Laos Vows to Enhance Education Quality as New Academic Year Begins

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has called on education authorities, teachers, parents, students, and society as a whole to strengthen efforts to improve education quality and address remaining challenges as the 2026–2027 academic year begins. In his message marking the new academic year, the Prime Minister reaffirmed that the Party and Government regard education and human resource development as national priorities, emphasizing the principle that education must move ahead of other areas of development and place people at the centre. He commended education administrators, teachers, students, local authorities, and development partners for their contributions during the 2025–2026 academic year, particularly in improving school infrastructure, expanding school meals in remote areas, promoting non-formal education, increasing student allowances, and reducing school dropout rates. For the new academic year, he called for stronger measures to address teacher shortages, reduce dropout rates, improve vocational and higher education enrollment, and enhance teaching quality through modern techniques and technology. The Prime Minister urged teachers to uphold professional ethics and continuously improve teaching methods, while encouraging parents to ensure their children remain in school through at least compulsory lower-secondary education. He also called on students to study diligently and develop good character, and urged communities, organizations, and businesses to support schools and help create a favourable learning environment. He expressed his hope that the 2026–2027 academic year would bring greater achievements and contribute to the continued development of Lao education and human resources. Vientiane Capital officially opened the 2026–2027 academic year on August 31, with schools across the capital scheduled to begin classes on September 1. The Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR (MoES), with support from the Australian Government through the Basic Education Quality and Access in Lao PDR (BEQUAL) program, has released 50 new animated audio stories to support the teaching and learning of Spoken Lao in Grade 1 classrooms nationwide. With around 40% of Grade 1 children not yet confident speaking Lao when they start school, the Spoken Lao approach helps them acquire the speaking and listening skills they need for learning. The Lao-German Technical College (LGTC) has announced a full waiver of tuition and other fees for female students enrolling in all majors for the 2026–2027 academic year, in an effort to expand women’s access to vocational education, particularly in technical and industrial fields. The Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), with the support of the Australian Government through the BEQUAL program, will hold an inception workshop to launch the Research and Learning on Disability Inclusion pilot for Teacher Support Pack 14 (TSP 14) and Teacher Development Video 29 (TDV 29). The Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), with support from the Australian Government through the BEQUAL program, released Teacher Development Video 29 (TDV 29), which complements Teacher Support Pack 14 (TSP 14), “Supporting Students with Disabilities in the Classroom”. The video gives teachers practical guidance on how to recognize signs that a student may have difficulties with vision, hearing, mobility, attention, communication, or memory, and how to utilize the Child Functioning Module – Teacher Version correctly. Information Source: KPL Laos News