The supply of teachers will not be based on a quota given by the government if a proposal by the Ministry of Education is approved, officials said yesterday.
The ministry wants the supply of teachers to be based on student numbers, such as one teacher per 30 or 35 students, as a way to address teacher shortages in Laos .
Deputy Education Minister Lytou Bouapao said the proposal has been agreed to in principle by his ministry, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Administration and Civil Servant Authority (PACSA).
“The main challenge we need to focus on is seeking funding sources to pay teachers, build more schools and ensure adequate education resources,” Mr Lytou said.
“We have asked for funding from the global fund to support our project. But I think the government needs to invest more in education. If not, the project will be meaningless.”
“We need time to discuss the proposals and project in detail and ensure it will be well implemented, including how we can encourage good students to learn to be teachers and continue to improve our education system,” he said.
Mr Lytou said the problem does not lie with the ministry's capacity to produce teachers, but instead with the quota system.
“We produce a lot of teachers each year but quotas are limited. We want this new proposal to be implemented by 2010 as part of our education reform project,” he said.
There are currently about 58,000 teachers in Laos but 6,000 to 7,000 more are needed to address the shortage.
Last year, the government's quota for new teachers was 3,500, but the number of teachers leaving for new jobs or retiring reached 1,500 people. This meant only 2,000 of the required positions were filled.
Many teachers want to work only in cities where facilities are better. As a result, one teacher is responsible for up to 70 students in some rural areas. This is a factor degrading education standards in Laos .
PACSA Deputy Chairman Syphouk Vongphakdy said teaching positions will be separated from public service roles.
“The idea aims to make it clear we want more teachers, not administrative staff,” he said, adding that the quota allocation for teachers was based on the government's budget.
Officials said education development in Laos continues to lag behind other countries despite the nation's strategic plans to move off the UN's list of least developed nations by 2020.
Mr Lytou said education laws stipulate no less than 18 percent of the government's budget should go towards education programmes. But in some years the figure has been as low as 12 percent.
“We need time to discuss the proposals and project in detail and ensure it will be well implemented, including how we can encourage good students to learn to be teachers and continue to improve our education system,” ..........................................
Frankly speak being a Teacher is the Last thing for the clever student to think about ,obviously due to the extremely low paying. even worse in the remote area that teacher have to do something instead of teaching to feed thier family. in the city it s sad but true that student drive car to school while teacher cant even afford to pay the gasoline for their bike with their salary....
