Laos – Nurturing “Teachers,” the Key to Education – Completion of Teacher Training Schools in Eight Prefectures across the Country

On March 3, 2025, a completion ceremony for the Lao Grant Aid “Teacher Training School Improvement Project” was held at a teacher training school in Bangkung, Vientiane Province.

This cooperation aims to improve the environment for training new and in-service teachers in pre-school, elementary, and secondary education, and to contribute to the improvement of the quality of basic education at eight Teacher Training Collages (TTC) nationwide by building or reconstructing TTC and affiliated schools, and by upgrading educational equipment. This project contributes to the improvement of the quality of basic education.

Completion Ceremony

Completion ceremony and tree planting

Project Background: Quality Education Issues

Laos is a country located in continental Southeast Asia. The country has achieved a high primary enrollment rate of 98.8% (World Bank, 2020), but the quality of education remains a major challenge. 2019 academic achievement tests in reading, writing, and arithmetic for students in their fifth year of primary education also showed the lowest scores among the target countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam). (UNICEF and the Organization of Ministers of Education for Southeast Asia, 2020).

For Laos, which aims to develop human resources and improve the quality of its labor force for socioeconomic growth, improving the quality of primary education, which is a prerequisite for this goal, is a priority issue. In particular, the presence of teachers who are in charge of school sites is directly related to the improvement of the quality of education, and the Lao government has made it a priority policy to work on building a system for this purpose.

Bangkung Teacher’s Training College Auxiliary School Classes

In Laos, approximately 80% of new teachers (pre-school, primary, and secondary education) are trained at teacher training schools and affiliated schools in eight schools nationwide (Vientiane, Luang Nam Tha, Luang Prabang, Shen Khouang, Vientiane, Savannakhet, Salavan, and Champasak provinces). In addition, the teacher training schools function as the core of teacher training in Laos through integrated efforts with training for in-service teachers.

However, the facilities of the teacher training schools and affiliated schools were aging and lacked practical training facilities, libraries, and other equipment.

In this cooperation, we built or reconstructed 8 teacher training schools and their affiliated schools (pre-school, primary, and secondary education) nationwide, and provided them with educational equipment.

Completed Bangkung Teacher Training School

March 3 Completion Ceremony: Tree Planting for Friendship between Japan and Laos

The completion ceremony was held on March 3, 2025, and was attended by Mr. Put Thimmalavong, Minister of Education and Sports, Mr. Tsutomu Koizumi, Japanese Ambassador to Laos, Ms. Miyako Kobayashi, Director of the JICA Laos Office, and other officials from the Ministry of Education and Sports.

After the ceremony, the participants planted trees as a symbol of friendship between the two countries and observed how the participants are teaching in kindergarten, elementary, and junior high schools, including a first grade math class at an elementary school supported by JICA Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) member Kana Yamamoto.

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