Ministry of Education and Sports and Australia continue collaboration to identify inclusive teaching practices

From 10 February – 7 March 2025, a research team of 32 enumerators from several Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) departments and three Teacher Training Colleges (Luang Namtha, Khang Khai and Savannakhet) will travel to primary schools across 30 target districts to collect the second year of data for the 3-year Inclusive Teaching and Learning study.

The study was launched in 2024 and is led by the Department of Teacher Education (DTE) with support from the Australian Government through the Basic Education Quality and Access in Lao PDR (BEQUAL) program. The objective is to identify quality teaching practices that lead to increased student engagement and improved learning outcomes. The study will explore student belonging, engagement, and their impact on student learning outcomes.

Ms Vongdeuane Osay, Director General of DTE, said “the Department of Teacher Education guided the design of the Inclusive Study and provided guidance to districts and Teacher Training Colleges on how to select schools for the study, how to support the teams collecting data during field visits, and how to facilitate reflection and discussion about initial insights from the data.”

The study covers 30 target districts across seven provinces – Phongsaly, Luang Namtha, Bokeo, Houaphanh, Xiangkhouang, Khammouane, and Savannakhet. In each district, four schools were selected based on diversity factors. These included the presence of students who do not speak Lao at home, students with disabilities, and students with low attendance. Additional criteria considered were the gender of principals and teachers, as well as geographic location, multigrade settings, and whether the school is implementing remedial Spoken Lao language lessons.

The study includes the collection of qualitative and quantitative data over a three-year period. In February and March each year, qualitative case study research will be carried out through interviews with students, parents and their teachers in 21 target schools. In April each year, Lao language tests will be carried out in 120 schools from grade one through to grade two and grade three. Each semester, monitoring data such as classroom observations will be gathered from teachers and the people supporting them.