Want some good news?  A comprehensive national education assessment in 2008 highlighted that since 2000 Laos has made steady progress to increase the number of children attending school. Enrolment in pre-schools had increased by 35% and overall, the net enrolment rate in primary schools had increased from 80% to an estimated 86%. We’re proud to have been a part of that change but we’re not sleeping easy just yet.  National retention rates remain a significant concern as only about 60% of children that start Grade 1, actually complete all 5 grades of Primary School. National figures also mask significant differences between urban and remote, rural areas.

Higher drop-out rates can be attributed to several factors, a key factor being that children from ethnic groups do not speak the language of instruction, Lao, as their mother tongue so cannot understand the teacher or curriculum.  In addition to the issue of language, drop-out rates are also exacerbated by the low quality of teaching and the difficulty ethnic children face in transitioning into a formalised education system.

Nationally, 14% of children do not attend primary school and therefore receive no formal education at all. In the poor and ethnic districts that Save the Children targets, up to 36% of children do not attend primary school at all. More girls than boys are among these children who cannot exercise their right to education. While the root causes are poverty-related, other factors also contribute to non-enrolment, including the low quality of teaching, and learning and cultural beliefs which place a low value on girls learning in school.

The 2005 census data¹  showed that of the 10,522 village in Laos, 2,092 (20%) had no primary school at all while only 3,757 (36%) had ‘complete’ schools (many primary schools are ‘incomplete schools‘ meaning they offer less than 2-3 grades, which significantly limits access to full primary education, especially in rural and remote areas). The majority of the complete primary schools are in urban or peri-urban areas, meaning more than 73% of rural schools are not complete, and 40% of rural communities do not have a school.

Within the schools the Government has a responsibility to create child-friendly place to promote an environment where students are protected from all forms of violence (both verbal and physical). Despite this corporal punishment is regularly used at schools and there is no systematic training given to teachers on alternative forms of discipline.

Considerable work still remains to reach children in the poorest and most marginalized communities. Bridging the barriers of remoteness, ethnicity, language and poverty require special efforts to extend and then strengthen the public school system. Our program, has an evidence-base to prove that providing a “bridging“ pre-school year, with a specially trained teacher who speaks their own language, helps ethnic families to enroll their children in school, and once enrolled, complete primary school.

Goal: To strengthen education systems in Laos to fulfill the right of children to quality pre-and-primary education, especially children marginalised by gender, ethnicity, disability, poverty, and remoteness.

Specifically:

Objective 1 (Access):  Access to and completion of preschool and at least 5 years of schooling is improved, particularly in poorer and more remote schools
Objective 2 (Quality): Quality of primary education improved year by year through whole school/whole cluster development
Objective 3 (Management): PES/DEB/ School principals and committees have accurate information and provide relevant and adequate pedagogic and administrative support to schools and clusters
Objective 4 (Children’s Participation and Protection): Children’s capacity to contribute to quality education and protective environments enhanced

The approach adopted by Save the Children is in line with existing government strategies as outline in the EFA National Plan of Action which highlights four key areas which need special attention. These include:

• Access and participation in Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)

• Access and participation in formal primary education 

• Improving the quality and relevance of formal primary education 

• Education management and administration

Ensuring girls have equal access to quality basic education is universally agreed to be one of the most effective tools for development and is both an EFA and MDG goal.  It has a positive impact on poverty, population growth, child mortality, productivity and gender disparity.  This implies not simply enrolment but also continuing attendance and active participation in the classroom. The Save the Children program, through the professional development programs for teachers, principals, supervisors and others, promotes teaching methods that foster greater participation of girls in the classroom in various ways.

How will we achieve this?

The approach will focus on supporting and strengthening education systems to fulfill the right of children to a quality primary education in particular building capacity at the following levels:

• District Education Bureau (DEB): Key duty bearers are the focus of program implementation – the Formal Education Unit, where school supervisors are located, the Teacher Development Unit, responsible for organising in-service training for teachers, and the Statistics and Planning Unit, which has responsibility for Education Management Information Service. Strategic inputs to these areas are scheduled in the program.

• School Heads: generally lack training in management, having being promoted into the position after teaching for several years. Significant planning, training and management inputs are provided to school heads.  

• Teachers:  The core of our program is to train local teachers who speak the ethnic language in appropriate early childhood, inclusive methodologies, and successfully advocate their positions are included in the ministry quota. 

• School Committees: The reality is that in most schools, these committees do not function effectively. We work to strengthen them as main link between school and community to ensure that all children gain access to school, as well as contributing to the quality of education.

• Parents:  Parents are key to ensuring that their children attend school and that the school is held accountable in terms of the provision of quality education.

• Children: Empowering children and ensuring their participation in school management is a key strategy in the SQIP program. Children will be encouraged to be involved in the planning and management of their schools as well as developing an environment that encourages learning and reinforces positive discipline.

Geographic area:
1.    Sayaboury Province: Sayaboury, Hongsa, and Xieng Hone districts
2.    Luang Prabang Province: Pakseng, Phonexay, and Viengkham districts
3.    Bolikhamxay Province: Khamkerd, Viengthong, and Bolikhan districts

We will work with the following key partners:

• Ministry of Education

• Provincial Education Services

• District Education Bureaus

• Village Education Development Committees

• Community; specifically parents and children

1.    National Population and Household Census 2005, Department of Statistics, Vientiane.