2017年-世界发展银行全球_Lao_PDR_School_Autonomy_and_Accountability___SABER_Country_Report_2016_30页_1022kb

Lao PDR School Autonomy and Accountability Summary

Core Content

This report provides an analysis of the School Autonomy and Accountability (SAA) policy framework in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) using the SABER (Systems Approach for Better Education Results) tool. It outlines the current status of five key policy goals related to school autonomy and accountability and classifies them as either Established, Emerging, or Latent based on their development and implementation.

Main Policy Goals and Key Findings

1. Autonomy in Planning and Management of the School Budget

• Status: Established
• Key Points:
  • School-level operational budgets are prepared and executed.
  • Budgets are reviewed at the district (DESB) and provincial (PESS) levels and approved by the central Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES).
  • Parents are involved through their representatives on the Village Education Development Committee (VEDC).
  • The MoES manages teacher salaries, while PESS and DESB pay teachers based on a centrally determined pay scale.
  • Schools can raise additional funds from any source.

2. Autonomy in Personnel Management

• Status: Emerging
• Key Points:
  • The MoES appoints new teachers to the education system.
  • Provincial and district levels deploy teachers to schools.
  • Principals are appointed and deployed at the provincial level.
  • The PESS and DESB are involved in the evaluation of principals, but only the MoES has the authority to dismiss them.
  • There is limited autonomy in personnel management, with decisions largely centralized.

3. Participation of the School Council in School Governance

• Status: Emerging
• Key Points:
  • The VEDC plays a role in school governance, including budget planning, financial oversight, and oversight of learning inputs (e.g., pupil attendance, local curricula).
  • The VEDC does not participate in personnel management.
  • There are no formal policies for elections or term limits for VEDC members.
  • No mandated general assemblies with the wider community are in place.

4. Assessment of School and Student Performance

• Status: Emerging
• Key Points:
  • Annual school assessments are conducted, and results are used to inform school development plans.
  • No national standardized student assessments are currently in place.
  • The MoES is planning to introduce such assessments.
  • Occasional donor-supported assessments have been implemented.
  • Student performance in reading and math is generally low, as shown by EGRA and ASLO assessments.

5. Accountability to Stakeholders

• Status: Emerging
• Key Points:
  • Financial compliance, transparency, and reporting requirements exist at all levels.
  • The central level includes fines for noncompliance.
  • Guidelines for school operations are available, but no guidelines exist for standardized assessment, comparative analysis, or the use and dissemination of student performance results.
  • Accountability mechanisms are in place, but they are not fully developed or standardized.

Country Overview

• Established in 1975, Lao PDR is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, with a population of over 6.7 million and significant ethnic diversity.
• The education system has evolved through a hybrid model, combining elements from the colonial, semi-royalist, and revolutionary eras.
• The education system is structured into four levels: early childhood education, general education, technical and vocational education, and higher education.
• The National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) 2016–20 and the Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP) 2016–20 emphasize improving access to and quality of education, particularly in early childhood, primary, lower secondary, and TVET.
• Despite economic growth, Lao PDR remains one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia, with high poverty rates in rural areas.
• Primary education faces significant challenges, including high dropout and repetition rates, low quality of education, and poor literacy and numeracy skills.
• Secondary education enrollment is also low, with only 82.2% in lower secondary and 47.8% in upper secondary.
• Teacher shortages and large class sizes (1:34 teacher-pupil ratio) contribute to poor learning outcomes.

Education System Performance

• The NSEDP 2016–20 and ESDP 2016–20 are the key policy frameworks guiding education development.
• The ESDP 2011–15 highlighted the need to increase non-salary recurrent spending to improve teaching and learning quality.
• The 2015 revised Education Law includes provisions for school-based management (SBM), outlining the role of the VEDC in school decision-making.
• The three-build policy (2012) promotes decentralization by assigning strategic roles to provinces, districts, and villages.
• The Education Quality Standard (EQS) framework for primary schools (2013) allows schools and communities to develop annual school development plans (SDPs).
• SBM is a form of decentralization where schools have more autonomy, but the involvement of parents and the community is still limited.

Key Challenges

• Low functional literacy and numeracy among students, especially in early grades.
• High repetition and dropout rates in primary education, attributed to inadequate teaching resources and poor curriculum implementation.
• Large class sizes and multi-grade classrooms (26.6% of classrooms) hinder effective teaching.
• Limited budget autonomy for schools, as salaries are centrally managed.
• No standardized assessments at the national level, affecting the ability to measure student performance accurately.
• Weak accountability mechanisms, particularly regarding student performance data and its use.

SABER School Autonomy and Accountability Tool

• The SABER tool evaluates five key policy goals: autonomy in budget planning, personnel management, school council participation, school and student assessments, and accountability.
• Each policy goal is scored based on its development status, classified as Latent, Emerging, Established, or Advanced.
• Autonomy in budget planning is classified as Established.
• The other four policy goals are classified as Emerging, indicating that while some good practices are in place, the policy development is still ongoing and needs further refinement.

Conclusion

Lao PDR has made progress in establishing school-based management and decentralization, particularly in budget planning. However, the country still faces significant challenges in personnel management, school council participation, and the implementation of standardized assessments. The lack of clear accountability mechanisms and the limited involvement of the community in governance further hinder the effectiveness of the education system. The SABER tool provides a valuable framework for benchmarking and improving the education system by identifying areas where policies and practices can be strengthened.