Our Response In response to the increasing demands and challenges affecting Lao PDR’s education system, World Vision is working with local government and communities to ensure all children have the opportunity to attend school. To reduce the financial burden for parents, World Vision partners with local communities and government to provide textbooks, uniforms, book bags, and other essential school supplies to needy students. In many communities, World Vision works with poor households to support livelihoods and new income-generating activities to ensure their children are healthy and able to attend school regularly. Non-formal education support is also offered to improve access to information and enhance parents’ contribution to their children’s learning. To improve quality of education, World Vision supports teacher training such as lesson planning and teaching techniques. For poor villages lacking adequate educational facilities, World Vision works with the community to build new schools and provide classroom furniture so students can learn in a clean and productive environment year-round. What are the challenges? Over the last decade, Lao PDR has made steady progress in increasing net enrollment of primary school aged children, but still many are without equal access to education, especially girls and ethnic groups in remote areas. While enrollment rates are as high as 95% in the Vientiane Capital, rates dip to as low as 56% in the more rural, remote areas.
Today, there is a shortage of primary schools in Lao PDR. For primary schools that do exist, only 35% are able offer the full cycle of grades 1-5. The remainder of schools only offers grades 1-2 or 1-3, preventing many children from completing basic education.
Children who are able to attend school are also faced with poor quality of education. One quarter of primary school teachers lack formal training and 8% of teachers have not even completed primary schools. Teachers receive low salaries and are not properly equipped with the learning resources and teaching materials. Teachers also lack developed curriculum to meet the needs of the children.
Textbooks and reading materials are often in short supply and are available only in the Lao language, which makes school learning difficult for non-Lao speaking people. Where the teachers are Lao speakers, the students who are non-Lao speakers have greater learning difficulties than Lao speaking children. At home, many parents are not able to assist their children in learning after classes because they are illiterate themselves.
With poor facilities and the lack of quality in the classroom, parents have less reason to value the importance of education for their children, not to mention their inability to bear the financial costs. Although parents do not have to pay fees for school, they do need to absorb the costs for uniforms, books, and supplies which are often beyond their means. As a result, instead of sending their children to school, many poor families require their young to participate in supporting their livelihood.
Poverty also contributes to wide-spread malnutrition and inadequate psychosocial development making it difficult for children to learn in the classroom. Many children are prevented from attending school altogether because of hunger and their inability to cope with classroom dynamics.
Education makes many important gains possible, gains that can immeasurably improve the quality of life. It also creates hope and opportunity for the individual and the entire society. | 
