User:Foosan87

'''A particular problem a developing country faces

Development challenge in Laos’s education system'''

The Lao population of 4.9 million is ethnically and linguistically diverse, including over 47 ethnic and linguistic groups. School attendance, literacy, and other indicators of educational attainment vary greatly among different ethnic groups. Census data from 1995 reveal that 23 percent of the Lao never went to school as compared with 34, 56, and 67 percent for Phutai, Khmu, and Hmong. Among two of the smallest ethnic groups, 94 percent of the Kor and 96 percent of the Musir never attended school. The quality of instruction tends to be poor, and nearly half of those who enter do not complete the Primary cycle.

Lao, the official and instructional language, is the first language of about 50 percent of the population. Children from homes where Lao is not spoken enter schools with a significant handicap, a condition partly accounting for the high dropout rate. Changing the language of instruction would be a complex problem; however, steps can be taken by schools to assist non-Lao speaking pupils.

The rural quality of Laos implicates the provision of education as urbanization facilitates educational delivery. It is more expensive to provide schools for each small village than to build a smaller number of large schools in cities. These rural-urban differences are even more significant for provision of secondary, technical or vocational schools given the higher unit costs involved. The quantity and quality of schooling are influenced by demographic structures and are highly sensitive to the size of the school-age cohort. The extremely young population of Lao PDR puts a heavy burden on schooling and, at the same time, the high dependency ratio contributes to the low national productivity. Large families force choices as to which children go to school, tending to suppress female enrollments and indirectly reducing the number of subsequent opportunities for girls in education and in the labor market.

The education system is evolving under severely constraining conditions of inadequately prepared and poorly paid teachers, insufficient funding, shortages of facilities, and often ineffective allocation of the limited resources available. There is significant geographic, ethnic, gender and wealth disparities in the distribution of educational services, and inequalities exist in every level of the system.

Factual description of how a NGO or Social Enterprise helps solve a development challenge a country currently faces

Aide et Action (AEA) is trying to increase the education of the people in Laos, by promoting access to school for the disadvantaged, improving the quality of Primary Education and supporting and encouraging Education Programs for children migrant and geographically inaccessible. AEA hopes to prevent the exclusion and marginalization that is occurring throughout the country.

AEA is employing a two-prong approach to tackle this problem of low education levels in Laos. On one hand, it is trying to lay some basic infrastructure, which can aid this effort to increase the national education level and literacy rates. A couple of libraries have been built and are currently operational.

On the other hand, AEA is training locals to be adequately qualified and skilled to run and management libraries so as to be able to benefit from the libraries. School headmasters have been trained on school management, and teachers have been trained to use of the Preprimary Education Project curriculum, class facilitation and on Early Childhood Education and Care, in a pilot phase to promote reading and preprimary education in Laos.

Though AEA is trying to help in Laos, it has been careful and has entailed the cooperation of local organizations, such as the Ministry of Education. This is essential, as AEA being an international organization most probably would not be well versed in the local culture and procedures. Hence, by being involved in joint efforts with local organizations, it enables AEA to reach areas and people that it otherwise would not have reached. This makes the projects more effective.