Education in Laos

 Hey everyone, and welcome back to the jungle! Today’s expedition takes us deep into Laos’s education system. Education is something that is often taken for granted in America. We have an abundance of options: public, private, charter, church, and home schools just to name a few. However, Laos has significantly fewer options. While it is technically mandatory for children to complete primary school, quite a few of them never do, especially in rural areas. In order to understand how Laotian schools function, it’s important to look at their structure and challenges they face.

Laos splits education into four parts: pre-primary (3 years), primary (5 years), low secondary (4 years), and high secondary (3 years). There are some specialized schools and five universities for those who have the desire to advance. All four of the primary and secondary school periods are free, although children do have to provide their own supplies. The school year runs from September to June, very similar to the U.S. While children are required by law to complete primary school, about 85% finish. 15% go on to secondary education, and only 3% achieve a full education. The number who go to college and graduate is even lower than that. The higher the educational level, the larger the gender gap. Families are more likely to prioritize their sons’ education since the daughters are expected to help around the home. Because so few Lao students go to college and graduate, there are no statistics that I could find about it.

The two largest educational obstacles facing Laos are a lack of funding and language. Everything is taught in Lao, the country’s official language. However, in many rural villages the children speak a local dialect instead of Lao. This puts them at a disadvantage when they start primary school. Second, Laos dedicates very little money to education. As of 2020, 2.3% of their GDP went towards education. Most schools are in the capital city and larger rural towns to serve more kids with fewer facilities. As a consequence, the poorest children have the longest commute. Teachers are paid very little, usually not enough to support themselves. Schools don’t have regular hours, since the teacher may have to take care of their farm. Many rural kids don’t attend regularly either, as they are needed to help their families. To get a glimpse of what education looks like in rural Laos, check out this video.

If you watched the video, you noticed that they were just teaching the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic. Lao culture emphasizes unity, harmony, and collectivism, which are reflected in how their education system is set up. People are taught the essentials and nothing more. In general, critical thinking and problem-solving are not encouraged, as that goes against the collectivistic society. This is quite different from America, where students are eager to move past the three Rs and think for themselves.

The main takeaways are these: the state provides free education, the main barriers are lack of funding and language, and education is focused on learning how to perform tasks instead of critical thinking. Thanks for coming to the jungle today, I’ll see you next time!