Activity Overview

In Southeast Asia, many countries have made important quantitative and qualitative progress in the field of teacher education and many countries have developed national teacher policies as well as standards or competency frameworks. However, in Lao PDR, there is an absence of a comprehensive teacher policy that covers all dimensions of the teaching profession, including teacher education and continuous professional development, namely pre-service and in-service teacher education and training, recruitment, placement, deployment, personnel management, incentives, and working conditions of teachers, etc. The country has developed various teacher-related policy measures to address different issues related to the teaching profession, but they are currently not harmonized and articulated in one document.

The Lao Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) is committed to ensuring that “teachers and educators are empowered, adequately recruited, well-trained, professionally qualified, motivated, and supported within well-resourced, efficient and effectively governed systems” (SDG target 4.c). The country has embarked on the development of the first-ever comprehensive national teacher policy as an integrated component of the Education and Sports Sector Development Plan (ESSDP) 2021-2025, with the support of UNESCO Bangkok and other development partners working in the areas of education and teacher education in particular. The MoES has established a Responsible Committee on the Development and Improvement of Teacher Policy in Lao PDR (Ref. Ministerial Agreement no. 2262/MoES.2020, dated 24 June 2020), comprising (i) the Advisory Committee, (ii) the Technical Committee, and (iii) the Secretariat and Coordination Committee, led by the Department of Teacher Education (DTE).

UNESCO Bangkok, under its “Capacity Development for Education 2030 (CapED) in Lao PDR: Capacity Development Support for Teacher Education in Lao PDR Programme”, is supporting the ongoing development of a comprehensive national teacher policy. The policy development process is being guided by the Teacher Policy Development Guide, published by UNESCO and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. The Teacher Policy Development Guide: Summary has been translated into the Lao language, with support of UNESCO Bangkok.