Ministry plans to raise the bar in teaching standards with new university

The Ministry of Education and Sports is partnering with teacher training colleges to draft a decree on the establishment of a teacher training university.
The draft decree is currently being revised based on comments from various education departments, according to the ministry’s Planning Department.
If the decree is approved, a national teacher training university would be established with the aim of producing more and better quality teachers, as well as helping to resolve the teacher shortage.
If the university is built, it would be the first teacher training university in Laos and support the government’s ambition to provide more teaching staff, with many schools currently experiencing a teacher shortage.
In another bid to resolve the teacher shortage, the government is increasing the quota of civil servant positions allocated to teachers, to provide more teaching staff and give official positions to those currently working as volunteer teachers.
This means that more teachers holding civil servant positions will be provided for schools that currently have none, to replace those who retire, and to improve teaching and learning outcomes in schools across the country.
According to a report by education authorities, in the 2022-23 academic year schools across the country needed 79,414 teachers in total but could hire only 72,602.
This resulted in a shortfall of 6,812 teachers, with the number of unfilled vacancies increasing every year. Schools in many places are forced to take on volunteer teachers, who have no training.
Education authorities plan to merge some small schools into a single institution for greater efficiency, and to consider incentives and policies to retain teachers in the profession.
At present, teachers undergo training at Dongkhamxang Teacher Training College in Vientiane, Pakxe Teacher Training College in Champassak province, Savannakhet Teacher Training College, Luang Namtha Teacher Training College, and Khangkai Teacher Training College in Xieng Khuang province.
The Ministry of Education and Sports will continue skills development for teachers from pre-school to higher education levels, by training them in use of the new curriculum and teaching materials, and improving their classroom skills.
Teachers play a key role in the successful rollout of the new curriculum.
Studies have shown that teaching quality and school leadership are the most important factors in improving student learning outcomes.
For teachers and education leaders to be effective, they need to continually broaden their knowledge and skills, with ongoing professional development recognised as being key to students’ success.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update February 11, 2025)