Innovative Finance
August 1, 2024
Context and Problem
The educational landscape in Lao PDR is underperforming, with low student performance and the majority of fourth-grade students achieving deficient grades in standardized tests. The education system severely lacks teaching quality, resource allocation, and infrastructure. Moreover, students struggle to transition into secondary levels due to inadequate foundational skills and are also dropping out due to irrelevance and low educational quality.
Solution
The paper presents several solutions to combat the problems of the education system. First, enhancing the teacher quality. This will be done by strengthening the capacities of existing teachers through targeted in-service training focused on content mastery, effective teaching techniques, and institutional accountability. This will be done by revising the accountability frameworks to ensure that educational goals will be met, which involves district and community-level oversight into school performance and learner outcomes. Third, infrastructure improvement. This is to address physical and resource issues in schools, improve WASH facilities, and ensure safe learning environments.
Impact
Though the policies have not been implemented, the solution aims to increase student performance metrics across subjects, increase the transition rates to secondary education, and reduce dropout rates.