Development of a comprehensive national teacher policy

The CapED programme is supporting the ongoing development process of a comprehensive national teacher policy to provide policy directions for the overall improvement in the planning, management, training, monitoring and supervision, as well as the quality of, and status and working conditions for the teaching workforce in Lao PDR. A mapping and situation analysis of the existing laws, decrees and strategies related to teachers was carried out in 2020, followed by a national consultation to discuss the findings of the study. The Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) is supportive to this initiative and integrated the development of a teacher policy in the Education and Sports Sector Development Plan (ESSDP) 2021-2025.

Teacher Code of Ethics

UNESCO Bangkok, in close collaboration with IIEP-UNESCO, supported the development of the national code of ethics for teachers, through a participatory approach involving relevant stakeholders from educational institutions at all levels, district and provincial education offices, and the Ministry of Education. The Code was endorsed in May 2015. Approximately, 70,000 pamphlets of the Code were distributed to educational institutions nationwide.

Teacher Code of Ethics (Lao) (Eng)

Teacher Code of Ethics Pamphlet (Lao)

Improving the database system for in-service teacher training

Tools for collecting teacher-related data have been developed and piloted, and will be integrated in the data collection tools for the Lao Education and Sports Management Information System (LESMIS), a new harmonized management information system that integrates the education and sports data at the central, province, district and school/institution levels. The Department of Teacher Education (DTE) has requested UNESCO to further support the improvement of the Teacher Education Management Information System (TEMIS), a database system for pre-service teacher education, for better projection of teachers, in 2020.

Enhancing the quality of early childhood teacher education programme

The CapED programme supported the development of the first-ever 4-year curriculum for early childhood teacher education at the bachelor's level, through a participatory approach involving relevant teacher educators from eight teacher training colleges (TTCs) and MoES officials in 2012-2013. The Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood Education (B.Ed. in ECE) programme has been offered in teacher training colleges (TTCs). In 2018, the curriculum was revised, based on the results of the curriculum evaluation conducted in 2017.

Promoting more girls’ participation and achievements in STEM education

The CapED programme has responded to the relatively low participation and achievements of girls in STEM-related subjects in Lao PDR through capacity development of teachers in applying gender-responsive pedagogy in STEM education. A cohort of 22 national trainers and 36 provincial trainers has been created and trained in 2019. Subsequently, they trained 1,180 lower secondary school teachers of STEM-related subjects in all 18 provinces, using a cascade model. In 2021, the activity is being scaled up to teacher education level, with an aim to enable teacher educators to prepare prospective teachers to ensure that their teaching and learning processes pay attention to the specific learning needs of girls and boys.

Developing the capacity of Provincial Teacher Development Centres

The Provincial Teacher Development Centre (PTDC) in each province is responsible for providing in-service teacher training in their respective provinces, with overall direction by the Department of Teacher Education (DTE). Approximately 120 PTDC officials from all 18 provinces have been trained on strategic planning and project management skills as well as training facilitation skills to enable them to effectively conduct in-service training for teachers in their respective provinces. Some of the trained PTDC officials served as the provincial-level trainers for the in-service teacher training on gender-responsive pedagogy in STEM education in 2019.