head of Mission level and is investigating options to support the MOE to prepare for more sector-based programming in future years. Australia's total grant assistance for the education sector in Lao PDR during 2005-06 was approximately AUD 7.8 million, with a similar indicative envelope for 2006-07. Of this funding, approximately AUD 4 million went to the Australian Development Scholarship Scheme (ADS). 29

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Belgium Lao PDR has been an important partner for Belgian Development Cooperation (BTC) in Asia since 1997. In 2002, Belgium pledged €15 million for its direct bilateral programme for the period 2002-2006. The general objective of Belgian cooperation policy with Laos is poverty alleviation. Consequently, priority sectors for cooperation, as stated in the NGPES, are agriculture and forestry, education, health and infrastructure. Capacity-building is seen as a key component of every cooperation project or programme. The projects being carried out by BTC, with financing from the local and Belgian governments and in cooperation with various local partners, are mostly situated in the following sectors: education and training, social development/environment, rural development, and health care. There are two ongoing Belgium-supported projects which involve education. First, the Lao-Belgian "Village Development Programme" aims at assisting the GOL in its efforts to alleviate poverty, increase agricultural production and improve the general well-being of the population of about 30 target villages in three districts of Savannakhet province. The project is a multi-sector programme with six main components: agriculture, education, health, village and urban water supply, access roads and institutional support to cooperating agencies. Second, the project of Vocational Training in Champasak province contributes to increase incomes and to reduce poverty through improved equitable access and better quality of technical and vocational training in Pakse, the capital of Champasak province. The direct target groups are students, school management, academic staff and teachers of the technical school. The increased capacity of the technical school to provide a qualified labour force matches the needs of current students, graduates and the regional labour market. The upgrading of existing facilities; equipment; training for the school management, teachers and staff; and income generating activities through innovative production and services to support the school are the main activities. France The Lao PDR - France Framework Partnership Document is the guide for French action in Lao for the next five years (2007-2011). Cooperation between France and Lao PDR in the area of development is consistent with national priorities as formulated in the NGPES and the NSEDP6 (2006-2010). These priorities also aim to achieve the MDGs, common references that guide the partnership between the two countries. Four sectors are mentioned as priorities of Lao PDR, and French support will be directed to three out of these four sectors. They are: rural development, an increase of access to education, and the improvement and extension of access to health services. France has been implementing the Primary Education Support for Laos (PESL) project since 2002, focusing on (i) planning and administration support for the education system, (ii) support for decentralizing the education system in two pilot provinces of Champasack and Oudomxay, and (iii) support for primary school management. Germany German development cooperation with Lao PDR focuses on rural development in the country's northern mountainous regions and support for the transition of the Lao economy from a planned to a pro-market system. Emphasis is given to providing macroeconomic advice and improving human resources through vocational training as well as promoting small and medium-sized industries. A total of €17 million has been earmarked for the projects scheduled in these priority areas over the two years of 2006-2007. Current German assistance which involves education is a programme of Rural Development in Mountainous Areas of Northern Lao PDR (RDMA: 2004-2011). It supports people in northern Laos (Bokeo, Luang Namtha, and Sayabouri) to make sustainable and effective improvements in their living conditions and resources by promoting rural development and supporting institutions and groups to assume the responsibility of fostering regional development. RDMA supports formal and non-formal education through capacity-building for teachers and district education staff. Japan Japan’s Country Assistance Program for Lao PDR (September 2006) identifies three goals of assistance and six priority areas. Under the first goal, with a view to promoting the reduction of poverty from the standpoint of human security, Japan will support Laos in its steady steps towards the achievement of the MDGs. The first 30

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priority area is to improve basic education through (i) improving the educational environment and access, mitigating factors inhibiting school attendance, and (ii) raising the quality of education. With the objective of raising the school enrolment and completion rates, Japan will provide support for the construction of primary schools and the restoration of decrepit and/or undersized school buildings in conjunction with raising the quality of education (“soft” component support). In the improvement of school buildings and related facilities, Japan will keep in mind community-based measures that will provide for proper maintenance and management including the introduction of participatory approaches. In addition, Japan will proactively consider measures that will lead to mitigating the factors that inhibit school enrolment, as well as rectifying gender inequalities existing in school enrolment and completion rates. Japan will also continue to provide training for teachers. Japan’s current official development assistance in the education sector is carried out mainly through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The assistance includes various activities, with the particular objective of improving education quality, educational environment and access, mitigating impediments to school attendance: (i) a project for improving science and mathematics teacher training (SMATT), (ii) cooperation on development and implementation of a government school health policy, (iii) a project for supporting community initiatives for primary education development in the southern provinces, (iv) a grant aid project for improving school environments in three southern provinces (under preparation, focus on improvement of school facilities); for supporting the enhancement of policy formulation and implementation capacity at the central level, (v) provision of an Education Advisor to the MOE; then in the view of institution building and human resources development, (vi) the Lao-Japan human resource cooperation centre project, (vii) an upgrading IT education project, and (viii) the ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network. Republic of Korea Korean assistance to Lao PDR, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), has focused on human resource development and agricultural technology. Also important are the areas of public health care and economic policy. From 1991 to 2006, the total amount of grants was approximately US$14 million, making Laos one of the leading 10 partner countries of KOICA. KOICA’s major activities in human resources development in Lao include, among others, the establishment of the Korea-Laos Vocational Training Centre (2002-2004) with the Ministry of Labour and the printing of textbooks and teacher guides for primary and secondary schools (2006-present) with the MOE. In addition, soft loan assistance from the Korean government for the Luang Prabang national university - Souphanouvong University - project is underway with a budget of US$22 million. In the mid-long term strategy 2008-2010 for Lao, KOICA will place more emphasis on assisting the rural development and education sectors for poverty reduction. Luxembourg The overall objectives of the Luxembourg Government’s development policy are poverty eradication and sustainable development, particularly in LDC. Lux-Development is responsible for implementing the bilateral cooperation programme in Lao PDR on behalf of the Luxembourg Government. Since 1997, Luxembourg has proven a strong partner in development cooperation in Lao PDR. In the second Indicative Programme of Cooperation for the period of 2007 to 2010, a total of €35 million, representing a near doubling in comparison with the previous four years, is to be allocated to different areas of cooperation, including health, education (vocational training and strengthening human resources), local development and good local governance. In order to increase impact, the programme will focus on the poorest areas of Vientiane Province, Bolikhamxay, and Khammouane, as well as the 47 poorest districts as identified in the NGPES. In the education sector, Lux-Development has been implementing two projects of support to (i) the Khammouane Vocational Training School (2002-2008, €3.3 million) which is the smallest of all national vocational training institutions in Lao PDR and which is located in Thakhek, the capital of Khammouane Province, and (ii) the Nursing Training School in Vientiane Province which is attached to the Maria-Teresa Hospital (2005-2008, €1.5 million). Currently, efforts are underway to support the development of an action 31

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plan for implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Development Plan of Technical and Vocational Education and Training up to 2020. Singapore To create sustainable economic growth and alleviate poverty, both the Lao PDR and Singapore share the common conviction that human resource development is critical. Singapore has played a supporting role through the provision of human resource training, scholarships and sharing of experiences. More than 4,000 Lao officials have participated in training courses and study visits since 1993 under the Singapore Cooperation Programme in areas such as English language training, information technology, civil aviation and trade promotion. Under the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) launched by then Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 2001, Singapore established the Lao-Singapore Training Centre (LSTC) in Vientiane to increase training opportunities for Lao officials. Since the LSTC was set up in November 2001, almost 3,000 Lao officials have been trained there. In the field of education, Singapore offers scholarships and ASEAN scholarships annually to Lao students for studies in Singapore. 82 Sweden The overall aim of Swedish development cooperation (Sida) is to help create conditions whereby poor people may improve their situation. The specific objectives of development cooperation with Lao PDR, as defined in the Country Strategy for Development Cooperation with Laos 2004-2008, are: (i) to strengthen Lao capacity to reduce poverty on a long-term and environmentally sustainable basis, and (ii) to promote and strengthen conditions for democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. The country strategy identifies ten priorities for Swedish development cooperation with Lao PDR. It includes quality improvement in the education sector and the promotion of sector coordination with the aim of initiating a Sector Wide Approach programme (SWAp). The concrete interventions include (i) teacher education, (ii) SWAp, (iii) inclusive education, and (iv) research cooperation with the NUOL. Universal basic education is improved by support to a national reform programme for teacher training. Low internal efficiency in the education system is the main problem, and the enhancement of teacher training and teachers’ living conditions has been identified as the most relevant area for support. The programme will run throughout the strategy period and aims to elaborate a national teacher training programme that will replace the present system of project-based preparatory and in-service training. During the strategy period, Sida will also work towards a SWAp through joint efforts with the MOE and other development partners. In addition, inclusive education will be mainstreamed into the sector. Sida will support the MOE in achieving UPE by integrating disabled children and children with special needs in normal schooling, instead of creating a new structure. The demand-driven approach to EFA will also be piloted in some districts to demonstrate that it is possible to reach EFA target groups with this alternative low-cost education model. Research cooperation between Laos and Sweden started in 2003. Six of the 11 faculties at the NUOL (agriculture, education forestry, science, social sciences and medical sciences) are included in Phase II 2007-2010. Parallel research cooperation support has also been provided to build up the ICT infrastructure at the NUOL. The United States The United States government provided more than $13.7 million in foreign assistance to Lao PDR in Financial Year 2006, in areas including unexploded ordnance clearance and removal, health and avian influenza, education, economic development, and governance. Education accounted for 5% (US$ 0.7 million) of the total assistance in 2006. 83 The education sector work that the United States government funds is almost entirely part of its Fulbright scholarship programme. About 5-8 Lao students are sent to the United States every year to complete a two-year master’s degree and one or two professionals on a one-year programme that is called the Humphrey Fulbright fellowship. Other than that, the United States runs smaller programmes to support libraries and other institutions with books and periodicals, runs internet training workshops, and sometimes assists with faculty development or curriculum development, although not every year. In 2007, the United States is recruiting for the UGRAD scholarship programme, which will send 5-10 Lao undergraduates to the United States on a study 32

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abroad programme for either one or two semesters. The first students selected for that programme will likely depart in August 2008. 84 Viet Nam 85 Viet Nam helped Lao PDR build four boarding schools in Savanakhet, Champasak, Oudomxay and Sekong provinces over the past 13 years, enabling more non-Lao-Tai and disadvantaged children to go to school. Viet Nam is also coordinating with the Lao MOE to build boarding schools for Xiengkhoang, Huaphan, Oudomxay and Sekong provinces and provide books and teaching aids for several other schools in Laos. Viet Nam has sent hundreds of lecturers and teachers to Lao to help their colleagues in compiling books and editing curriculum at all levels. The two sides have also joined efforts in improving capabilities of the Vietnamese language faculty of the NUOL, and making Vietnamese and Lao teaching curriculum for boarding secondary schools in Lao PDR and compiling a Viet Nam-Lao dictionary and vice versa. Education cooperation between border provinces of the two countries have been expanded, including Viet Nam's northern mountainous Lai Chau province and Lao PDR's Phongxaly province, and central Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces and Lao PDR's Xiengkhoang and Bolikhamsai provinces.

International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs) According to the Foreign Aid Report 2004-2005 (August 2006), 16 INGOs provided support for education and human resource development. Their support was directed to almost all the sub-sectors from ECD to higher education, literacy programmes, reading promotion, vocational training, and promotion of education for disadvantaged ethnic groups. Save the Children Norway (SCN) is a member of the EGSWG, acting as the NGO focal point, and only its activities are included here as an example of INGOs. SCN has supported the education sector of Lao PDR since the early 1980's. Guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and an open dialogue with major partners, SCN works in 3 programmatic sectors: basic education, dissemination of the UN CRC, and prevention of child labour. SCN contributes to the promotion of basic education which is inclusive for all children; which is relevant to the child's life situation and future opportunities and challenges; and which is developmental for the child's identity, imagination, aptitude and potential. It also contributes to the improvement of children's working conditions, educational opportunities and other supporting measures for child workers, and contributes towards preventing children from being involved in harmful work. SCN is implementing a variety of projects which include, among others, cluster school development, upgrading of teachers’ education, multigrade teaching, community-based early childhood development, and education and vocational training for disadvantaged children. SCN works with several local and international partners, including the Ministry of Education and UNICEF.

3.2

Summary of Development Partners’ Activities

As noted earlier, a high proportion of external support was directed to primary and higher education sub-sectors in 2004 and 2005. Many partners from UN, IFIs, bilateral donors, and INGOs have been supporting primary education (Table 6), while it seems that Korea’s support to Souphanouvong University is a main reason for the high share of external support to higher education during this period. Less attention has been given to ECD, lower and upper secondary education, and literacy and NFE so far. The ADB-funded BESDP will start its new support in lower secondary education. Although the reform of adding one grade, Grade 9, to lower secondary education in 2009/10 will have a great impact on upper secondary education, there is no concrete planning on how to deal with the reform at this level and there is no plan of support from development partners so far. Table 6: Summary of Development Partners’ Support by Sub-Sectors Areas of Support Development Partners 33

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ECD Primary education Lower secondary education Upper secondary education TVET Teacher education Higher education Literacy and non-formal education Policy, planning, management HIV/AIDS, Health Education Government officials training

SCN, UNESCO, UNICEF ADB, Australia, EU, France, Japan, Republic of Korea, SCN, Sweden, UNESCO, UNICEF, WB, WFP ADB, UNESCO ADB, Republic of Korea Belgium, Germany, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, UNESCO ADB, Japan, Sweden Australia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, United States, Viet Nam UNICEF, UNESCO ADB, Australia, France, Sweden, UNESCO, UNICEF, WB Japan, UNESCO China, Singapore, Viet Nam

General Donor Coordination in the Education Sector The overall responsibility for aid coordination within the Government rests with the Department of International Cooperation (DIC) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Within the MOE, the Department of Planning and Cooperation (DPC) is tasked with coordinating donor support in the education sector. Since taking on this role, DPC has facilitated the sharing of information among various projects, but the department has had difficulty in fully undertaking its responsibility due to the limited human and institutional resources for comprehensive aid management and delivery. In order to support the GOL in effectively fulfilling its responsibility for aid coordination and aid management, donors accepted the need to ensure appropriate coordination among themselves. Dialogue among donors resulted in March 2004 in the establishment of eight sectoral donor groups, including an Education/Gender Donor Working Group (EDWG). The EDWG included representatives of the bilateral and multilateral agencies active in the education sector in Lao PDR. These include Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, ADB, EU, UNESCO, UNICEF, WB and WFP, with the Government of Australia (AusAID) and UNICEF acting as co-chairs. One or more representatives of NGOs active in the sector were also invited to attend meetings. In late 2005 the GOL established its own formal donor coordination workgroup, known as the Education and Gender Working Group (EGWG). The EGWG was chaired by the Director-General of the DPC/MOE, with membership from the Cabinet Office, the Lao Women’s Union (LWU) and the Lao National Commission for the Advancement of Women. The best means for coordinating the work of the GOL-initiated EGWG and the donor-initiated EDWG were discussed in early 2007 and it was agreed that both of the EGWG and EDWG would merge together and become the Education and Gender Sector Working Group (EGSWG). The EGSWG serves as a mechanism for sector planning, policy dialogue, coordination and identification of key issues between the GOL through MOE and development partners in order to support the Aid Effectiveness agenda as articulated in the Vientiane Declaration which was signed by the GOL and representatives of the 22 partner countries and organizations in November 2006. The signed partners were: Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States of America, the European Commission, ADB, the World Bank, and the United Nations.

Coordination among UN agencies The UN Country Team (UNCT) is a main vehicle of coordination among UN agencies. The UN Resident Coordinator chairs the UNCT meeting which discusses a wide variety of topics and issues related to activities by UNCT members. The UN Theme Group on Education plays a coordination role in UN agencies’ support to the education sector. The UNCT and the UN Theme Group on Education were in charge of preparation of the CCA (2006) and the UNDAF 2007-2011. UNICEF and WFP co-chair the UN Theme Group on Education.

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Chapter 4: UNESCO’s Programmatic Thrust 4.1 UNESCO’s Past and Ongoing Support for National Education Development UNESCO has long supported the GOL for decades in its efforts towards expanding access to education to its populations, especially in rural and remote areas, enhancing the quality of education, and developing and strengthening the national education system. To address education sector issues and challenges facing the country, UNESCO has contributed to strengthening the Government’s capacity in planning, managing, implementing and monitoring the education system at all levels from pre-school to higher education, including formal and non-formal approaches. Over the years, the UNESCO Bangkok Office, together with the Education Sector at the Headquarters and the UNESCO Institutes, has supported a number of education initiatives in Lao PDR. UNESCO Bangkok is the UNESCO representative office for Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand. It is also the Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education. Therefore, UNESCO Bangkok’s activities in the education sector include not only country-specific programmes but also sub-regional (e.g. South-East Asia and Greater Mekong Sub-region) and regional programmes. Lao PDR is a participating country in most of these sub-regional or regional programmes. Table 7 is a summary of UNESCO’s past (and ongoing) activities in the biennia (2004-2005 and 2006-2007) in which Lao PDR is involved. More detailed information is provided below and in Appendix 6. Table 7: Summary of UNESCO’s past and ongoing activities in Lao PDR Intervention areas

EFA coordination, planning, monitoring and assessment ECD Primary and secondary education Higher education Literacy, NFE and skills development Gender and education HIV/AIDS prevention, health education

Regular Programme 2004-2005 2006-2007

Extrabudgetary Project Project Funding source duration 2002-2007 France, Japan, Norway, Nordic Fund 2006-2007 Japan, UNICEF 2005-2007 ADB, Japan

$75,000

$5,000

$204,000

$20,000 $5,000

$2,000 $17,000

$15,000 $621,000

$2,500

$4,000

$12,000 $205,000

2004-2007 2003-2007

$80,000 $5,500

$28,000 $5,500

$7,000 $187,000

2006-2007 2004-2007

$124,000

2003-2008 2007-2009 2007

ICT in education

Inclusive education Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Total

Amount

$15,000

$15,000

$300,000 $1,000

$203,000

$76,500

$1,676,000

Group T, Belgium Canada, Japan, Nordic Fund, OPSP, UIE Japan ADB, CDC, Japan, OPEC, UBW, UNAIDS ASEAN Foundation, Cisco Systems, Japan, Microsoft BFSS PADETC, Novid

Note: It is difficult to know exactly how much has been used for Lao PDR because UNESCO support to Lao PDR includes not only country specific activities but also regional activities in which Lao PDR is involved. However, figures in Table 7 represent the estimates of how much has been used only for Lao PDR.

EFA coordination, planning, monitoring and assessment Recognizing that national capacity in EFA planning, monitoring, assessment, and evaluation and EFA coordination are instrumental in achieving EFA goals, UNESCO has implemented a number of initiatives. In this context, UNESCO provided technical assistance for preparation of the EFA National Plan of Action 2003-2015 (EFA Plan) which was funded from three resources of the Regular Programme and Funds-in-Trust 35

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from Norway and France. These resources were used to support various activities, including methodological support to the EFA Technical Working Group in defining steps and tasks in the EFA planning process, translation into Lao and printing of the EFA Planning Guide, technical assistance in the collection of basic EFA-related information, analysis of data and information as an input for the EFA situation analysis and development of a country-specific simulation model to assess resource implications of EFA plan targets and the feasibility of alternative strategies. After a long consultation with the GOL and development partners, the Prime Minister’s Decree was issued for approval of the EFA Plan in March 2005, and the MOE adopted the EFA Plan as an official sector development plan that provides a common framework for future assistance of development partners. Several other UNESCO projects implemented in 2002 and 2004 with the MOE under different funding arrangements contributed important inputs to the EFA planning exercise: • Results from the first ever national literacy survey (LNLS 2001) conducted by the MOE with technical and financial support from UNESCO and co-funding from UNICEF, feeding the NFE-component of the EFA Plan; • Results from the skills development study (2003-2004) conducted by the MOE with technical and financial support from UNESCO/IIEP, feeding the NFE-component of the EFA Plan; • The advisory technical assistance project, “Strengthening Decentralized Education Management” (2002-2004), funded by the ADB and executed by UNESCO with the MOE, providing a huge amount of additional data and information on education at decentralized level and on management issues relevant for EFA planning; and • More reliable data and information on basic formal and non-formal education services available from the UNESCO-sponsored project “Development of an Integrated Geographic Information System (GIS)”. This comprehensive project covers education and health services at local level in cooperation with the National Statistics Office and National Geographic Department. The project produced new information regarding education service provision for disadvantaged areas and population groups and reinforces cooperation among national agencies concerned. WHO co-operated on local health service provision, and UNICEF contributed local costs to the project. In 2005, as a follow-up of the EFA Plan preparation, UNESCO continued its support in strengthening capacity in education planning at the provincial level in the framework of the extrabudgetary programme on Capacity-building for EFA. This programme provided a team of ten MOE officials with training of trainers and helped PES staff strengthen the planning capacity to prepare provincial education plans. Activities included development of planning tools for data collection and analysis and for the situation analysis and a complete set of school condition and teachers’ status data. UNICEF provided financial support for the MOE to continue capacity-building for PES staff in 2006. The results of the programme also contributed to several projects funded by the ADB and World Bank. At the regional level, as part of its EFA coordination functions, UNESCO organizes regular meetings of National EFA Coordinators. Since 2000, eight National EFA Coordinators’ Meetings have been organized. The Lao National EFA Coordinator who is also the Director General of the Department of General Education has been attending these meetings. These meetings are organized as a venue for information sharing among countries on EFA progress and a way to share good practices in the region. Since 2005, these meetings have also focused on the EFA Mid-Decade Assessment (MDA) which countries are currently undertaking. Representatives from the Lao MOE have also been participating in these meetings. UNESCO has also worked with countries in efforts to realize EFA through technical assistance in the areas of monitoring and assessment. The goal is to improve the institutional capacity of countries in EFA monitoring and evaluation and to institutionalize the process in the countries. Since 2005, UNESCO along with EFA partners in the Regional Thematic Working Group on EFA has supported countries to undertake the EFA MDA. Technical assistance and capacity-building workshops in relation to the production of national EFA MDA reports, in particular data analysis, have been organized over the years. Representatives from Lao PDR have attended regional and sub-regional level workshops in relation to the EFA MDA which focuses on 36

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reaching the unreached groups in education. Funding assistance has also been extended by the Japanese government through the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for UNESCO. Lao PDR is currently preparing its national EFA MDA report with support from the UNICEF country office.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) Over the last 4 years UNESCO has been contributing to the development of early childhood development (ECD) of Lao PDR through technical support and implementing a small pilot project under extrabudgetary funding. In the last biennium (2004-2005), support was mainly provided to carry out a needs assessment on the situation of ECD provision in the NFE sub-sector and to produce an ECD handbook for facilitators in Community Learning Centres (CLC) in view of expanding the ECD provision through NFE. In the process of developing the handbook, a team of ECD professionals from Lao PDR was sent on a study visit to the Philippines to learn and broaden their knowledge on ECD programme development and management with the support of UNESCO. Under the past biennium (2006-2007), in consultation with MOE and in cooperation with UNICEF and Plan Lao, support was provided to undertake a policy review on ECD in Lao PDR under a joint UNESCO-UNICEF regional project framework. As Lao PDR does not yet have a comprehensive national policy on ECD, the policy review exercise mainly focuses on analyzing the existing policies and strategies related to the young child and mapping out available provisions for young children in order to design a master plan for ECD policy development.

Primary and Secondary Education There are three different activities which have contributed to the development of primary and secondary education during the previous biennia. First, UNESCO implemented the ADB-funded project preparatory technical assistance (PPTA) “Basic Education Sector Development Program (BESDP)” with the ADB and MOE and produced a PPTA Final Report (a draft program proposal) on the BESDP in June 2006. It was proposed that a program grant of $ 3.0 million equivalent and a project grant of $ 9.84 million equivalent would be provided from the ADB’s Special Fund resources to support the BESDP in Lao PDR. The overall objective of the BESDP is to contribute to poverty reduction through enhanced and more equitable educational attainment of improved quality. The program grant will support the GOL’s priorities for policy reform in the education sector which are: (i) improving equity in access to and participation in primary and lower secondary education; (ii) improving the quality, internal efficiency and relevance of primary and lower secondary education; and (iii) enhancing capacity for decentralized education management. The project grant will supplement the policy initiatives under the program grant through (i) increased lower secondary education (LSE) opportunities by new construction of school buildings and additional classrooms; (ii) improved quality and relevance of LSE including (a) the integration of basic education curriculum to account for LSE expansion from 3 to 4 grades, (b) the provision of current and revised LSE textbooks and teachers guides to LSE schools in BESDP targeted districts, and (c) the provision of a minimum package of basic equipment and materials to all TEIs and to new LSE schools in BESDP targeted districts; and (iii) capacity-building at central, provincial and district levels in critical areas (EMIS, budgeting and financial management, and planning). The project targets 20 districts in six provinces (out of 142 districts in 18 provinces). BESDP will be implemented over a five-year period from early 2008 to 2012. Second, in the context of being a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindorn’s Office of Special Projects is working with UNESCO on a project entitled “Improving the Quality of Life for Children and Youth in the Asia and Pacific Region” with financial support from Canada. This project expands the highly-successful model of “Total School Development” undertaken in Thailand by Her Royal Highness to seven pilot primary and secondary schools in the four provinces of Houaphan, Khammouan, Oudomxai and Vientiane. The implementation of the project, with the support of UNESCO Bangkok, aims to develop the well-being of disadvantaged children and youth by addressing multiple dimensions of development – food and nutrition, health and hygiene, education, and training in vocational skills and cooperatives, as well as environmental and cultural preservation. Emphasis has been placed on education to provide life and occupational skills. The philosophy behind this “Total School Development” 37

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approach is to use the school as the centre of learning for the community and to use the community as a learning resource for the school. The royally-initiated projects have yielded a positive impact in enhancing the potential of many children, reinforcing their self-sufficiency and improving their quality of life. Third, in the framework of the secondary education policy research in Asia, funded by UNESCO’s Regular Programme and Japanese Funds-in-Trust, Lao PDR is one of the five countries where a country case study is being conducted to analyze how countries in the region have been responding to the growing demand for expansion and improvement of secondary education, with a focus on demand for and supply of secondary teachers. The Lao study examines the rapid growth of secondary education enrolments and the challenges faced, including disparities and inequalities in secondary schooling; qualifications and quality of the current secondary teaching force; current and future demand and supply; and financing of secondary teachers. The study aims to draw policy lessons. The Lao study as well as regional comparative analysis will be completed during the first half of the year 2008. Higher Education Both the students and faculty members, especially those in the two new universities (Champasack and Souphanouvong Universities) do not have access to teaching and learning materials. To help alleviate this problem, UNESCO was able to get the cooperation of the Ministry of Education in Thailand to donate 101 boxes of Thai textbooks and reference books to these two universities because Laotian can understand the written Thai language. Many of the faculty members in the two new universities are Bachelor Degree holders who are fresh graduates from the NUOL. They do not have any teaching or academic experience and so there was an urgent need to give them professional development workshops to orientate them to some basic ideas of curriculum development in some of the selected fields of study. UNESCO has organized four curriculum development workshops on Tourism, Economics and Management, Agriculture, and Engineering to the faculty members from the three public universities in Lao PDR. Some faculty members from the NUOL and Savan Institute of Management were involved in the development of open educational resources on tourism in Lao PDR for the project Tourism in Greater Mekong Sub-region initiated by UNESCO. UNESCO funded the translation of the UNESCO-OECD Guidelines on the Quality Provision of Cross-border Higher Education into Laotian so that this document could be used as resource materials in a national workshop on quality assurance of higher education that was held on December 2007.

Literacy, Non-Formal Education (NFE) and Skills Development UNESCO has worked mainly with the Department of Non-formal Education (DNFE) to strengthen NFE policies, capacity-building of personnel, resource materials and the delivery of literacy and NFE. The national NFE strategies for 2006-2015 are currently being developed to formulate the priority areas and actions for achieving EFA through diverse learning opportunities, in particular for disadvantaged population groups and to promote lifelong learning for all. The main areas of work, undertaken by the DNFE with assistance of UNESCO, include: • Formulating systematic resource development and capacity-building plans in NFE. • Strengthening CLCs as main delivery mechanisms of literacy and continuing education for learning, information and community development. • Integrating life skills in NFE programmes to increase their quality and relevance. • Developing equivalency programmes to provide alternative learning opportunities to disadvantaged people through synergy between formal and non-formal education. • Promoting ICT for effective delivery and management of NFE, including multi-media training, income-generation activities and a Management Information System (MIS) for CLCs. UNESCO in cooperation with the DNFE also supported the Lao National Commission for UNESCO in 38

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promoting and integrating HIV/AIDS in CLC activities. HIV/AIDS curriculum and materials were developed and will be one of the subjects of equivalency programmes of NFE. In addition, UNESCO worked with the Department of Higher, Technical and Vocational Education (DHTVE) to promote skills development which is an essential tool for attaining the EFA goals. Development of the vocational skills sector especially allows disadvantaged groups to take part in socio-economic development which crucially helps to reduce poverty. Towards this aim, the UNESCO/IIEP-supported skills development project, “Assisting the Design and Implementation of EFA Skills Development Plans: Skills Development to Meet the Learning Needs of the Excluded,” was implemented during 2003-2004. It, in turn, contributed to the incorporation of the “Skills Development Programme for Disadvantaged Groups” into the EFA Plan, as one of its major programmes. This programme aims to build the capacity of disadvantaged groups, including women, non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups and the rural poor and thus contributes to achieving the MDGs and sustainable development over the next decade.

Cross-Cutting Themes Gender and Education Lao PDR is one of the founding members of the Gender in Education Network in Asia (GENIA) and has been the most active country in initiating and undertaking advocacy, training and research work to promote gender mainstreaming in education. UNESCO’s support to Lao PDR for mainstreaming gender and promoting gender equality in education has been provided at both national level and under the regional programme framework in the form of technical and financial support to training, research and advocacy through the production and broadcasting of a weekly radio programme on Lao National Radio. The weekly 30-minute radio programme discussing gender issues in education has been going on regularly since 2005 capturing a relatively large audience. With guidance and technical support from UNESCO, the Gender Focal Point (GFP) team in the MOE, led by the Head of the Gender and Ethnic Minority Education Unit (GEMUE) of MOE, has carried out various activities over the last four years: • Carried out two qualitative research studies on gender issues in education, namely the “Gender and Ethnicity in the Context of equality and access in Lao education” (2003) and “Impact of overload domestic work on girls’ education opportunities” (2006); • Organized a series of gender training with support from UNESCO for senior educators and curriculum developers in MOE, NUOL, researchers at the National Research Institute for Education Sciences (NRIES), different levels, to provincial TOTs, and teachers at TEIs; • Revised and produced LABEP supplementary materials for non-Lao-Tai students jointly with NRIES; • Conducted an impact assessment in 2006 to self-evaluate their activity since its membership in GENIA in 2003; • Translated, adapted and reproduced the UNESCO GENIA Gender Toolkit and the Manual on Qualitative Research; • Translated and disseminated the advocacy materials produced by UNESCO; • Involved in the EFA MDA exercise to ensure gender is mainstreamed in the assessment data and analysis. UNESCO’s support to gender mainstreaming in education in Lao PDR in close collaboration with the GFP Team in the MOE has recently been found to be one of the most consistent and systematic efforts for promoting the gender cause in Lao PDR. The GENIA Gender Toolkit in Lao version has been used and reproduced by other partner agencies for use in their own training activities in different parts of the country. HIV/AIDS Prevention and Health Education UNESCO works with partners, both government and non-government, such as the MOE, MOPH, the Centre for HIV/AIDS and STIs, the Burnet Institute, the Lao Youth AIDS Prevention Programme and Population Service International (PSI-Laos) to promote and increase access to HIV education which is the most powerful tool we have in halting the spread of HIV. Schools are in an ideal place to reach children and young people with prevention messages while their beliefs and behaviours are still forming. Yet across the Lao PDR, the 39

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education system struggles to meet the demands of the epidemic. Both in Lao PDR and through its regional programmes in Bangkok, UNESCO works with partners at the national and local levels to scale up HIV preventive education and promote adolescent reproductive and sexual health by: • Increasing the capacity of the education sector in strategic planning, curriculum development, teacher training and monitoring and evaluation; • Expanding the use of the media in HIV prevention education; • Developing and adapting school curricula and teaching and learning materials on HIV prevention and adolescent reproductive and sexual health; • Funding research in Lao PDR on the complex issue of men having sex with men (MSM) and related implications for preventive education; • Enhancing collaboration between ministries of education, schools and NGOs; • Developing evidence-based advocacy materials for ministries, schools and others in the education system; • Providing education and advocacy support to policy makers and programme managers to promote adolescent reproductive and sexual health; • Developing and maintaining various databases of bibliographic information and e-materials on HIV education and adolescent reproductive and sexual health; • Providing information alerts, enquiry services and literature searches; • Undertaking projects related to HIV-related information management; • Facilitating interactive networking and referral services. In addition to the above-mentioned activities carried out by the HIV/AIDS and School Health Unit, the Culture Unit has also been active in HIV/AIDS and Trafficking. Under UNESCO's special mandate for ethnic and indigenous minorities, the Trafficking and HIV/AIDS Project tackles the linked triad of problems HIV/AIDS, trafficking, and non-traditional drug use - in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (including Lao PDR), by researching, developing, and implementing programmes which crosscut these issues to address the needs of at-risk and vulnerable populations. Activities under the project include the development of HIV/AIDS, trafficking, and drug abuse prevention materials authored in non-Lao-Tai languages and the production of a culturally acceptable radio programme in non-Lao-Tai languages that takes the shape of a dramatic soap opera and that provides a means to educate target audiences of non-Lao-Tai youth and young women on issues of HIV/AIDS, trafficking and drug abuse. UNESCO is the only UN organization producing the materials in non-Lao-Tai languages. The project is partially supported by the Asian Development Bank and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ICT in Education In Lao PDR, the “digital divide” between those who have access to modern forms of information and communication technologies (ICT) and those who do not, is growing. Unless the divide is bridged, the lack of access to ICT will have adverse implications in terms of access to information and participation in knowledge societies. It has been demonstrated that ICT can facilitate greater access to information and services by marginalized groups and underserved communities. Integrating ICT into education systems can also increase the quality of education and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of education delivery. Harnessing of this potential is a valuable part of efforts towards achieving EFA goals and towards elimination of the digital divide. Again, through both national and regional programmes, UNESCO tries to help Lao PDR harness the potential of ICT towards achieving quality education for all by: • Providing technical assistance in developing and implementing a national ICT in education policy, including organizing training workshops on an ICT Policy Toolkit, helping policy makers develop a national policy and master plan, facilitating the formulation of monitoring and evaluation indicators, and supporting programming and implementing of relevant activities; • Developing the systemic and systematic capacity of TEIs in pre-service teacher training on ICT integration, including building dean’s leadership and management capabilities, upgrading or 40

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• • •

developing ICT-related curriculum, promoting or reforming the methodology of ICT integration, and developing instructors’ ICT skills and pedagogical practices; Funding the equipment for a national schoolnet, organizing training workshops for teachers on developing digital materials and designing ICT-based lesson plans, and encouraging tele-collaboration between schools; Building the capacity of education specialists or officials who are responsible for ICT in education using a serial of capacity-building CD-ROMs; Supporting innovative practices of teacher educators and teachers with Multimedia Resources, teaching and learning software, educational webtools, and innovative practice competition.

Inclusive Education In collaboration with UN and NGO partners, UNESCO works with the MOE in order to further promote inclusive education policies and practices. Even though Lao PDR has made significant progress, there still remain a high number of barriers to achieve EFA. UNESCO experience suggests that focusing on only one group of children facing barriers to learning tends to lead to specific integration rather than a broader policy framework of inclusion. For example, simple identification and integration of children with disabilities does not directly improve the entire education system. UNESCO’s work in Lao PDR actively promotes this broader strategic approach to inclusive education. The programme works with key partners towards a sustainable strategy for improving access to schools and quality education for all children, youth and adults with a specific focus on those learners who face barriers to learning. The overall UNESCO strategy on inclusive education in Lao PDR is to build the capacity of schools to accommodate diversity and to promote social inclusion by strengthening curriculum development and teacher training. The programme aims to: • Work with selected and co-ordinated agencies and ministry partners in Lao PDR; • Translate, adapt and disseminate the UNESCO Embracing Diversity Toolkit - Creating Inclusive and Learning-Friendly Environments (ILFE); • Promote inclusive education policy development; • Disseminate advocacy and teacher training materials; • Train a cadre of experienced teachers as change agents to cascade expertise into schools; • Train serving teachers in situ by outreach courses conducted by change agents; • Develop model programmes in initial teacher training institutions; • Develop model programmes in ‘pilot schools and communities’; • Conduct action research and evaluation to assess impact on children and teachers, parents and communities, initial and in-service teacher training, government policy, and international organizations; • Involve all stakeholders in all phases of the process in order to achieve a high level of participation, in line with a right-based approach to development. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) UNESCO collaborates on ESD-related ideas with the Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC), a private non-profit Lao training center promoting participatory processes for sustainable development. PADETC works with youth, private schools and communities in Vientiane province. As part of ongoing sharing of information between PADETC and UNESCO Bangkok, the latter conducted a capacity-building workshop with PADETC staff in June 2007. In light of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), PADETC conducted a seminar in July 2007 on project-based experiential learning for teachers of PADETC associated private schools in Vientiane province. The June 2007 workshop aimed to build the capacity of PADETC staff in ESD-related pedagogy, particularly experiential project-based learning, in preparation for the July seminar. From the perspective of UNESCO, the benefits of the workshop were three-fold: (i) offering an opportunity to gain input on ESD-related pedagogy in the Laotian formal education context which could benefit teaching and learning in similar contexts throughout the Asia-Pacific region; (ii) enhancing UNESCO’s understanding of ESD indicators used at the grass-roots level; and (iii) enabling UNESCO to facilitate more applicable advice towards the development of national DESD Monitoring Systems. 41

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Apart from these activities, Lao PDR has benefitted from the UNESCO Participation Programme. 86 In response to the situation that financial management of the education sector has been decentralized to the levels of provinces and districts but PES and DEB directors and staff are usually former teachers without any training in economics or finance, the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) conducted a two-week training course on educational cost-analysis to upgrade educational staff competence and knowledge base at provincial and district levels in late January 2007. Approximately 50 participants attended the training course from across the country and gained basic knowledge about an analysis of unit cost per pupil and opportunity costs per family.

4.2

Partnerships and coordination with GOL and development partners

UNESCO enjoys good relationship with the GOL as a whole but especially with the MOE. The presence of the National Commission for UNESCO in the MOE provides a good institutional framework that brings the GOL and UNESCO together. UNESCO also keeps good relationships with development partners because of its comparative advantage in terms of playing a normative, advisory and capacity-building role for national educational development. UNESCO is a member of the UN Country Team (UNCT), a member of the UN Theme Group on Education, and a member of the Education and Gender Sector Working Group (EGSWG) in Lao PDR. UNESCO Bangkok has actively participated through the UNCT and UN Theme Group on Education in the preparation of the CCA (2006) and subsequently the UNDAF 2007-2011. UNESCO Bangkok has also been involved in a joint programme on sustainable livelihoods (JSLP) in Oudomxay province in Lao PDR. Following the recommendation by the UN High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence, the UNCT in Lao PDR decided to develop a small-scale joint programme. This initiative received positive responses from the members of the UNCT, as it is in line with the UN Reform objective of “delivering as one”. Through group work and discussion, it was proposed and concluded that an Area-based Sustainable Livelihoods Programme would be the joint focus and that this programme should be implemented in the northern province of Oudomxay as it is one of the poorest provinces in Lao PDR. Many UN agencies dealing with elements of sustainable livelihoods already operate in this province, and it is logistically well connected with Vientiane. This initiative has maintained a strong momentum, because the Governor of Oudomxay province, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Committee for Planning and Investment are paying high attention to this initiative and the number of interested agencies has increased since its inception. Expressing their interest to participate in this joint initiative, seven resident UN agencies, two non-resident UN agencies (ILO and UNESCO), one international NGO, and the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Laos have chosen to participate in this joint initiative and committed staff to establish the JSLP Working Group. The representatives of WFP and FAO agreed to take the lead in the JSLP. UNESCO Bangkok has participated in several JSLP Working Group’s meetings and contributed its inputs to the process.

4.3

UNESCO’s programmatic priorities in education

At global level UNESCO’s Medium-Term Strategy 2002-2007 indicated that UNESCO’s mission during 2002-2007 was to contribute to peace and human development, in an era of globalization, through education, the sciences, culture, and communication, based on three main strategic thrusts. They were: (i) developing universal principles and norms, based on shared values, in order to meet emerging challenges in education, science, culture and communication and to protect and strengthen “common public goods”; (ii) promoting pluralism, through recognition and enhancement of diversity together with the observance of human rights; and (iii) promoting empowerment and participation in the emerging knowledge society through equitable access, capacity-building and the sharing of knowledge. In pursuit of these three main strategic thrusts, UNESCO promotes education as a fundamental right, works to improve the quality of education, and stimulates innovation and the sharing of knowledge and best practices. 42

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Equally, UNESCO’s efforts in the education field are directed at the eradication of poverty, through both formal and non-formal settings. UNESCO takes into account the entire educational continuum, from pre-school to higher education, including formal and non-formal approaches, technical and vocational education, the fight against illiteracy in all its dimensions (including basic skills and functional literacy), adult and lifelong learning, gender mainstreaming and the utilization of local languages - all are necessary to ensure the success of EFA. UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy 2008-2013 will continue UNESCO’s strategies in the current medium-term 2002-2007, with more emphasis on quality education at all levels. The Dakar Framework for Action (2000) and its six EFA goals continue to guide UNESCO’s action in the field of education. In devising the Medium-Term Strategy 2008-2013, UNESCO will articulate its contribution to a comprehensive response to the remaining EFA challenge across the six EFA goals. In line with the framework of the Global Action Plan to Achieve the Education for All Goals (GAP) 87, UNESCO will ensure the monitoring of EFA progress, develop the capacity of its Member States and exercise intellectual leadership along the following directions: • From Access to Success, ensuring that all eligible learners are enrolled in school, including marginalized populations, remain there and achieve success. • Literacy, for both children and adults, pursuing the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE), identifying and supporting the implementation of best practices at the country level. • Education for work, ensuring that secondary and post-secondary education, as well as TVET are linked to the development of an appropriate workforce. • Technology, identifying the transformational capacity of technology to support high-quality learning in all formal and non-formal settings. At country level During the previous biennia (2004-2005 and 2006-2007) UNESCO’s Regular Programme support has been extended to several areas in the Lao education sector which include (i) EFA coordination, planning, monitoring and assessment, (ii) ECD, (iii) primary and secondary education, (iv) higher education, (v) gender and education, (vi) HIV/AIDS prevention and health education, and (vii) inclusive education. In addition to these areas, UNESCO’s extrabudgetary support has been provided in the areas of (viii) literacy, NFE and skills development, (ix) ICT in education, and (x) Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). However, UNESCO has not provided any significant support for the sub-sectors of TVET and teacher education. The amount of the Regular Programme budget (US$76,500) allocated for Lao PDR during the last biennium decreased sharply, especially in the areas of EFA coordination, planning, monitoring and assessment, ECD, and gender and education, compared to the budget during the previous biennium (US$203,000). This reflects more emphasis on the role of UNESCO Bangkok as the regional bureau for education and that the Regular Programme budget was allocated less to country-specific activities during the past biennium. Whether the trend continues or not will depend on the amount of extrabudgetary funds available for activities in Lao PDR and the relevance of future regional activities to specific Laotian educational challenges. Table 7 indicates that UNESCO is heavily dependent on external resources to provide technical and financial support to the Lao education sector. The amount of extrabudgetary resources (US$1,676,000) is six times as much as that of the Regular Programme budget for the previous two biennia (US$279,500). Main areas of interventions funded by extrabudgetary resources are: (a) primary and secondary education, (b) inclusive education, (c) literacy, NFE and skills development, (d) EFA coordination, planning, monitoring and assessment, (e) HIV/AIDS prevention and health education, and (f) ICT in education. In most cases, the Regular Programme budget was used (i) to start new/pilot projects with the expectation/possibility of extending them when they are found successful, (ii) as seed money to attract external resources, and (iii) to complement the extrabudgetary activities.

4.4

Evaluation of UNESCO Programmes

Although there have been sporadic efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of UNESCO’s individual programmes, 43

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no systematic evaluations have been undertaken to assess the impact of UNESCO’s interventions collectively on education development in Lao PDR. A cursory review, however, indicates that UNESCO’s support to Lao PDR has the following features: Main strengths • UNESCO’s upstream emphasis has been instrumental in boosting the national commitment for education in general and basic education in particular, in initiating policy dialogue on key issues, and in creating a supportive environment for education development. • Despite limited resources, UNESCO has provided support in a number of critical areas such as planning and management, assessment and monitoring, ECD, primary and secondary education, literacy and NFE, skills development, gender and education, and HIV/AIDS prevention. Often, its support has gone to areas that are either left out or receive less support from other development partners, i.e. literacy and NFE and HIV/AIDS prevention, for example. • UNESCO’s support to undertake EFA assessments in collaboration with other development partners proved valuable not only in preparing/updating the EFA Plan but also in contributing to preparation of the NGPES and the Five Year Education Development Plan. • Some pilot initiatives and experimentations (e.g., literacy and NFE through CLCs, and ICT in education) undertaken by UNESCO have resulted in successful outcomes, with eventual impact on national educational policies and programmes. As a whole, UNESCO’s support played an important role in national policy formulation and capacity-building. Through participation in UNESCO organized seminars and workshops, Lao PDR exposed its education system to the outside world. Its planners, policymakers and practitioners have benefitted from the best practices and research knowledge promoted by UNESCO. With its strong and a wide pool of experts in many fields of education, UNESCO is in a good position to further assist the Lao education sector. Main problems/challenges Nevertheless, UNESCO’s existing support and its support strategy are not without problems. These problems/challenges could be summarized as follows: • UNESCO’s extremely limited resources may be too thinly and too widely distributed across the different sub-sectors and thematic areas of the education sector, with limited prospect for meaningful impact. • UNESCO is often involved in preparing national policy and plan documents, but less involved in their implementation due to limited resources. • UNESCO may initiate pilot projects with a limited coverage of geographical areas or target groups, and without involvement of potential (future implementing) partners from the outset, which results in no follow-up or expansion of pilot projects even though they are found successful. • As mentioned in the introductory text in this section, no systematic evaluations have been undertaken to assess the impact of UNESCO’s interventions collectively on education development in Lao PDR. • Resources are often spent workshops and seminars which are organized in the form of one-off activities without proper follow-up and dissemination strategies. • With too much emphasis on upstream work, UNESCO may be visible nationally but missing locally. UNESCO may be too removed from what is happening in classrooms, schools and communities where much of the business of education takes place because there are very few operational and/or downstream projects at its disposal. • As a non-resident agency, it is often difficult for UNESCO to assist its National Commission to adequately supervise, support and monitor the implementation of its programmes. It is also very difficult for UNESCO to participate regularly in meetings organized by the UNCT, UN Theme Group on Education and EGSWG.

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Chapter 5: Strategy of Cooperation for National Education Development This chapter summarizes gaps and emerging needs in the education sector in Lao PDR and proposes UNESCO’s strategies and programmes for the next six years of 2008-2013. It is expected that these strategies and programmes will contribute to the GOL’s overall efforts towards the development and provision of quality education for all its citizens.

5.1

Gaps and Emerging Needs in National Education

The review of educational challenges, priorities and strategies in Lao PDR (Chapter 2), the mapping of priorities and interventions of development partners (Chapter 3), and the assessment of UNESCO’s past and present support to Lao education and its programmatic priorities (Chapter 4) have helped to identify gaps and emerging needs in the Lao education system. As seen in Chapter 2, the GOL faces numerous issues and challenges in the areas of access, quality and relevance, and administration and management in all the sub-sectors of the education system, starting from pre-school to higher education, and in formal and non-formal settings. In response to this situation, the GOL has produced a series of key policy and planning documents described in Chapter 2 to address a wide range of these issues and challenges. Nevertheless, there are some critical gaps and emerging needs in several areas which can be summarized as follows. These could be addressed by UNESCO together with development partners: Lack of basic information about the current situation: The education sector analysis was conducted during the period of 1998-1999 with technical assistance from the ADB to produce the Lao PDR Education Sector Development Plan Report. Since then, no comprehensive analysis of the entire education sector has been made, though several projects and programme documents were prepared by development partners. These include policy and sector reviews and analyses which focus only on one or more sub-sectors, in particular on primary education. There are a very limited number of English documents available which describe and analyse the current situation in other sub-sectors such as pre-school, TVET, higher education and NFE which are in general receiving less attention from development partners. Consequently, it has proven difficult to analyse the current situation in some sub-sectors when preparing this UNESS document. For example, it was difficult to know the current situation in TVET because not only the MOE but also other ministries supervise technical and vocational schools. It was also difficult to know the comprehensive picture and current situation about in-service teacher training because a variety of activities are being implemented by many actors in a less co-ordinated manner. One of the most difficult tasks was to know the current situation about NFE programmes. It does not seem that even the Department of Non-formal Education (DNFE) has comprehensive data about the details of NFE activities. This issue needs to be discussed in a broader context of MOE’s capacity in collecting the necessary data and information and in describing and analyzing the education sector or sub-sectors regularly. It seems that the annual education conference is the place where the MOE gives a report of progress or achievement of each of the education sub-sectors during the previous year, but the information contained in the report seems very brief. Unclear picture of the reform in general education and its implication for post-secondary education: Although the BESDP financed by the ADB will start to take care of part of the reform in general education from 11 years (5+3+3) to 12 years (5+4+3) by 2009/10, the scope of some activities (such as the construction of new school buildings and classrooms and the procurement and distribution of newly revised lower secondary textbooks and teacher guides) is limited to the six targeted provinces. Its intervention in upper secondary education is also very limited (support to a curriculum framework for Grades 1-12). It is not clear how the GOL will deal with other issues such as the revision of curriculum for Grades 10-12 and the 45

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development of textbooks and teacher guides for upper secondary education. The reform in general education will also have an impact on post-secondary education; for example, the current 1-2 years of foundation studies in universities and the length of years of study in higher education institutes. However, no detailed information about the reform and/or changes in post-secondary education as a consequence of the reform in general education is available for the moment. It is not likely that any development partners other than the ADB are considering immediate support for this reform. Lack of, and outdated, policy documents in some sub-sectors: In recent years, two key policy documents were developed by the MOE with technical assistance from development partners. They are: the Teacher Education Strategy 2006-2015 and Action Plan 2006-2010 (TESAP) and the Strategic Plan of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training up to 2020. The TESAP will deal with one of the most critical areas in improving quality of education, i.e. the issue of teachers, including training of teachers and improvement of teachers’ working conditions. Luxembourg will provide technical assistance for the MOE in further developing an action plan for implementation of the Strategic Plan of the TVET up to 2020. In contrast, Lao PDR does not yet have a comprehensive national policy on ECD and it is still in the process of finalizing the Non-formal Education Strategies 2006-2020 which will replace the Policies of Non-formal Education of Lao PDR (1998). UNESCO, in cooperation with UNICEF, provided support to the MOE in undertaking a policy review on ECD to design a master plan for ECD policy development during the last biennium. UNESCO has also been involved in review of the draft NFE Strategies 2006-2020. UNESCO and UNICEF will continue to provide technical and financial support to develop the national ECD policy, probably with support from some other partners such as Save the Children Norway and Plan Lao. Regarding the NFE Strategy 2006-2020, UNESCO supported the DNFE in organizing a national workshop inviting all partners concerned (e.g., government agencies, NGOs and UN agencies) to give feedback to the draft NFE Strategy. After the workshop, UNESCO provided technical support to the DNFE to assist in finalizing the NEF Strategy which is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2008. At present, only a limited number of partners are interested in NFE. As mentioned in the ninth point below, NFE will be an alternative way of providing education for those in need, and broader participation by development partners in this sub-sector should be encouraged. Limited human resources in the MOE: The GOL suffers from a severe shortage of well trained technical staff at the central and provincial levels (MOE and PESs). At the central level, there is a limited number of competent and dedicated staff, and they are usually overloaded with regular work and additional commitments relating to the implementation of major donor projects. They are often out of the office because of travel in the country and abroad. It is also observed that many of the best trained and most competent staff are more than 50 years old, some of whom may retire in a few years, while there are fewer well trained younger who need to take over the jobs from those who will retire in the coming years. At the provincial level, once staff members have been trained, especially in technical areas, they often leave for more lucrative jobs, which leads to a shortage of trained technical staff. A similar situation is likely to exist at the district level. All the development partners are very much concerned about this issue, and many of them will continue to provide technical and financial support to develop and strengthen capacities of education staff at the central and local levels. Their interventions need to be well co-ordinated, probably with support from the outputs of the ADB TA on the sector-wide approach in education sector development and the World Bank’s work on capacity development frameworks. Inadequate capacities and resources in managing private education: The private sector increasingly plays an important role in the Lao education system, in particular at the pre-school, TVET and higher education levels. The proportions of private school enrolments to the total enrolments are 29% in kindergarten, 2.4% in primary education, 1.6% in secondary education, 18% in TVET, and 36% in higher education. The 46

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Department of Private Education (DPE) in the MOE is in charge of private education, but it has only a few staff who understand private education well and who can manage private education matters. At the provincial level, PESs usually do not have any staff in charge of private education, and their staff in charge of general education or NFE need to take care of private education if needs arise. Although key policy and plan documents promote the private sector’s investment in education, the DPE faces several problems including quality assurance and monitoring. For example, the fast expansion of private education has recruitment of low qualified teachers, there are few funds available for the DPE, and there are no detailed guidelines for private education. There is also no development partner which provides technical and financial support in private education. Limited financial resources to the education sector: Although education has been incorporated in the key policy and plan documents of the GOL, such as the NGPES and NSEDP6, the GOL’s budget allocation has been low. Public expenditure on education has nearly recovered its level of 1995 and reached 15% of the total public spending and 3.2% of the GDP in 2006/07, after the financial crisis of the late 1990s. However, this recovery derives from a strong increase in the investment budget, mostly funded by development partners, and does not imply any improvement in the share of domestic funding and in the ratio of recurrent and investment budgets. The proportion of recurrent and capital expenditures was 46:53, and foreign funds accounted for over 90% of the capital expenditure in 2004/05. Moreover, most of the budget was expended for the salary of teachers and other recurrent costs, and there is little budget for the improvement and development of education. Development partners are also very much concerned about this issue. The World Bank has been providing budget support through the PRSO, the ADB will start budget support under the BESDP, and the EC will move to budget support by joining the PRSO. The results of the EFA Mid-Decade Assessment (MDA) Report and the ADB TA on the sector-wide approach in education sector development will provide detailed information about the financial gap to achieve the EFA/education goals and targets. Limited scope of donor coordination: Since its establishment, the Education/Gender Donor Working Group (EDWG) played an important role in information sharing and coordination of activities among its members. However, its focus was mainly on primary education, and several donors active in other sub-sectors were not involved in the EDWG. Now that the new GOL-donor coordination mechanism is established as the Education and Gender Sector Working Group (EGSWG) and its membership is expanded to include all the donors active in the education sector, it is expected that donor coordination in the entire education sector will take place. The ADB TA on the sector-wide approach in education sector development is assisting the MOE in the preparation of a framework for planning and management of an expanded school education system from pre-school to upper secondary education. It will produce a ten-year framework for school sector development in the first quarter of 2008. In addition, Australia will also provide TA for the MOE to produce an education sector development framework 2008-2018 and an education sector annual plan 2008/09 to complement ADB/MOE’s work. These initiatives are expected to be integrated into the EGSWG’s consultation process and contribute to more focused and better co-ordinated external assistance and more balanced education sector development. Australia and UNICEF will continue to play a coordination role of the education sector together with the MOE and with assistance from the ADB through its TA, and it is expected that the EGSWG will serve as a forum of information sharing and donor coordination in the entire education sector. The remaining 16% of unreached children and low internal efficiency in primary education: Although the GOL has made many efforts, together with development partners, in achieving universal primary education, there are still about 123,000 school-aged children (16% of the primary school-aged children, more than half being girls) who are not enrolled in primary schools; also, little progress has been made in internal efficiency (high repetition and drop-out rates) in primary education during the past 5-6 years. Many development partners have been involved in achieving universal primary education and they will continue to provide technical and financial support to improve children’s access to, and retention in, primary 47

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schools and to improve quality of primary education. Their interventions need to be well co-ordinated, with support from the results of the EFA MDA Report and the ADB TA on the sector-wide approach in education sector development. The non-realised potential of NFE: The GOL recognizes that education and literacy are prerequisites for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. However, 27% of the adult population (930,000) are still illiterate, 16% of the primary school-aged children (123,000) are not enrolled in primary school, 26% of the population aged 6 and over (1.3 million) has never attended school, and 57% of the population aged 6 and over (2.7 million, including 1.3 million who have never attended school) has not completed primary education (in all majority being women and girls). There is a huge amount of work to be potentially undertaken by NFE in order to provide education for those who are illiterate and out-of-school and those who would like to upgrade their educational levels and to acquire life skills and income-generation skills. Further, the recurrent expenditure on NFE has been only 1-2% of the total education expenditure for the last 7-8 years, and NFE is one of the most neglected sub-sectors by development partners. At present, only UNESCO, UNICEF and some NGOs are interested in NFE and their interventions are very limited. Broader participation in NFE by development partners needs to be encouraged. Other gaps and needs to be considered. • Inadequate integration of issues such as education for sustainable development, gender equality, ICT, inclusive education, HIV/AIDS, and human rights in school and TEI curricula. • Inadequate quality and quantity of higher education.

5.2

Proposed Interventions: Areas and Strategies

In this last section, UNESCO proposes its strategies to respond to the needs, priorities and demand for educational development in Lao PDR. The gaps and emerging needs described above will be addressed in synergy with the efforts and ongoing interventions of the development partners. Table 8 presents the UNESCO Outcome Matrix for the period of 2008-2013, with the indication of some specific actions to be carried out during the next biennium of 2008-2009. The actions, presented in the matrix, are proposed to contribute to further educational reform in Lao PDR and to complement the ongoing and prospective programmes of other development partners. This matrix is subject to adjustments and updates, every two years, in light of new developments in the Lao education sector and the international development assistance. It will be aligned in response to the country’s education strategy and the education development plans. UNESCO envisages further integration of this matrix into UNDAF and any other joint support prorammes in the field of education, in order to ensure a programmatic coherence and efficiency with the UN system’s activities at country level. Table 8: UNESCO Medium and Short-Term Education Outcome Matrix for Lao PDR Objective: To contribute to further educational reform and development in Lao PDR Medium-term Major issues and UNESCO’s proposed Output or outcome (by Outcome (by 2013) challenges actions (2008- 2009) 2009) Outcome 1: • No concrete plan to • Start dialogue with • Detailed action plans Enhanced realize reform in MOE and key available concerning educational reform general education, development partners reform in general implementation especially at the concerning the education and through provision of upper secondary remaining tasks to post-secondary policy inputs and level by 2009/10; implement reform in education technical support in general education and • No detailed reform • Involvement of some selected education necessary actions at plan at the funding agencies in sub-sectors and the post-secondary post-secondary the implementation of areas level to follow up on level in response to reform in general reform in general reform in general education

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Partnerships National DPC/MOE DGE/MOE DHTVE/MO E NRIES/MOE International: ADB, Australia, Luxembourg, Sweden,

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Objective: To contribute to further educational reform and development in Lao PDR Medium-term Major issues and UNESCO’s proposed Output or outcome (by Outcome (by 2013) challenges actions (2008- 2009) 2009) education education • Master plan for ECD • No national policy • Facilitate dialogue policy development document on ECD; between MOE and finalized and funding agencies for implemented, and a • Outdated NFE support in reform in national ECD policy policy document; general education (and prepared • No guidelines for post-secondary • NFE policy finalized the development of education) and approved private education • Provide technical • Guidelines for • Low quality of support in finalizing a development of education master plan for private education development of an prepared ECD policy, • Guidelines for gender developing the responsive national ECD policy, curriculum and finalizing the NFE development strategies, in cooperation with some development partners • Provide technical support in ensuring gender responsive curriculum development under the reform and adapting the National Strategy in Promoting Women’s Advancement in Education • Provide technical support in producing guidelines for the development of private education in cooperation with MOE and development partners • Provide technical support in setting up legislative framework and quality assurance mechanism to regulate the fast expanding private education sector • Design and propose TA projects for donors’ support to facilitate implementation of reform or policies / strategies mentioned above • Assist in the integration of key issues in the further revision of school and TEI curricula,

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Partnerships UNICEF, WB

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Objective: To contribute to further educational reform and development in Lao PDR Medium-term Major issues and UNESCO’s proposed Output or outcome (by Outcome (by 2013) challenges actions (2008- 2009) 2009) including: − Gender equality − HIV/AIDS prevention − Inclusive education − ICT in education − ESD • Share with the GOL and development partners international and regional best practices which will enrich the policy debate on some areas of education sector. Outcome 2: • Enhanced capacity to • Lack of basic • Organize training Strengthened manage education information about workshops on planning capacity of statistics and their the current situation and budgeting educational staff analysis at the in some sub-sectors (including (administration staff • No concrete reform national and gender-responsive and teachers) at the provincial levels budgeting), plan to realize central and local disaggregated data • Enhanced capacity reform in general levels through collection and analysis, and knowledge of education, especially capacity and monitoring and education staff and at the upper development for evaluation with teachers in gender secondary level, and planning and development partners equality, HIV/AIDS at the budgeting, data prevention, inclusive post-secondary level • Organize collection and education, ICT in as a consequence of capacity-building analysis, monitoring education and ESD reform in general workshops on and evaluation, education education data and • Education staff and quality assurance indicators in teachers well • Insufficient capacity and accreditation, cooperation with the informed about of education staff for and in some MOE and the WB gender, HIV/HIDS planning and cross-cutting themes prevention, inclusive budgeting, data • Support in such as gender education, ICT in collection and strengthening the equality, HIV/HIDS education and ESD analysis, monitoring central EMIS for prevention, and evaluation at all effective planning and inclusive education, levels of supervision of the ICT in education administration, and education system at all and ESD managing private levels in cooperation education with MOE and WB • Implementing • Organize capacity awareness-raising development seminars and training activities supported workshops on some by development selected cross-cutting partners only in themes targeted provinces or • Provide technical districts support in revising and • Insufficient mainstreaming gender academic in school management qualifications of policies and faculty members in regulations and staff universities and promotion systems teacher educators in • Organize curriculum TEIs development workshops in various

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Partnerships

National DOP/MOE DPC/MOE DGE/MOE DNFE/MOE DHTVE/MO E DPE/MOE DOF/MOE NRIES/MOE LWU/SubCA W International: ADB, Australia, France, UNICEF, WB

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Objective: To contribute to further educational reform and development in Lao PDR Medium-term Major issues and UNESCO’s proposed Output or outcome (by Outcome (by 2013) challenges actions (2008- 2009) 2009) academic disciplines for faculty members to help them review and renew the curricula of their educational programmes Outcome 3: • Lack of basic • Develop capacity of • More comprehensive Strengthened information about NFE personnel data of NFE capacity of NFE the current situation through programmes available staff at central and of NFE regional/national at DNFE local levels and of programmes workshops on planning • Enhanced national NFE teachers / and management of capacity for • Limited capacity facilitators, and literacy and NFE developing and and training of NFE strengthened CLCs activities implementing (gender staff to manage responsive) literacy literacy and NFE • Strengthen CLC and NFE programmes programmes at the management through various levels CLC-MIS • Established and developed policy, • Lack of gender • Provide support to system and analysis and gender mainstreaming programme for responsiveness in in NFE within a RBA equivalency planning, framework programmes programming and • Support to M&E • Improved contents development of with relevance and • No access to basic national policies, quality in life skills education by a large guidelines and and HIV/AIDS number of programmes for out-of-school equivalency • Mother tongue children youth and programmes programmes adults developed • Support to • Low quality of NFE improvement of programmes contents of NFE, e.g. life skills and • Poorly functioning HIV/AIDS CLCs in terms of management and • Support to research on quality of relevant development of mother activities tongue literacy programmes for • Irrelevance of non-Lao-Tai ethnic language groups instruction of literacy programmes for non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups

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Partnerships

National DNFE/MOE DPC/MOE DGE/MOE DHTVE/MO E LWU International: UNICEF, Save the Children Norway, SIL International

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References Asian Development Bank. 2000. Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Education Sector Development Plan Report. Manila, ADB. 2001. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors on a Proposed Loan to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic for the Second Education Quality Improvement Project. Manila, ADB. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. 2006. PPTA Final Report for TA4499-LAO: Basic Education Development Program prepared by UNESCO. Bangkok, ADB. 2006. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Asian Development Fund Loan and Grant: Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Basic Education Sector Development Program. Manila, ADB. 2007. Asian Development Outlook 2007: Growth amid Change. Manila, ADB. Australian Government, AusAID. 2005. Laos Australia Development Cooperation Program 2004-2010. Canberra. Committee for Planning and Cooperation. 2004. National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy. Vientiane. Committee for Planning and Cooperation, National Statistical Centre. 2004. Lao Expenditure and Consumption Survey 2002/03: LECS3. Vientiane. Committee for Planning and Investment. 2006. National Socio-Economic Development Plan (2006-2010). Vientiane. Committee for Planning and Investment, National Statistical Centre. 2005. Population and Housing Census. Vientiane. Committee for Planning and Investment. National Statistics Centre and UNDP. 2006. National Human Development Report International Trade and Human Development Lao PDR 2006. Vientiane, UNDP. European Community. 2007. Lao PDR - European Community Strategy Paper for the period of 2007-2013. Federal Republic of Germany, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. 2007. Laos: Building a future for all generations. Bonn. Federal Republic of Germany, German Technical Cooperation. 2006. Rural Development in Mountainous Areas of Northern Lao PDR: Lao-German Cooperation. Vientiane. Japanese Government. 2006. Japan’s Country Assistance Program for Lao PDR. King E. and van de Walle D. 2005. Schooling and Poverty in Lao PDR. Washington, DC, World Bank. Lao People’s Democratic Republic and United Nations. 2004. Millennium Development Goals Progress Report Lao PDR. Vientiane. Lao People’s Democratic Republic and United Nations Country Team. 2006. United Nations Common Country Assessment: CCA: Lao PDR. Vientiane. Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation. 2007. Laos-Luxembourg Cooperation. Luxembourg, Lux-Development. Ministry of Education. 2000. The Education Strategic Vision up to the Year 2020. Vientiane. 2000. Education for All 2000 Assessment Country Report Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Bangkok, UNESCO. 2001. Educational Strategic Planning 20 Years (2001-2020), 10 Years (2001-2010) and 5 Year Development Plan for Education at the Fifth Plenary Session (2001-2005). Vientiane. 2004. Lao PDR National Plan of Action for Education for All, 2003-2015. Bangkok. 2004. Lao National Literacy Survey 2001: Final Report. Bangkok. 2005. Skills Development for Disadvantaged Groups: Review, Issues and Prospects: Final Report. Bangkok, UNESCO. 2006. Teacher Education Strategy 2006-2015 and Action Plan 2006-2010. Vientiane. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report (Draft). Vientiane. Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. Ministry of Education and World Bank. 2007. Stocktaking and Diagnostics of Education Management Information System in Lao PDR. Vientiane. 52

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2006. Foreign Aid Report 2004-2005. Vientiane. Sisouk and T. Neville Postlethwaite. 2007. Laos Grade 5 National Assessment Survey. Vientiane, Ministry of Education. Swedish Government, Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 2004. Country strategy for development cooperation: Laos: January 2004 - December 2008. Stockholm. Swedish International Development Agency. 2005. Harmonizing external support to the education sector in the Lao PDR: Report on the feasibility of a Sector-Wide Approach to education development in Lao PDR. Vientiane, Sida. TTEST. 2004. Teacher training and recruitment into the teaching profession: Operational Study 3. Vientiane, Department of Teacher Training, Ministry of Education. 2006. Teacher Education Institution Capacity: Operational Study 4. Vientiane, Department of Teacher Training, Ministry of Education. UNDP. 2006. Human Development Report 2006 Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. New York, UNDP. UNESCO. 2006. Building a UNESCO National Education Support Strategy (UNESS) Document: 2008-2013 (Guidance Note). Paris, UNESCO. 2007. Education for All: EFA: Global Action Plan: improving support to countries in achieving the EFA Goals. Paris, UNESCO. 2007. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008. Education for All by 2015: Will we make it?. Paris, UNESCO. UNESCO Bangkok. 2004. Gender and Ethnicity in the Context of Equality and Access in Lao Education. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 2008. Secondary Education Regional Information Base: Country Profile Lao PDR. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) UNESCO Bangkok and SEAMEO. 2006. Higher Education in South-East Asia. Bangkok, UNESCO. UNICEF-Lao PDR. 2003. The Situation of Girls’ Education in the Lao P.D.R.. Vientiane, UNICEF. 2007. Country Programme Action Plan between The Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and UNICEF. Vientiane, UNICEF-Lao PDR. World Bank. 2004. Project Appraisal Document on a Proposed Credit in the Amount of SDR 3.9 Million (US$5.3 Million Equivalent), and Proposed IDA Grant of SDR 5.6 Million (US$7.7 Million Equivalent) to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic for a Second Education Development Project. Washington, DC, World Bank. 2005. Country Assistance Strategy for Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Washington, DC, World Bank. 2005. International Development Association Program Document for a Proposed Credit in the Amount of SDR3 Million (US$4.5 Million Equivalent) to Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) for a First Poverty Reduction Support Operation. Washington, DC, World Bank. 2006. Lao PDR Economic Monitor. Vientiane, World Bank Vientiane Office. 2007. Lao PDR Economic Monitor. Vientiane, World Bank Vientiane Office. World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. World Food Programme. 2007. School Feeding [Prepared October 2007]. Vientiane, WFP.

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Appendix 1: Progress Towards the MDGs Goals and Targets

Country Status

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day

Poverty incidence has significantly declined from 48% in 1990 to 32.7% in 2003. While the national target is therefore likely to be achievable, more efforts are needed to reduce poverty still further. In 1998, 29% of the population suffered from nutritional deficiencies, compared with 31% in 1990. Income-generating activities are imperative to improve the nutritional status of people in the upland areas.

Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

The proportion of children reaching grade 5 had increased to 62% in 2000/2001. The quantity and quality of education needs to be improved to attract and maintain increasing numbers of students, particularly in rural areas.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015

The ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education increased from 74.9% in 1990 to 90% in 2002. The ratio of literate females to males (15–24 years of age) increased from 76% in 1990 to 85% in 2002.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-5 mortality rate

The under-5 mortality rate declined from 170 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 106 in 1999. The infant mortality rate dropped to 87 per 1,000 live births in 2002. The target is likely to be met.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health Target 6: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR)

The MMR dropped to 530 (per 100,000 live births) in 2000 and further to 350 in 2005. Progress towards this MDG is on track, but further improvements in nutrition and reproductive health care will be needed if the present positive trend is to be sustained until 2015.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases Target 7: Have halted by 2015, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS Target 8: Have halted by 2015, and begun to reverse, the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water

Target 11: Have achieved, by 2015, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

HIV prevalence currently remains low at 0.06%. With increasing regional integration, increased efforts and awareness are needed. The death rate associated with malaria decreased from 9 per 100,000 in 1990 to 3.5 in 2002 but malaria incidence has remained unchanged. The Lao PDR was declared polio-free in 2000. Environmental management is a pillar of the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy. Improvements have been stalled on the percentage of the population with access to safe water. In 2004, the percentage was 37%. ADB’s ongoing and planned urban water supply project will help accelerate progress towards achieving this goal. Slum dwellers are not a serious problem. The percentage of the urban population with access to sanitation increased significantly from 30% in 1990 to 67% in 2000.

Source: Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB.

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Appendix 2: Structure of the Formal Education System

Source: Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane, MOE. (Final Draft) Note: Following the conventions of the International Standard Classification for Education (ISCED), the structure of the formal education system in Lao PDR comprises: • 0 - Pre-primary education; • 1 - Primary education; • 2 - Lower-secondary education; • 3 - Upper-secondary education; • 4 - Post-secondary non-tertiary education; • 5 - First stage tertiary education (bachelor level) ; and • 6 - Second stage of tertiary, leading to advanced research qualification (MA, PhD)

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Appendix 3: Organization Chart of the Ministry of Education

Source: Ministry of Education. 2007. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment and Fast Track Initiative Report (Draft), Vientiane: Ministry of Education

              Source: Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment. Vientiane, MOE. (Final Draft) Note: It was informed by the MOE on 6 May 2008 that the MOE was reorganized. The DGE was divided into two departments, i.e. the Department of Primary and Pre-school Education and the Departments of Secondary Education, and the DHTVE was divided into two departments, i.e. the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Vocational Education. The MOE also established five centers: (i) Education Statistic and Information Technology Center, (ii) Center for Education Quality Assurance, (iii) Center for Ethnic and Gender Education Policy Research, (iv) Center for Education Policy Research, and (v) Education Publishing Enterprise.

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Appendix 4: Situation Analysis in the Education Sector As mentioned in Chapter 5, the education sector analysis was conducted during the period of 1998-1999 with technical assistance from the ADB to produce the Lao PDR Education Sector Development Plan Report. 88 Since then, no comprehensive analysis of the entire education sector has been made, though several project and programme documents were prepared by development partners. These include policy and sector reviews and analyses which focus only on one or some sub-sectors, in particular on primary education. There are a very limited number of English documents available which describe and analyse the current situation in other sub-sectors such as pre-school, TVET, higher education and NFE which are in general receiving less attention from development partners. Consequently, the information about these sub-sectors contained in this Appendix is very limited, compared with primary and secondary sub-sectors.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) 89 Enrolments in kindergartens were 46,237 in total, with 22,766 boys and 23,471 girls in 2005/06. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in kindergartens was 11% (10% for boys and 11% for girls). The number of ECD (crèche and kindergartens) teachers was 2,882 (17 males and 2,865 females) and the pupil-teacher ratio (crèche and kindergartens) was 17.1. Private schools account for 29% in enrolment of kindergartens. Lao PDR has seen a slow but constant increase in GER in ECD during the past 15 years, increasing from 5.9% in 1991/92 to 10.6% in 2005/2006 90, showing slightly higher enrolment ratios for girls than for boys (10.4% for boys, 10.9% for girls), as shown in Table A.1. 91 The increase of 2.4 percentage points in GER from 2004/2005 to 2005/2006 is significantly greater than in previous years to almost a 30% increase. However, this progress of ECD enrolment has not been uniform across the country. More than 25% of all children enrolled in ECD programmes were in Vientiane Capital City in 2005/06, although only 8% of the official ECD age-group population lives there. Vientiane Capital City had a GER of over 30%, while Saravane province had a GER of less than 3%. Table A.1: Gross Enrolment Ratio for ECD, Table A.2: Percent Private ECD Enrolment, 1991/92 to 2005/06 1991/92 to 2005/06 Year Male Female Total Year Male Female Total 1991/92 5.4 6.4 5.9 1991/92 7.2 5.7 6.4 2000/01 6.9 7.4 7.1 2000/01 22.5 19.6 21.1 2001/02 6.7 7.2 7.0 2001/02 22.1 20.5 21.3 2002/03 7.1 7.5 7.3 2002/03 23.5 21.5 22.5 2003/04 7.9 8.4 8.1 2003/04 26.2 24.5 25.3 2004/05 8.0 8.4 8.2 2004/05 29.3 26.4 27.9 2005/06 10.4 10.9 10.6 2005/06 29.5 27.6 28.5 Source: MOE/ESITC Note: Enrolment in ECD in Tables A.1 and A.2 includes only children in kindergarten.

Almost all ECD teachers are women. During the period of 2000/01-2005/06, fewer than 1% of ECD teachers have been men. The proportion of pre-service trained ECD teachers was 84% in 2005/06. There are great provincial differences, with Vientiane Capital City having the lowest proportion of pre-service trained teachers of 62% (20% for males and 63% for females), and Louang Namtha, Saravane and Attapeu having the highest proportion of 100%. Government strategy has been to encourage the emergence of private sector ECD initiatives by clarifying conditions and simplifying procedures. The development of private sector involvement is shown in Table A.2. At the beginning of the decade, just over 21% of all ECD enrolment was in private institutions, but by the middle of the decade, nearly 29% were enrolment in private institutions. Over the period from 2000/2001 to 2005/2006, total enrolment in ECD has increased by an average annual growth rate of 6%, while private enrolment has increased by an average annual rate of 12.7%.

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The fact that such a large proportion of the ECD enrolment is privately financed reflects a strong private demand, expressed primarily in the fourth and fifth quintile of the population. This has resulted in rapid expansion in the sub-sector without overly straining the public education sector budget. Because expansion of ECD is to such a large extent dependent on the private demand, however, the access of the children of the poor to ECD is very limited. This is starkly illustrated by the evidence given in Table A.3. The estimated GER for children of the highest quintile is more than ten times as high as for children from the lower quintiles. Poor provinces of Phongsaly, Houaphan, Saravanne, and Sekong had no private ECD programmes by 2005. Table A.3: GER in ECD by Income Quintile Quintile Poorest Second Middle Fourth Richest Total Total 1.4 2.1 2.7 7.3 43.2 7.3 Source: Ministry of Education. 2007. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Draft)

The percentage of new primary school entrants who have experience in ECD programmes is still very low (about 10% in 2005/06) and the vast majority of children who enter Grade 1 have never before participated in organized learning programmes and activities, and have little introduction to simple concepts of mathematics, colour, size, counting, ordering, texture, shapes, and spatial and quantitative relationships. Non-Lao-Tai children face the added challenge of rarely encountering the language of instruction (Lao language) before entering primary school. More worrying is that malnutrition is widespread in Lao PDR, particularly among women and some non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups. Children who are malnourished are not able to learn at the rate of children who are fully nourished. 92 Children’s nutrition has a direct bearing on educational participation and learning. Research shows that low birth weight, reduced breastfeeding, stunting, and iron and iodine deficiency are associated with long term deficits in children’s cognitive and motor development, and school readiness. Data from MICS III show that in 2006 over 40% of all children aged 0-59 months were found to be stunted and nearly 17% were severely stunted. In the implementation of the various ECD programs, MOE has been cooperating with the Mother and Child Health Centers (under the Ministry of Health, MOH) to promote breast-feeding and improve nutrition and primary health care for young children in rural and remote areas. In urban areas medical doctors are invited to provide yearly health checks to children in crèches and kindergartens and to make sure that children receive vitamin A supplements once a year. This link between health care practices and ECD is not yet in operation in the rural areas despite data that indicates that children in rural and remote areas are more likely to be under-nourished. Stuntism is particularly rife in the poorest quintile. 93 Despite advances during the past decade, it is clear that too little attention is given to ECD by both GOL and donor agencies. Many children are physically and intellectually ill-prepared for formal schooling, as a large percentage are malnourished and the vast majority have never encountered organized learning activities or programmes before enrolling in Grade 1. This can seriously hamper learning. Although there is a growing awareness in Lao PDR that ECD is vital for children’s development, many children of the age of five years and younger in rural and remote areas, from small non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups, and whose parents cannot afford to send their young children to ECD programmes, continue to be deprived of an early childhood care and education.

Primary education 94 Enrolments in primary education were 891,881 in total, with 480,670 boys and 411,211 girls in 2005/06. NERs and GERs in primary education were 83.9% (86.5% for boys and 81.2% for girls) and 116.3% (123.4% for boys and 108.9% for girls) respectively. The number of primary teachers was 27,776 and the pupil-teacher ratio was 32.1. In 2004/05 the number of primary schools was 8,541, out of which 4,881 (57.1%) were incomplete schools which offer fewer than five primary grades. There were 105 private primary schools with a total of 21,020 students (2.4% of the total primary enrolments) in 2004/05, compared to 83 private primary schools with a total of 15,202 students in 2000/01. GIR and NIR are 125% (130% for boys and 119% for girls) and 66% (67% for boys and 66% for girls) respectively in 2005/06. The fact that the GIR is over 100% while NIR is substantially lower than 100% is a 58

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reflection of the fact that a substantial number of new entrants to primary schooling are outside the official starting age, 46.8% (49% for boys and 45% for girls) nationally. The provincial variation in GIR is significant, and the provincial variation in the proportion of new entrants outside the official age is much greater. In the five provinces of Phongsaly, Oudomxay, Houaphanh, Sekong, and Attapeu, more than two-thirds of all new entrants are outside the official age of entry. Even in Vientiane Capital City and Champasak more than a quarter of all new entrants are outside the official starting age. The reason for this pattern is that many children, especially in remote communities, are not sent to school until they are several years older than the official school age because the school is too far away or too difficult to access for five-year olds. 95 Progress in intakes varies very much according to the poverty status (47 poorest, 25 poor and 70 non-poor districts): since 2000/01 admissions have declined in the non-poor districts, stayed more or less constant in the poor districts and significantly increased in the poorest districts. In urban, non-poor areas, the trend is explained by the drop of births and school-age children, which reflects the impact of family planning programmes and increased level of girls’ education. By contrast, births have remained high in rural areas, especially in the poorest villages and districts. Progress of admissions in those areas reflects the impact of development partners’ projects which target the poorest districts while acting on both supply (school construction and rehabilitation; textbooks and teacher guides; teacher upgrading and in-service) and demand (training and recruiting teachers from non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups, providing supplementary teaching materials for pupils from non-Lao-Tai groups, food programmes, school development grants, etc.). Total enrolments in primary education are now increasing at a rapidly reducing pace. The annual increase of enrolments, which was around 25,000 pupils in 2001/02, reached only 1,000 in 2005/06. During the period of 2001/01-2004/05, total enrolments in primary education stayed constant in the 70 non-poor districts and increased respectively by 7-8% in the 25 poor districts and 27-28% in the 47 poorest districts. 96 Both GER and NER have risen significantly between 1991/92 and 2005/2006. GER grew from 97% (107% for boys and 86% for girls) to 116% (123% for boys and 109% for girls), while NER grew from 59% (63% for boys and 55% for girls) to 84% (86% for boys and 81% for girls). 97 Clearly enrolment has in fact improved significantly over the past 15 years and the increase has been higher for girls than boys. The gender gap in primary enrolments is now five percentage points rather than the eight point gap of a 15years ago. The provincial picture is extremely diverse: Vientiane Capital City and Vientiane Province NERs are above 90%, while Luang Namtha, Phongsaly and Saravane have NER around 50% or less, indicating marked disparities across provinces and insufficient access to education in rural and deprived areas. Physical access remains a major barrier. Approximately 15% of villages are still without a primary school within commutable distance. Almost 57% of all primary schools and an estimated 70% of primary schools in the poorest districts are incomplete schools which do not offer the full five grades of primary education. 98 Children have to walk long distances daily or rely on informal boarding arrangements. These arrangements include staying with relatives or in village dormitories. In an already marginal environment, this places added pressure on local food supplies and costs to the families involved. These arrangements are seldom suitable for young children. These factors provide significant risks to the proportion of students able to complete primary schooling. 99 In the period of 2000/01-2004/05 little progress has been made in internal efficiency in primary education. During this period the mean repetition rate (over all grades) declined by only 1.3 percentage points to 15.2% for the year 2004/05. There has been almost no change in the gender distribution of repetition. About one third of students in primary school repeat Grade 1, 18.2% repeat Grade 2, 12.2% repeat Grade 3, 7.8% repeat Grade 4, and 4.5% repeat Grade 5 in 2004/05. In Grade 1, repetition is nearly equal between girls and boys, but grade-by-grade, repetition becomes increasingly a “boy’s problem”. Like repetition rates, survival rate to Grade 5 have remained unchanged, coming from 59.9% in 2000/01 to 60.2% in 2005/06. That is, of all children who enter Grade 1, only 60% ultimately remain in school to reach Grade 5. 100 In 2004/05 the drop-out rate was 13% in Grade 1, falling to 6.8% in Grade 2 and gradually rising to almost 10% by Grade 5. There is almost no gender difference of drop-out rates in each grade. There are great variations among provinces concerning drop-out rates with a difference of 14 percentage points between the 59

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worst and best scoring province, Oudomxsay (17.1%) and Sayabury (3.1%) respectively. 101 One of the main reasons for the high drop-out rate in primary schools is that many small communities, especially in rural and remote areas, have incomplete primary schools. There is substantial variation over provinces in the proportions of incomplete schools and this variation is closely correlated with variation over provinces in the drop-out rate. The evidence found suggests that it would appear that girls are more sensitive to the absence of complete schools than boys. It is estimated that 58% of primary students graduate annually from primary education. An average of just less than 8 years is required to produce a primary school graduate, because of repetitions and of pupils dropping out during or after Grade 1 and 2. 102 About 123,000 school-aged children (16% of the primary school-aged children) were not enrolled in primary schools in 2005/06. According to the WFP survey, factors impeding enrolment are distance from school, cost, and labour demands placed on students. Health, nutrition and hygiene, while not barriers as such to enrolment, have an impact on attendance, performance and completion. 103 The LECS3 also found that distance to school was one of the major reasons of never attending primary education. The other major reasons included children who were too young, had no interest, and had to work. 104 It is also possible that language of instruction, as different from the mother tongue, may be another barrier to enrolment. The WFP study found that household labour commitments were the major reason for absenteeism and dropping out. Poor rural children have little incentive for education as they often have large domestic workloads, particularly girls, who may be responsible for household childcare, cooking, carrying water and working in the fields. A study undertaken by UNICEF in 2003 also found that the amount of time spent each week working was a significant determinant in school attendance for girls, but not for boys. The absolute and opportunity costs of sending children to school can be prohibitive and boys’ education is favoured. 105 In Lao PDR, the pressure to contribute work to the household is the single most important factor affecting primary school enrolment and completion, followed by the availability of schools offering all five grades. Other reason for not enrolling or dropping out given in the survey included costs of clothing and school materials, and the distance to school. The children’s perception and teacher data also showed that hunger was an important factor in making schooling difficult, as were language problems. Primary schools in Lao PDR teach in the dominant Lao language, which is not the first language of many students in the many ethnic groups. Many start school with no Lao language. Adding to the language difficulty is the shortage of trained teachers from these ethnic backgrounds. As a result, students in these areas have to stay longer at school in order to become functional or proficient in Lao language 106. There has been a dramatic increase in the proportion of qualified primary school teacher, among both men and women. During the period of 2000/01-2005/06, the total proportion of qualified primary teachers had increased by 11.8%, resulting in a proportion of 88.7% in 2005/06. The increase has been higher among male teachers and GPI approaches equality. Although there have been major improvements in the proportion of qualified primary teachers, still some 11% of the present stock of primary school teachers are not qualified. Problems remain, especially in regional disparities, and many of these untrained primary school teachers are serving in small and remote communities. This is evidenced by the almost 30% difference between the province with the lowest proportion of qualified teachers, Oudomxsay with 68%, and the highest, Champasak with 97%. The GOL has great difficulty attracting qualified teachers to remote areas. The shortage of teachers in these areas is also influenced by budget constraints which result in low provincial teacher quotas. A recent study showed that teachers’ salaries were below subsistence level and they were often paid three and four months late. As a result, many teachers teach for less than their official number of instructional hours because they need time for outside employment to compensate for their very low salaries, or because they simply reduce their effort. This allows little time to prepare for classes, which impacts on teaching quality and leads indirectly to increased repetition and drop-out rates. For Grade 1, this and language, are significant issues. If the early learning experience is not satisfactory the goal of universal primary education will be difficult to achieve. 107 60

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This problem will continue and could grow as primary schooling reaches out to more rural and remote communities. Just the quantitative task of providing qualified primary school teachers to these remote communities and other communities where unqualified teachers are serving will be a major challenge. This problem is exacerbated by the practice of the informal “promotion” of qualified primary school teachers to be lower secondary school teachers. Some of the development partners’ assistance may suggest solutions to the problem. In the LABEP, almost all trainees (all of whom came from rural and remote communities), upon completion of the ethnic teacher group training programme, returned to their communities and began serving as teachers. Significantly, the LABEP trainees retained substantial contact with their home communities during the period of training through the use of a sandwich model. Similarly, UNICEF is providing in-service and upgrade training to unqualified and under-qualified teachers in situ, most teachers returned to their communities because essentially they never left. 108 The primary education sub-sector has been subject to a rise of 2 pupils per teacher between 2000/01 (PTR of 30.1) and 2005/06 (PTR of 32.1). The increase occurred mainly between 2002/03 and 2003/04, when the number of primary school teachers declined by 925. There are great provincial differences with Phongsaly having the lowest PTR of 26.9 and Oudomxsay having the highest PTR of 46.4 in 2005/06. According to the MOE in 2005/06 an estimated 40% of primary school buildings in the country are of temporary structure, and less than 20% of the primary schools nationwide have fully functioning water supply and sanitary facilities. Poor hygiene contributes to high rates of intestinal worms, exacerbating malnutrition and health problems. In the northern provinces up to 96% of children have worms, causing apathy and fatigue, increased anemia and malnutrition, and hampering both physical development and intellectual capacity.109 Though there has been considerable support for school construction and renovation activities over the past decade with assistant from development partners and NGOs, most of the school construction is concentrated in urban and easily accessible areas. Hence, the demand for permanent or even semi-permanent structure classrooms is still high and further support is acutely needed, especially in rural areas. Access to textbooks in primary education has been problematic over the past half decade. Under the WB-funded EDP-I, three sets of new primary school textbooks and teacher guides were produced and distributed – “Lao language”, “Mathematics”, and “World Around Us”. The target was one set of books for two students, and this target appears to have been met. The last printing under the EDP-I was in 2000, and once the books were distributed, new copies were not printed and distributed. As the inevitable consequence, a textbook shortage appeared and emerged into a crisis. On average, the number of sets of textbooks per primary school student became 0.22 (almost one set of books for five students) in 2005/06. In many remote schools, there were no textbooks at all and no teacher guides. 110 In the past half decade, the number of primary students categorized as “Lao Loum” declined by 8% to a distribution percentage of 63% in 2005/2006. During the same period the number of students categorized as “Lao Theung” rose by 47% to a distribution percentage of 24%, while the number of students of “Lao Soung rose by 60% to a distribution percentage of 13%. For primary teachers, however, the changes were smaller. The number of “Lao Loum” teachers declined by less than 2% to a distribution percentage of 81% in 2005/2006. During the same period the number of teachers categorized as “Lao Theung” rose by 12% to a distribution percentage of 14%, while the number of teachers of “Lao Soung” rose by 16% to a distribution percentage of 5% 111. The change in ethnic distribution of the primary students compared to that of the teachers result in the fact that both Lao Theung and Lao Soung students in 2005/2006 had a much smaller chance of having a teachers of their own ethnic group compared to five years before. This is likely to have negative effects on the education system especially for Grades 1 and 2, where repetition and drop-out rates are particularly high and students who have not mastered the basics of the Lao language yet profit from having a teacher that can also speak their ethnic language. 61

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General Secondary education 112 Enrolments in secondary education are 243,131 in total, with 137,043 for males and 106,008 for females in lower secondary education, and 147,510 in total, with 85,041 males and 62,469 females in upper secondary education in 2005/06. NERs and GERs in lower secondary education were 28.5% (28.1% for males and 28.8% for females) and 51.7% (57.0% for males and 46.2% for females) respectively. NERs and GERs were 15.7% (13.0% for males and 18.3% for females) and 34.5% (39.4% for males and 29.5% for females) respectively in upper secondary education. In 2004/05 the numbers of secondary schools were 596 lower secondary schools, 31 upper secondary schools, and 204 complete secondary schools (lower and upper secondary schools). The number of secondary teachers was 14,588 and the average pupil-teacher ratio for lower and upper secondary education is 26.6. There were 34 private secondary schools with a total of 6,198 students (1.6% of the total secondary enrolments) in 2004/05, compared to 19 private secondary schools with a total of 2,704 students in 2000/01. Progress of admissions has been fast in lower and especially upper secondary education, with an average annual increase of 2,300 new pupils in Grade 6 and 3,500 in Grade 9 over the five past years (2000/01-2004/05). However, the impact of demographic transition in urban areas is now starting to show at lower secondary level in the most urbanized districts: transition rates from Grade 5 to Grade 6 have stabilized over the past four years (around 77-79%) and admissions in Grade 6 are no longer increasing quickly (around 87,000-89,000). 113 A similar pattern may be found with admissions in upper secondary education: admissions in Grade 9 are now increasing at a reducing pace, since transition rates from Grade 8 to Grade 9 have been declining for three consecutive years for both females and males. Those trends in transition from Grade 5 to 6 and Grade 8 to 9 are linked to supply and demand factors: (a) the expansion of supply has not kept pace with demand since major donors have targeted primary education; and (b) the expansion of lower and upper secondary education to a larger pool of pupils may have reached limits since the vast majority of urban pupils are already admitted (and their number will inevitably decrease in the future due to population transition in urban areas) while an increasing number of rural pupils face financial and other constraints and may need to seek an income rather than pursuing studies. While transition rates from Grade 5 to 6 have not changed much over the past four years (2001/02-2004/05) in the non-poor and poorest districts (around 83-84% for males and 77-78% for females in the non-poor districts, and 73-75% for males and 69-72% for females in the poorest districts), they have increased significantly in the poor districts (68% for males and 58% for females in 2001/02 and 76% for males and 68% for females in 2004/05). In spite of this progress, females have still a lower transition rate from Grade 5 to 6 in the poor districts as compared with the poorest districts (68% and 72% respectively). Transition rates from Grade 8 to 9 have been declining in the non-poor districts over the past 3 years (87% for males and 83% for females in 2001/02 and 81% for males and 80% for females in 2004/05), but the strongest decline is to be found with the poor districts (88% for both males and females in 2001/02 and 66% for males and 62% for females in 2004/05) which are now much under the poorest ones (75% for males and 73% for females in 2001/02 and 75% for males and 73% for females in 2004/05). Transition rates vary to a large extent across provinces: for transition from primary to lower secondary, the range was respectively 60%-90% for females and 61%-92% for males in 2004/05; concerning the transition rate from lower to upper secondary the range was respectively 54%-87% for females and 49%-88% for males. Those disparities reflect the interplay of supply and demand factors: the creation of new secondary schools probably lags behind in the poorest provinces while demand from poor, children from disadvantaged ethnic groups and girls may not be as strong as in non-poor urban districts. As a consequence of admission trends in Grades 6 and 9, enrolments in lower and upper secondary education are now increasing at a reducing pace, especially in lower secondary. GERs for lower secondary increased from 30% in 1990 to 51% in 2005; and, for upper secondary from 26.3% in 2003 to 31% in 2005. With a more than 8% annual increase, the number of secondary students has been growing at four times the rate of primary school students. Girls’ lower secondary GER have increased by more than 4% between 2003 and 2005 (40.5% 62

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and 44.7% respectively) compared with 1.9% for boys (55.2% and 57.1% respectively). During the same period, girls’ upper secondary GER increased by 4.4% (21.1% and 25.5% respectively) compared to 5.1% increase for boys (31.7% and 36.8% respectively). Even so, significant gender differentials remain: secondary school enrolment for girls lags boys by more than 11%. The rapid enrolment increase in the last five years of 2000/01-2004/05 has not been accompanied by a parallel expansion of the number of secondary schools. The number of lower secondary and combined schools has remained unchanged and the number of upper secondary school has actually declined. There are now fewer total secondary schools than five years ago. The schools have been getting bigger in student numbers but unfortunately this is not the result of additional classrooms. What has happened instead is that more students are being squeezed into each class and the average class size is currently 50. The critical constraint in reducing class size is not the lack of teachers: it is the lack of classrooms. 114 Significant disparities in access to lower secondary education arise if the relationship between urban/rural areas and ethnic groups are considered (Table A.4). Members of the Lao-Thai groups generally have the highest rates of enrolment in lower secondary school no matter whether male or female, or urban or rural location. By contrast rural low-income non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups fare very poorly. Both males and females in rural locations display enrolment rates far lower than their urban compatriots, and minority rural poor females are particularly disadvantaged, with 2.9% of the lower secondary enrolment rate. Specific explanations for Lao are likely to be found in the world-wide evidence of a combination of demand (cultural factors of early marriage and housekeeping duties in which families do not attach high value to the education of their teenage daughters) and supply (only 3.3% of the poor rural non-Lao-Tai population lives in a village with a lower secondary school). It needs to be emphasized that the provision of secondary schooling is inherently difficult in the remote and mountainous districts inhabited by the non-Lao-Tai groups. 115 Table A.4: Lower secondary enrolment rates (%) by population characteristics Urban Rural Lao-Thai Total Lao-Thai Non Lao-Thai Males Female Males Female Males Female Males Female Total Net enrolment rate 54.2 45.4 51.2 44.2 35.0 31.5 11.9 Non-poor Net enrolment Rate 60.0 48.2 57.2 47.4 39.5 37.0 15.5 Poor 31.2 32.8 31.2 32.8 21.3 17.4 8.7 Net enrolment Rate Note: Non Lao-Tai groups are omitted from the urban area totals because of low sample numbers. Source: E. King and D. van de Walle. 2005. Schooling and Poverty in Lao PDR. Washington, DC, World Bank.

6.5 10.3 2.9

Internal efficiency at the secondary level is relatively better than in primary education with high promotion rates and low repetition rates. However, drop-out rates are high, especially at the end of Grade 6 (12.9% for males and 12.6% for females in 2004/05) and Grade 9 (10.7% for males and 11.1% for females in 2004/05), showing that many pupils are not able to carry on, either because of financial and other constraints, or inability to follow, given the low achievement level of many pupils by the end of primary education. Females tend to drop out from lower secondary a little more than males, but the opposite is true for upper secondary. Around 74% of students who enter Grade 6 complete lower secondary education while 81%-82% of those admitted in Grade 9 complete upper secondary education. The age distribution of secondary students indicates late enrolment of students who are already at productive age. For schools with overage students, the relevance of education is an important demand factor. Disparities of the secondary level NER between rural and urban areas or lowest and highest socioeconomic groups are more evident than those by gender. 116 The MOE’s Annual Bulletin indicates that virtually almost all the secondary teachers (99%) are “formally qualified”. It is true that the vast majority of secondary teachers has a teacher training qualification and is therefore qualified in that sense, but it is also true that many of them have low levels of formal schooling. Teacher qualifications in Laos are measured by two criteria: the number of years of formal schooling, and the 63

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number of years of teacher education. Thus, an “11+1” has completed secondary school (11 years) and then gone on to complete one year of teacher education. The formal requirement for teaching in secondary school is currently a minimum of “11+3”. In 2005/06 almost half (46%) of all secondary teachers do not meet this formal minimum qualification, and more than one third (37%) of all secondary teachers had an “8+3” qualification or less - meaning that they had no more basic schooling than the level of the students they were teaching. There are great provincial differences with Phongsaly and Houaphan having the highest proportion of under-qualified secondary teachers of almost 70% and Sekong, Attapeu and Vientiane Capital City having the lowest proportion of around 30%. 117 Textbooks and teacher guides remain in very short supply. The secondary curriculum was last revised in 1994. The poorest districts do not have money to provide textbooks based on that curriculum, and it is possible to find schools still using older books based on the curriculum dating from the 1970s or in extreme cases not using books or teacher guides at all 118. In response to this situation, the GOL and ADB have agreed to print and distribute selected existing lower secondary textbooks and teacher guides to all lower secondary schools in the country under the ADB-funded BESDP, starting in 2008. Similarly, the GOL and the Republic of Korea have agreed to print and distribute existing upper secondary textbooks (all subjects) and teacher guides to all upper secondary schools in the country under a Korea-funded two-year project, starting in late 2007. BESDP also includes the development of a rationalized curriculum framework for Grades 1-12, focusing on the secondary curriculum (lower and upper secondary), in response to revision of the primary curriculum which was made under the WB-funded EDP-II. The rapid expansion of secondary enrolments has not been accompanied by a parallel expansion of the number of secondary schools, rather by a fast increase of the average size of secondary schools and the transformation of lower or upper secondary schools into complete secondary schools. Since major donors targeted primary education, limited investments on national resources were devoted to secondary schools, which have been sometimes housed in old primary schools abandoned after the construction of new, project primary schools. Such uncontrolled expansion under severe financial constraints has had two serious consequences: (a) first, there was a quick increase of the average class size in secondary schools, especially in Grades 9 to 11, where the national average reached 81 pupils in 2004/05, with Oudomxay reaching a very high 136 pupils per class. Such levels raise obvious questions and serious concerns about the nature of the teaching learning process taking place in classrooms; and (b) second, there was a significant transfer of primary teachers to secondary schools, since the number of quota teachers has only been increased to a very limited extent over the past three years. On the one hand, primary teachers are not qualified to teach secondary students since they lack the knowledge of the subjects and on the other hand such transfer has serious consequences on primary education where the average class size quickly increased as well as the number of multigrade classes. In this redeployment process, the non-poor districts kept the same total number of teachers through internal transfer of positions from primary to secondary, while the poor and poorest districts got a very limited increase of their quota teachers, losing some in primary and gaining a little more in secondary. The fact that the poorest districts with the most urgent need for primary teachers lost some of them because of the pressure induced by the development of secondary education is a very clear sign that EFA might become an elusive goal.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) 119 The technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system of the Lao PDR is composed of both formal government training institutions and private institutions. There were 12 public vocational schools (eight under the Ministry of Education (MOE), five under the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), and one under the Ministry of Information and Culture (MOIC)), 33 public technical schools (17 under the MOE, three under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MOAF), four under the MOIC, five under the MOPH, and four under the Ministry of Finance (MOF)), and 14 private technical schools in 2005/06. Most are located in the central part of the country and in the capital city.

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The vocational schools amounted for a total of 2,675 students in 2005/06, while in 2000/2001 the same number of institutions was attended by 3,288 students. Though the number of vocational schools is the same at the beginning and the mid-decade, the student population has shown a significant decrease in numbers. Thirty-three public technical schools had a total of 18,632 students in 2005/2006. Since there were only 15 technical schools with 9,550 in 2000/01, a great increase had been witnessed in both technical schools and student numbers. Girls are under-represented, with 39% of the total enrolment. The private sector offered a further 14 technical schools, with a total of 4,020 students (1,731 female students, 43% of the total private enrolment) in 2005/2006. The enrolment in private technical schools (4,020) corresponds to 18% of the total technical school enrolment. The growth is more astonishing as only five years before there was no private technical school in Lao PDR. Although demand for TVET is growing and TVET enrolment is increasing, this sub-sector is still small and underdeveloped. Enrolment in vocational schools for Grade 8 graduates and technical schools for Grade 11 graduates represents only around 1% and 5% of the relevant age cohorts respectively. With increasing enrolments at the school level, and economic growth, demand for TVET is likely to grow significantly so opportunities need to be expanded and improved. The GOL hopes to achieve a ratio of 1,140 students per 100,000 people and to raise the number of well trained workers to 10% of the population by 2010. If this is to be achieved, upgraded facilities, an improved curriculum, more textbooks and instructional materials, and workshops will be needed. Inequity in terms of access to TVET exists in Lao PDR. In almost all programmes, girls are significantly under-represented. In total, less than one third of all TVET students are girls. Non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups still take very little part in TVET training. The rich participate more at TVET programmes than the poor. Those who live in the central regions participate more than those who live in the peripheral regions. The quality of TVET is in general low due to many reasons: the budget for operations and investment in TVET is very limited; there is a lack of textbooks and teaching and learning materials in Lao; some technical and vocational schools have inadequate facilities and workshops; provision of machinery, equipment and tools for the practice do not satisfy minimum needs and they are obsolete in many schools; and the quality of technical and vocational teachers is relatively low with very limited practical professional experiences due to the lack of practical training in enterprise. It has been noted that the current graduates do not fit within labour market requirements. Hence, the major challenges for TVET involve revision and development of TVET programmes serving the labour market. Getting this market connection right will be a continuous challenge, especially in a rapidly developing economy, but will need to be striven for if TVET is to become an attractive option for further learning. In this context the lack of qualified trainers and instructors, teaching and learning materials, and management in TVET will form great challenges.

Teacher education 120 There were 11 Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) in addition to the Faculties of Education at the NUOL, Champasack University and Souphanouvong University in Lao PDR in 2006/07. Eight TEIs implements various sub-degree programmes for pre-school, primary and lower secondary teacher education. The Faculties at the three universities offer tertiary education, including degree level programmes for upper secondary teacher education. Two additional TEIs are responsible for training physical education and art teachers for all levels. The last TEI is responsible for training monk teachers. TEIs offer two basic types of course: regular courses and special courses. Regular courses are the formal teacher education programmes for which TEIs were originally established. They provide pre-service education for pre-school, primary and lower secondary teachers. Students on regular courses are in several categories according to the method of their selection and the terms and conditions applied while they are studying, including (i) quota students, (ii) exam students, (iii) nangobay students, and (iv) fee-paying, non-quota students 121. Special courses (also known as ‘special English courses’) are offered in the evenings and to a lesser extent at weekends, to fee-paying students. 65

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There were 520 TEI teachers and 11,910 students respectively employed and studying in TEIs in 2004/05. 40% of TEI teachers and 49% of students are female. Since 2000/01, the numbers of TEI teachers and students have increased by around 50% and 100% respectively. The proportion of female teachers and students has risen over this period. There are 27 contract teachers working in TEIs. Half of TEI teachers have a bachelor’s degree, one third passed 11+3, and less than 3% have a master’s degree. 122 Two third of TEI students (8,027 out of 11,910) are studying on regular courses and the remainder (3,883) on special courses in 2004/05. The largest TEI had 2,531 students and the smallest only 353. The average TEI has approximately 1,500 students. Female students are in a slight majority (52%) on regular courses, but in a minority (42%) in special courses. The national student:TEI teacher ratio is 22:1, ranging from 33:1 at the largest TEI to 9:1 at the smallest TEI. In regular courses it is 15:1 and in special courses 33:1. There is a shortfall of primary teachers in remote, disadvantaged and ethnic group language schools. It has been known for some time that the TEI system is distorted by training many students for teaching careers which they have no intention of pursuing, and others who aspire to teach but for whom the recruitment quota is lacking. This is a concern for the government which has clear equity goals. It is also a concern of DEB and PES officials who are concerned about the quality of general education and the shortage of teachers in the communities with most need of schooling.

Higher Education 123 Higher education in Lao PDR comprises the NUOL, the Souphanouvong University, the Champasack University, the five TEIs (or Teacher Training Colleges: TTCs), and 31 private higher institutions. 124 There were a total of 40,115 students in higher education institutes (excluding the five TEIs) in 2004/05, out of which 57% were enrolled in NUOL with an additional 7% in the two NUOL branches of Souphanouvong and Champasack Universities, and 36% in private higher institutes. About one third of enrolments were female students at NUOL, while 46% of enrolments were females in private higher institutes. The number of enrolments in public and private higher education institutes has been rapidly increasing in recent years. While there were a total of 15,372 and 4,187 students at NUOL and private higher institutes respectively in 2000/01, enrolments at NUOL increased by more than 10% annually and reached a total of 22,984 in 2004/05, and enrolments in private higher institutes became a total of 14,371 in 2004/05 which is more than three times as many as enrolments four years previously (Table A.5). Gender disparity in enrolments has been slowly improving over the years. About 32% of the enrolments were female students in 2004/05, compared to 23% in 1996/97 when the NUOL was established. Table A.5: Higher education students classified by institutions in charge, 2000/01 to 2004/05 Academic Years Institutions 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 NUOL 15,372 17,820 18,366 20,230 22,984 Souphanouvong none none none 550 1,230 Champasack none none 395 845 1,530 Private Colleges 4,187 5,391 4,745 7,368 14,371 Total 19,559 23,211 20,506 28,993 40,115 Source: UNESCO Bangkok and SEAMEO. 2006. Higher Education in South-East Asia. Bangkok, UNESCO.

Between 2000/01 and 2004/05, the overall enrolment in higher education (excluding five TEIs) increased from 19,559 to 40,115. Although there has been rapid growth and change in higher education, in terms of access, some issues and challenges remain to be addressed. Disparities between provinces and districts still persist resulting in low representation of women and small non-Lao-Tai ethnic groups. Also, there is limitation on the overall capacity of higher education institutions to meet increasing numbers of students. Thus, of the 37,496 upper secondary school leavers in 2004/05, no more than 7,369 students could gain access to higher education. In addition, the expansion of private education has been slow and unable to meet the excess demand. The country's public higher education and training system has significant difficulties in ensuring access across 66

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gender, ethnic and disabled groups. The number and type of institutions that can conduct relevant training and education programmes and supply an adequate number of trained graduates need to increase. Laos has only one higher education institution at the national level, namely NUOL, which is able to offer a comprehensive set of undergraduate and graduate degree programmes. This is clearly insufficient to fully develop the intellectual base of the country's human resources and help the Government to achieve the goals of the New Economic Mechanism. The present degree granting institutions, higher technical college and technical colleges do not meet acceptable regional quality standards. To solve this issue, a multi-dimensional framework of variables needs to be developed that addresses the following: non-instructional resources, instructional resources, instructional media resources, curriculum development, involvement of employers through programme advisory committees, health and safety standard development, and the setting of instructor/administrator qualifications. There is a lack of overall planning, management and monitoring within the post-secondary education and training sector. Although a 1993 government decree gave the MOE and specifically its Department of Higher, Technical and Vocational Education responsibility, further institutional changes will be required to enable them to effectively perform their roles.

Adult Literacy and Non-formal Education There are several sources of information on literacy in Lao PDR, including the Population and Housing Census (Census 1995 and 2005), the Lao Expenditure and Consumption Survey (LECS 2, 1997/98, and LECS 3, 2002/03), the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS II, 2000), and the Lao National Literacy Survey (LNLS, 2001). The information contained in these surveys, except for the LNLS as described below, reflects information as reported or declared by the respondents, based on simple questions such as “Can (name) read and write?” with a response alternative “Yes/No”. The reported literacy rates collected by these different surveys all indicate significant gains in adult literacy in recent years, especially for the female population (Table A.6). Table A.6: Reported adult literacy rates (15 and over) in the surveys undertaken between 1995 and 2005 Source of information Total Male Female Census 1995 60.2% 73.5% 47.9% LECS 2 (1997/98) 82% 55% MICS II 2000 70.0% 81.7% 59.1% LNLS 2001 68.7% 77.0% 60.9% LECS 3 (2002/03) 74% 85% 64% Census 2005 72.7% 82.5% 63.2%

According to the Census 2005, the literacy rate of the population aged 15 and over was highest in Vientiane Capital (92%) and lowest in Phongsaly (43%). The rate was also higher in urban areas (89%) and lowest were in rural areas without road (54%). There were improvements across all age groups compared to 1995, with greater progress by women. The result also shows the impact education has on literacy; in lower ages the literacy rates are high and the ability to read and write declines with age. The literacy rate differed considerably among the ethnic groups. The literacy rate for the non-Lao-Tai groups was 49%, with 33% for females and 65% for males. This is relatively low, compared to the Lao-Tai group, 77% for females and 90% for males. Contrary to these surveys, the LNLS assessed both of reported and tested literacy rates. It tested 5,976 persons from 8,100 households for literacy in respect of reading, writing and numeracy skills. Results from literacy tests show that the adult population (15-59) performs better in reading and writing than in numeracy. The average score obtained in tests assessing reading skills is 23.7 (out of 30) and in writing 19.3, compared to only 10.6 for numeracy. The LNLS revealed that almost half of the test participants who were registered “literate” in fact had not attained basic literacy. The tested basic literacy rate for the population aged 15-59 is 45.2%, with 53.7% for males and 36.9% for females, respectively. The difference between the reported and tested basic literacy rates 67

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ranges around 27%. Like the above-mentioned surveys, the LNLS shows significant disparities in terms of gender, province, residence (rural or urban), ethnicity, and socio-economic status. The survey also indicates that just half of primary graduates (53.3%) attain basic literacy, and in non-formal education programme only 38% of NFE Level III completers (equivalent to primary graduates) attain basic literacy. Non-formal education. The MOE, PESs and DEBs, through the Department of Non-formal Education (DNFE), provide four types of NFE programmes to improve living and working conditions in a participant’s natural and cultural environment, and to develop activities oriented towards self-sufficiency and employment: (i) literacy training for out-of-school adults, usually organized at the village level and given in evenings and weekends; (ii) upgrading programmes for the general adult population, enabling them to gain primary, lower secondary and upper secondary equivalency in full-time compressed programmes, e.g., three years for primary education; (iii) upgrading courses for government cadres organized at both the provincial and district levels, sometimes using special facilities (the Ministry operates one Centre); these courses are primarily for upgrading educational qualifications to the lower and upper secondary level, and participants come from a range of line ministries; and (iv) skills development programmes that are linked to literacy programmes have been offered to the illiterate adults and out-of-school youth oriented towards income-generating activities 125. In 2005/06, 44,357 people were trained in the literacy programme; 96,955 enrolled at primary level; 1,890 at lower secondary; 4,278 at upper secondary; and 3,826 trained in the skills development programme. More females are enrolled than males in the literacy (19,692 males and 24,665 females) and primary (43,428 males and 53,527 females) programmes, while more males are enrolled than females in the lower (1,277 males and 613 females) and upper (3,235 males and 1,043 females) secondary programmes. The NFE programmes are implemented in various places, including the CLC, NFE centres, primary and secondary schools and villages (in temples or in houses of village heads). The CLC is the institution that carries out literacy activities, continuing education, and basic vocational/skills training for improving the quality of life. The CLC co-ordinates with local rural development in each area, and supports/promotes the educational activities of the formal system. With assistance from a resource person, the CLC also acts as the main source of adult education for village communities. Fundamentally, the CLC acts to network NFE structural services with the active participation of all community organs in planning, coordination and implementation of education programmes. NFE personnel have very limited capacity and training. On average, there are two NFE personnel at district level, and most of them have had little chance to receive pre-service and in-service training. Due to the very limited budget allocated to NFE, it is very difficult to make proper and timely supervision, monitoring, and evaluation of NFE programmes. NFE teachers have the same situation and honorarium for them does not respond to reality of their living condition. There is a severe shortage of textbooks, teacher guides and teaching-learning materials. CLCs are not functioning well in general and some CLCs do not organize learning sessions but are used for meeting rooms and village authority offices. 126

Education finance 127 Public spending on education improved substantially during the early 1990s. However, overall public expenditure virtually collapsed with the onset on macroeconomic difficulties and was worsened by the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98. Recovery took place during the first half of the decade, and by 2005/06 public educational expenditure had nearly recovered its level of the early 1990s, both in relation to GDP and as a proportion of total public spending. The education budget as % of GDP and as % of total Government budget became 3.2% and 15.0% respectively in 2006/07 (Table A.7).128 However, this recovery derives from a strong increase in the investment budget, mostly funded by donors, and does not imply any improvement in the share of domestic funding. Table A.7: Lao PDR public expenditure on education 1990-2005 (%) 1990/91 1994/95 1999/00

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07*

Education budget as % of GDP

1.9

3.6

1.4

2.3

3.2

3.2

Education as % of total GOL budget

7.2

13.9

7.2

11.0

14.0

15.0

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Draft (May 2008) * Preliminary Sources: Ministry of Education. 2007. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report (Draft). Vientiane.

The dominant features of recent public expenditure are the high proportion of capital spending and the high percentage of donor-financed spending. The current proportion of recurrent and capital expenditures were 46:53 in 2004/05. At the beginning of the 1990s, capital spending amounted to less than 5% of public expenditure, with foreign funds accounting for a zero share. Throughout the last 10 years, investment spending has been approximately 50% of total public expenditure. By 2004/05, foreign funds accounted for over 90% of educational investment (Table A.8). Table A.8: Recurrent spending too low relative to investment, 2001-05 (million Kip)

2001/02

2002/03

2003/04

2004/05 (planned)

Current prices: Education budget 386,126 451,922 457,481 658,080 Recurrent 184,655 185,804 246,601 304,654 Capital 201,471 266,118 210,880 353,426 Education recurrent as % of education 47.8 41.1 53.9 46.3 Education investment as % of education 52.2 58.9 46.1 53.7 % of capital domestically financed 40.8 23.9 18.1 7.8 % of capital foreign financed 59.2 76.1 81.9 92.2 Education budget as % of GDP 2.3 2.35 2.45 2.49 Education budget as % total budget 10.1 10.8 10.8 11.6 Source: MOE data 2005. (World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane.)

A recent study showed that teachers’ salaries were below subsistence level and they were often paid three and four months late 129. Consequently, many teachers teach for less than their official number of instructional hours because they need time for outside employment to compensate for their very low salaries, or because they simply reduce their effort. Low salaries likely lead to low quality, low motivation, and an inability for the GOL to supply education to poorer and more remote areas. For GOL to commit to improved education outcomes would necessitate more attractive salaries for teachers. Nevertheless, it is important to accompany any salary increase with a broader teacher management policy that covers recruitment and training, as well as mechanisms for accountability for performance 130.

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Appendix 5: Comparison of Major Targets in Education Plans Education Development Plan 2001-2005 (2001)

Educational Strategic Planning 20 Years, 10 Years and 5 Years (2001) GER in pre-school (crèche and kindergarten) from 8% in 2000 to 16% in 2010, 22% by 2015, and 30% by 2020

ECD

GER in pre-school (crèche and kindergarten) from 8% in 2000 to 10% in 2005

Primary

- NER from 77.3% in 2000 to 86% in 2005 - Reduce the repeaters and drop-outs at least 2% and 3% annually

NER from 77.3% in 2000 to 90% in 2010, 95% by 2015, and 98% by 2020

Lower secondary

GER from 45.8% in 2000 to 52% in 2005

Upper secondary

GER from 22.6% in 2000 to 26% in 2005

GER from 45.8% in 2000 to 63% in 2010, 74% by 2015, and 85% by 2020 GER from 22.6% in 2000 to 28% in 2010, 31% by 2015, and 34% by 2020

EFA National Plan of Action 2003-2015 (2005) - 11% enrolment rate for 3-4 year-olds in 2010 and 17% in 2015 - 30% enrolment rate for 5-year-olds in 2010 and 55% in 2015 - Convert 80% of incomplete schools to complete schools by 2010 - Reduce the repetition rate of G1 to 10% in 2010 and 3% in 2015 - Reduce the drop-out rate of G5 to 1% in 2010 - Increase the survival rate to G5 to 78% for boys and 79% for girls in 2010, and 92% for boys and 96% for girls in 2015 - Increase the completion rate to 75% in 2010 and 88% in 2015 Transition rate from G5 to G6 of 83% in 2010 and 85% in 2015

Higher education

- NER from 84.2% in 2005 to 89% in 2010 - Reduce the repeaters and drop-outs at least 2% and 3% annually

GER from 54.4% in 2005 to 68.4% in 2010 GER from 34.2% in 2005 to 40.2% in 2010 - Every province must have at least 1 vocational school by 2010. - Set up 5 additional TEIs

TVET

Teacher education Literacy

Education Development Plan 2006-2010 (2006) GER in pre-school (crèche and kindergarten) from 8.2% in 2005 to 16% in 2010

- Literacy rate (population aged 15-40) from 83% in 2000 to 87% by 2005 - Literacy rate (population aged 15+) from 74% in 2000 to 78% by 2005

Students/population ratio from 350/100,000 in 2000 to 450/100,000 in 2005

- Literacy rate (population aged 15-40) from 83% in 2000 to 90% by 2010, 96% by 2015, and 95% by 2020 - Literacy rate (population aged 15+) from 74% in 2000 83% by 2010, 87% by 2015, and 90% by 2020 Students/population ratio from 350/100,000 in 2000 to 520/100,000 in 2010, 650/100,000 in 2015, and 850/100,000 in 2020

The reported adult literacy rate of over 98% and tested basic literacy rate of 61% in 2015

- Literacy rate (population aged 15-24) from 77.8% in 2005 to 90% in 2010 - Literacy rate (population aged 15-40) from 78.6% in 2005 to 88% in 2010 - Literacy rate (population aged 15+) from 73.6% in 2005 to 80% in 2010 Students/population ratio from 900/100,000 in 2005 to 1,140/100,000 in 2010 Upgrade the educational level of the general population: up to 30,000 people in 2005 and 38,000 people in 2010 at primary level continue to upgrade their educational level up to 1,700 people in 2005 and 2,500 people in 2010 at lower secondary level; up to 3,300 people in 2005

NFE

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Budget

Share of government budget for education from 12% in 2000 to 14% in 2005

Share of government budget for education from 12% in 2000 to 16% in 2010, 18% in 2015, and 20% in 2020

71

Share of government budget for education 15% in 2010 and 18% in 2015

and 5,000 people in 2010 at upper secondary level; provide basic occupational training for the general population up to 3,000 people in 2005 and 5,000 people in 2010. Share of government budget for education from 11.6% in 2005 to 16% in 2010

Draft (May 2008)

Appendix 6: UNESCO’s Past and Ongoing Support to Lao PDR (2004-2005 and 2006-2007) Intervention areas

EFA coordination, planning, monitoring and assessment Support to preparation of the National EFA Plan of Action (country specific activity) Capacity-building for decentralized EFA Plan implementation (country specific activity) Support to participation in the national EFA coordinators’ meeting in the (sub-)region (regional activity) Capacity-building for monitoring and evaluation of education: TA and capacity-building for the production of the national EFA MDA report (regional activity) ECD ECD through CLCs: handbook development and training of facilitators (country specific activity) ECD policy review to assess the status and trends in ECD in Lao PDR, to strengthen MOE capacity to conduct policy review, and to develop an ECD policy. (country specific activity) Primary and secondary education Basic Education Sector Development Program: preparation of a program proposal for basic education development (5 years, US$12 million) (country specific activity) Secondary education policy research (Lao PDR is one of the 5 countries where the country case study to analyse secondary teacher policies and management is conducted.) Improving the quality of life for children and youth in the Asia-Pacific Region” under the Royal Initiative of UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand (regional activity) Higher education

Regular Programme 2004-2005 2006-2007

$70,000 (2002-2005)

$5,000 (for Laos)

Amount

Extrabudgetary Project Project Funding duration source

$30,000 $39,000

2002-2003 2003

Norway France

$130,000

2005-2006

Nordic countries

$5,000 (Total Regional Support budget: $500,000)

August 2006-Decem ber 2007

Japan

$9,000

2006-2007

Japan

$6,000

2006-2007

UNICEF

$550,000

2005-2006

ADB

$33,000 (for Laos)

2006-2007

Japan

$30,000 (OPSP) and $8,000 (Canada) (for Laos)

2006-2007

Office of Princess Sirindhorn Project (OPSP), Canada

$5,000 (for Laos)

$20,000

$2,000

$5,000

$17,000 (for Laos)

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Thailand’s donation of textbooks and reference books (101 boxes) to the two new universities in Luang Prabang and Champasak (country specific activity) Organized four curriculum development workshops on Tourism, Economics and Management, Agriculture, Engineering to the faculty members in the three universities in Lao PDR (country specific activity) Translated the UNESCO-OECD Guidelines to Quality Cross-border Higher Education into Laotian (country specific activity) Involved faculty members from the NUOL and Savan Institute of Management in the production of open educational resources on tourism in Lao PDR (country specific activity) Literacy, NFE and skills development ICT for community empowerment through NFE: To use ICT as a tool for community empowerment for improving their quality of life and poverty alleviation (country specific activity) Promoting systematic resource development and capacity-building in NFE (country specific activity) Life skill learning through NFE (country specific activity) Equivalency programmes for the promotion of lifelong learning to provide alternative learning through NFE for disadvantaged population (country specific activity) Development of CLC-Management Information System (CLC-MIS) and its handbook. (country specific activity) Assisting the design and implementation of EFA skill development plans: skills development to meet the learning needs of the excluded (regional activity) Gender and education Study on Gender and Ethnicity in the Context of Equality and Access in Lao Education (country specific activity) TA to build the capacity of MOE to gender mainstream EFA policies (country specific activity)

$500

$12,000

2004-2005 2006-2007

Group T, Belgium

$20,000 $12,000

2003-2004 2004-2007

Japan

$6,000 $15,000 $15,000 $10,000 $15,000 $20,000

2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2004-2005 2005-2006 2005-2007

Japan

$12,000

2006-2007

Japan

$80,000 (for Laos)

2003-2005

Nordic countries

$300

$2,000

3,700

$30,000

$20,000

$20,000

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Draft (May 2008)

Impact assessment of gender mainstreaming in education (country specific activity) Radio programme to raise public awareness on gender and education (country specific activity) HIV/AIDS prevention, health education Strengthening teacher training on HIV/AIDS in Lao PDR (regional activity)

$30,000

2006-2007

Japan

$10,000 (Total regional support budget: $100,000) $100,000 (for Laos)

2004-2005

UNAIDS, Japan

2005-2006

OPEC

$33,000 (Total regional support budget: $100,000) $13,000 (for Laos)

2005-2006

CDC

2006-2007

UNAIDS

$6,000 (for Laos)

2006-2007

UBW-UNAIDS

$6,000 (for Laos)

2006-2007

UBW-UNAIDS

$5,000 (for Laos)

2006-2007

UBW-UNAIDS

$10,000 (Total regional support budget: $120,000) $4,000 (for Laos)

2004-2007

UBW

2004-2007

ADB

$8,000

Strengthening education sector responses to HIV/AIDS (regional activity) Integrating the sexual health needs of MSM into health sector responses (regional activity) Integrate HIV/AIDS to literacy and basic formal education curriculum through CLCs. (regional activity) Effective adaptation of the HIV preventive education information kit for school teachers to the Lao context (regional activity) Enhancing Lao educator’s capacity to access and to make effective use of quality HIV/AIDS prevention education information (regional activity) Using the HIV/AIDS Teacher Training Manual for Teachers in teacher education institutes in Lao PDR Integrating the Teacher Training Manual into the Lao PDR teacher college system, both for primary and secondary school teachers (regional activity) Enhancing educators’ capacity to access and to make effective use of quality HIV/AIDS prevention education information. (regional activity) HIV/AIDS Vulnerability and Risk Reduction among Non-Lao-Tai Ethnic Groups through Communication Strategies in the Greater (regional activity) Improvement and expansion of online information services on HIV/AIDS and education (regional activity) Provision of programme assistance

$7,000

$1,000 (for Laos)

$1,000 (for Laos)

$2,500

$2,500

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to the HIV/AIDS coordination and school health unit (regional activity) Provision of technical support to Ministries of Education and UNESCO field officers (regional activity) Trafficking and HIV/AIDS Project (regional activity) ICT in Education ICT in Education Policy Project (regional activity) Next Generation of Teachers Project (ICT in Education) (regional activity) Training and professional development of teachers and other facilitators for effective use of ICTs in improving teaching and learning (regional activity) Strengthening ICT in Schools and SchoolNet Project in ASEAN Setting (regional activity) Inclusive education Inclusive education: to integrate the creating Inclusive and Learning-Friendly Environments Toolkits (ILFE) into pre- and in-service training (country specific activity) Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) ESD capacity-building: one training workshop on teaching and learning for ESD, one sub-regional conference on ideas sharing for ESD

(for Laos)

(for Laos)

$2,000 (for Laos)

$2,000 (for Laos)

$15,000

$15,000

75

$140,000 $75,000

2002-2007 2005-2006

ADB CDC

$16,000 (for Laos) $4,300 (for Laos)

2004-2008

Japan

2006-2008

$4,100 (for Laos)

2004-2007

Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and Japan Japan

$100,000 (for Laos)

2003-2007

Japan, ASEAN Foundation

$300,000

2007-2009

BFSS

$1,000

2007

PADETC Novid

Draft (May 2008)

ENDNOTES 1

Additional Appendix 11: Social Assessment and Ethnic Group Development Plan, Lao PDR: Second Education Development Project in World Bank. 2004. Project Appraisal Document on a Proposed Credit in the Amount of SDR 3.9 Million (US$5.3 Million Equivalent), and Proposed IDA Grant of SDR 5.6 Million (US$7.7 Million Equivalent) to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic for a Second Education Development Project. Washington, DC, World Bank, and Appendix 6: Gender and Ethnic Groups Development Plan in Asian Development Bank. 2006. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Asian Development Fund Loan and Grant: Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Basic Education Sector Development Program. Manila, ADB. 2 According to the Lao National Literacy Survey 2001, the tested basic literacy rate for the population aged 15-59 among the Tai-Kadai (Lao-Tai) groups was 56%, compared to 35% for the non-Tai-Kadai groups (calculated from the LNLS database). 3 This sentence is based on the information provided by the MOE on 6 May 2008. According to the United Nations Common Country Assessment: CCA: Lao PDR. (Lao PDR and United Nations Country Team, 2006), Lao PDR comprised 18 provinces and 141 districts. However, in 2007 Xaysomboon Sepcial Region (considered as one out of the 18 provinces) was disbanded and the area was covered by Vientiane Province and Xiengkhuang Province. 4 Lao PDR and United Nations Country Team. 2006. United Nations Common Country Assessment: CCA: Lao PDR. Vientiane. 5 World Bank. 2005. Country Assistance Strategy for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Washington, DC, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. 6 According to the Foreign Aid Report 2004/05(August 2006), ODA accounted for 28% of the total expenditure of the GOL and 42% of the Public Investment Program (PIP) in 2004/05. 7 World Bank. 2005. Country Assistance Strategy for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Washington, DC, World Bank, Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB, and Lao PDR and United Nations Country Team. 2006. United Nations Common Country Assessment: CCA: Lao PDR. Vientiane. 8 Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. 9 World Bank. 2007. Lao PDR Economic Monitor. Vientiane, World Bank Vientiane Office. 10 Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. 11 Asian Development Bank. 2007. Asian Development Outlook 2007. Manila, ADB. 12 World Bank. 2006. Lao PDR Economic Monitor. Vientiane, World Bank Vientiane Office. 13 Lao PDR and United Nations Country Team. 2006. United Nations Common Country Assessment: CCA: Lao PDR. Vientiane. 14 Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. 15 Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. 16 World Bank. 2006. Lao PDR Economic Monitor. Vientiane, World Bank Vientiane Office. 17 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment (Draft). Vientiane. “On road” means areas which have easy access to main roads. 18 Most of the paragraphs in this poverty part are quotation from the poverty assessment in Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. 19 Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. World Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy for the Lao PDR (2005) and ADB’s Asian Development Outlook 2007 (2007) also mentions that Lao PDR looks likely to meet its MDGs in income poverty reduction. The poverty MDG of Lao PDR is to halve the proportion of people living below the national poverty line from 48% in 1990 to 24% in 2015. 20 According to the Lao National Literacy Survey 2001: Final Report (2004), the test results indicated that more than half of the adult population aged 15-59 (54.8%) and nearly two third of females (64.1%) were illiterate. The percentage of the population who has not completed primary education should be carefully interpreted because the population concerned covers those aged 6 and above and the primary school age children (6-10 years) who have not obviously completed primary education are included in the population concerned. 21 Committee for Planning and Investment and UNDP. 2006. National Human Development Report: International Trade and Human Development. Vientiane, UNDP. The three other LDC countries are Cambodia, Myanmar, and Timore Leste. 22 World Bank. 2005. Country Assistance Strategy for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Washington, DC, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB. 23 World Bank. 2006. Lao PDR Economic Monitor. Vientiane, World Bank Vientiane Office. 24 World Bank. 2005. Country Assistance Strategy for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Washington, DC, World Bank. 25 UNDP Lao PDR website: Achieving MDGs and Poverty Reduction: http://www.undplao.org/whatwedo/achmdgnpovred.php 26 UNDP Lao PDR website: Meeting Millennium Development Goals in Lao PDR 27 Asian Development Bank. 2006. Country Strategy and Program: Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2007-2011. Manila, ADB and World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. 28 Education for All National Plan of Action 2003-2015 (EFA Plan) mentions conduct of a feasibility study on the establishment of a Grade 0. It is also widely discussed in the MOE and between MOE and development partners. However, key policy documents issued after the EFA Plan do not mention introduction of Grade 0. 29 There is one more program (a four-year program at the end of primary school: 5+4) to become a primary teacher in remote ethnic areas. A major change of the pre-service teacher training system will take place in 2008/09. More details can be found in Annex 1 in

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Ministry of Education. 2006. Teacher Education Strategy 2006-2015 and Action Plan 2006-2010. Vientiane. 30 To teach at the upper secondary level, secondary graduates can also enrol in the Faculties of Education in Champasack University or Souphanouvong University 31 There are 11 faculties in the NUOL: education, letters, social sciences, economics and management, sciences, engineering and architecture, medical sciences, agriculture, forestry, and law and public administration. Champasack University offers economics and management, education, English language, and agriculture, while Souphanouvong University offers education, English language, and economics and management. 32 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 33 UNESCO Bangkok. 2008. Secondary Education Regional Information Base: Country Profile Lao PDR. Bangkok, UNESCO. 34 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 35 World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. 36 King E. and van de Walle D. 2005. Schooling and Poverty in Lao PDR. Washington, DC, World Bank. 37 King E. and van de Walle D. 2005. Schooling and Poverty in Lao PDR. Washington, DC, World Bank. 38 World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. 39 The average school years of primary education and the completion rates for lower and upper secondary education come from the Education Sector Review in the ADB PPTA Final Report (2006), while the completion rate for primary education comes from the EFA MDA Report (Final Draft) (2007). 40 World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. 41 Ministry of Education. 2004. Lao National Literacy Survey 2001: Final Report. Bangkok, UNESCO. 42 Sisouk and T. Neville Postlethwaite. 2007. Laos Grade 5 National Assessment Survey. Vientiane, Ministry of Education. The Lao National Literacy Survey 2001: Final Report (2004) also shows that the adult population (15-59) performs better in reading and writing than in numeracy. The average score obtained in tests assessing reading skills is 23.7 (out of 30) and in writing 19.3, compared to only 10.6 for numeracy. 43 Ministry of Education. 2006. Teacher Education Strategy 2006-2015 and Action Plan 2006-2010. Vientiane. 44 Issues related to gender and ethnicity are described in the Gender and Ethnicity in the Context of Equality and Access in Lao Education (UNESCO-Bangkok, 2004, Draft). 45 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. 46 World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. 47 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane 48 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report (Draft). Vientiane. 49 Ministry of Education and World Bank. 2007. Stocktaking and Diagnostics of Education Management Information System in Lao PDR. Vientiane. 50 The term/acronym “ECD” is used respecting the Lao context. However, for UNESCO the term/acronym “ECCE” is normally used following the EFA goal. 51 The Five Year Education Development Plan (2006-2010) has the 2010 target of 16% GER in kindergarten which is likely to be achieved. 52 UNICEF-Lao PDR. 2003. The Situation of Girls’ Education in the Lao P.D.R.. Vientiane. UNICEF and Lao PDR and United Nations Country Team. 2006. United Nations Common Country Assessment: CCA: Lao PDR. Vientiane. 53 The number of teachers who received training under the Teacher Upgrading Programme (TUP) was obtained from the Department of Teacher Training in the Ministry of Education on 17 April 2008. 54 Asian Development Bank. 2006. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Asian Development Fund Loan and Grant: Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Basic Education Sector Development Program, Manila, ADB. 55 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane 56 King E. and van de Walle D. 2005. Schooling and Poverty in Lao PDR. Washington, DC, World Bank, and Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. There are several other reasons mentioned in these two documents for never attending schools or impeding enrolments. They include: costs of education, labour demands placed on children, children too young, no interest, and language. 57 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 58 Ministry of Education. 2007. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment and Fast Track Initiative Report (Draft). Vientiane. and Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. 59 UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 60 UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 61 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 62 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 63 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 64 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 65 All figures about the TEI teachers, students and national student:TEI teacher ratio in this paragraph are only about the eight TEIs which implement various sub-degree programs for pre-school, primary and lower secondary teacher education. 66 Ministry of Education. 2006. Teacher Education Strategy 2006-2015 and Action Plan 2006-2010. Vientiane. 67 Out of 11 TEIs, Bankeun TEI, Khangkhai TEI, Luang Prabang TEI, Pakse TEI and Monk TEI are categorized as higher education. The Faculty of Medical Science at the NUOL became the fourth university under the authority of the Ministry of Public Health in 2007.

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The number of private higher institutions had rapidly increased from 31 in 2004/05 to 80 in 2006/07. 68 Khamphone Xay Som Phou “Lao PDR” in UNESCO Bangkok and SEAMEO. 2006. Higher Education in South-East Asia. Bangkok, UNESCO. 69 This paragraph is based on the information provided by the MOE on 7 April 2008. 70 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 71 Ministry of Education. 2007. Non-formal Education Strategies 2006-2020 (First Draft). Vientiane. 72 The description of the vision is slightly different in the executive summary and in the main text in the Education Strategic Vision up to The Year 2020, probably due to translation from Lao into English. The vision in the above text is based on the Education Strategic Vision up to The Year 2020 and the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES). 73 Ministry of Education. 2005. Education for All National Plan of Action 2003-2015. Bangkok. 74 The Millennium Development Goals Progress Report Lao PDR includes two more indicators to measure the progress for the Goal 3 without the 2015 targets. They are the share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector and the proportion of seats held by women in the national parliament. 75 Ministry of Education. 2005. Education for All National Plan of Action 2003-2015. Bangkok. 76 The restructure of the general education system is one of the main components in the ADB-funded BESDP which will start in early 2008. 77 UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 78 According to the Foreign Aid Report 2004-2005 (August 2006), assistance from China and New Zealand was about training of the Government staff in China and English language training for the Government staff respectively. 79 World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. 80 Figures of the percentage in the education sub-sectors are based on estimates from the MOE data. It should be noted that a substantial amount of external support is also directed to administration which is difficult to say which sub-sectors have received part of this amount. 81 There was no detailed information available regarding activities by China, Poland, and Thailand when the UNESS document was prepared. 82 Singapore Embassy website: http://www.mfa.gov.sg/vientiane/ 83 The Embassy of the United States in Lao PDR website: http://vientiane.usembassy.gov/us_visit_2007.html 84 This paragraph was prepared based on the information collected from the Embassy of the United States in Lao PDR. 85 Viet Nam Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: http://www.mofa.gov.vn/en/nr040807104143/nr040807105039/ns070710083244 86 The UNESCO Participation Programme provides direct assistance to initiatives undertaken by Member States in the Organization’s fields of competence, in line with the priorities that they themselves determine. Assistance under the Participation Programme is provided to Member States upon requests submitted in principle through National Commissions. 87 The Global Action Plan to Achieve the Education for All Goals (GAP), prepared by UNESCO at the request of its Governing Bodies, delineating the roles of the five main multilateral agencies (UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank) and the division of labour in supporting countries for EFA achievement by 2015. 88 Asian Development Bank. 2000. Lao People’s Democratic Republic Education Sector Development Report. Manila, ADB. 89 This section is based on Ministry of Education. 2007. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment and Fast Track Initiative Report (Draft). Vientiane. 90 MOE up to 2005 only collected data on the children aged 3 to 5 enrolled in ECD programs (kindergartens). Therefore the data reported upon excludes data of children enrolled in crèches and pre-primary classes. 91 As children younger than three years are usually not allowed to attend kindergarten, and children older than five are usually enrolled in primary education, the GER in ECD is a close approximation as NER in ECD. 92 UNICEF-Lao PDR. 2003. The Situation of Girls’ Education in the Lao P.D.R.. Vientiane, UNICEF. and Lao PDR and United Nations Country Team. 2006. United Nations Common Country Assessment: CCA: Lao PDR. Vientiane. 93 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 94 This section is mainly based on Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane (Final Draft) and Supplementary Appendix A: Education Sector Review in the Asian Development Bank. 2006. PPTA Final Report for TA4499-LAO: Basic Education Development Program prepared by UNESCO. Bangkok, ADB. 95 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 96 ADB PPTA Final Report Supplementary Appendix A. 97 According to the ADB PPTA Final Report, GER declined from 121.9% for boys and 100.3% for girls in 1994/95 to 111.4% for boys and 97.2% for girls in 2004/05. NER increased from 72.0% for boys and 65.0% for girls in 1994/95 to 80.8% for boys and 76.9% for girls in 2004/05. 98 Asian Development Bank. 2006. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Asian Development Fund Loan and Grant: Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Basic Education Sector Development Program. Manila, ADB. 99 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. 100 Some have progressed from Grade 1 through Grade 5 without repetition, and others having repeated one or more grades. 101 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 102 Completion rate come from the Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report (Final Draft), while an average year of primary schooling comes from the PPTA Final Report for TA4499-LAO: Basic Education Development Program prepared by UNESCO (ADB, 2006). 103 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane 104 King E. and van de Walle D. 2005. Schooling and Poverty in Lao PDR. Washington, DC, World Bank, and Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. There are several other reasons mentioned in these

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two documents for never attending schools or impeding enrolments. They include: costs of education, labour demands placed on children, children too young, no interest, and language. 105 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane 106 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. 107 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. and World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. 108 UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 109 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. 110 In 2006 the MOE and a consortium of development partners agreed to finance printing of a new round of the existing textbooks (one set of textbooks for one primary student) and teacher guides, and they are being distributed nationwide. In addition, revision of the existing primary school textbooks and subsequent production and distribution are now under way, under the WB-funded EDP-II, and MOE has agreed on regular re-printing and distribution of primary school textbooks. 111 These are the first definition used by the Government to classify the population by topography. Lao Loum means “lowland Lao”, Lao Theung “midland Lao or upland Lao”, and Lao Soung “highland Lao”. The Central Party Resolution on Ethnic Minorities (1992) recommends that these categories not be used (Ministry of Education. 2000. Education for All 2000 Assessment Country Report Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Bangkok, UNESCO.). However, the MOE continues to use these classifications in its Annual Bulletin. The Population Census categorizes the population into 49 ethnic groups, and they are grouped into four major ethno-linguistic groups. 112 This section is mainly based on Supplementary Appendix A: Education Sector Review in the Asian Development Bank. 2006. PPTA Final Report for TA4499-LAO: Basic Education Development Program prepared by UNESCO. Bangkok, ADB, Appendix 2: Education Sector Analysis in the Asian Development Bank. 2006. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Asian Development Fund Loan and Grant: Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Basic Education Sector Development Program. Manila, ADB, and UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft). 113 Supplementary Appendix A: Education Sector Review in the Asian Development Bank. 2006. PPTA Final Report for TA4499-LAO: Basic Education Development Program prepared by UNESCO. Bangkok, ADB. 114 UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 115 UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 116 Ministry of Education. 2004. Lao National Literacy Survey 2001: Final Report. Bangkok. 117 UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 118 UNESCO Bangkok. 2007. Secondary Teachers in Lao PDR: Problems and Prospects. Bangkok, UNESCO. (Draft) 119 This section is based on Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft). 120 This section is mainly based on TTEST. 2006. Teacher Education Institution Capacity: Operational Study 4. Vientiane, Department of Teacher Training, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Education. 2005. Skills Development for Disadvantaged Groups: Review, Issues and Prospects: Final Report. Bangkok, UNESCO. 121 More details can be found in the Operational Study 4 and TTEST. 2004. Teacher training and recruitment into the teaching profession: Operational Study 3. Vientiane, Department of Teacher Training, Ministry of Education. 122 The Operational Study 4 analysed eight Teacher Education Institutes (five Teacher Training Colleges and three Teacher Training Schools). National Physical Education TTS, National Arts TTS, and Monk TTC were excluded from the study. Also, the Faculties of Education in three universities are Teacher Education Institutions, but were excluded from consideration in Operational Study 4 as their operational structures and governance are significantly different from those of the eight TEIs. 123 This section is based on Khamphone Xay Som Phou “Lao PDR” in UNESCO Bangkok and SEAMEO. 2006. Higher Education in South-East Asia. Bangkok, UNESCO. 124 Out of 11 TEIs, Bankeun TEI, Khangkhai TEI, Luang Prabang TEI, Pakse TEI and Monk TEI are categorized as higher education. The Faculty of Medical Science at the NUOL became the fourth university under the authority of the Ministry of Public Health in 2007. 125 Ministry of Education. 2005. Skills Development for Disadvantaged Groups: Review, Issues and Prospects: Final Report. Bangkok, UNESCO. 126 Ministry of Education. 2007. Non-formal Education Strategies 2006-2020 (First Draft). Vientiane. 127 This section is based on the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane. 128 Ministry of Education. 2008. Education for All Mid-Decade Assessment Report. Vientiane. (Final Draft) 129 Ministry of Education, AusAID, UNICEF and WFP. 2006. Access to Basic Education in Laos. Vientiane. 130 World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Commission. 2007. Lao PDR Public Expenditure Review: Integrated Fiduciary Assessment. Vientiane.

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