| Author | Vanglor Chongtoua |
| Call Number | AIT RSPR no.RD-08-02 |
| Subject(s) | Education, Compulsory--Laos--Xiengkhouang
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| Note | Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Rural and Regional Development Planning |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | |
| Abstract | The research examined a 5-year compulsory education (Grades 1-5) in Lao PDR which is responded to the national educational policy of the country on MDGs. The study was focused on the current situation of the compulsory education of Hmong ethnic minority in Lao PDR. The main objectives were to examine physical accessibility to school of the children, school enrolment, school drop-out, school quit, performance of teacher and gain feedback of the teacher and the parents of the children on their compulsory education. The research study was conducted in a Hmong ethnic minority school which was the public school with some support from NGO. A field study was conducted in Kham district of Xiengkhouang province, Lao PDR by using a questionnaire survey of 30 sampled households. Data were gathered from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data consisted of a questionnaire survey, field observation, key informants interview, and focus group discussion. The quantitative data analysis was applied with the supplement of qualitative analysis using a few case studies to illustrate the situation. The main findings of the research showed the pupils had a problem on physical accessibility as the school was located far away from their house and reached the school by foot as no public and private transport. There was a late enrollment among the children particularly from 6-10 years of age among girls more than boys. Due to poverty of Hmong in the village, the need for labor on domestic and farm purposes, some children dropped out and quit from the compulsory education particularly among girls more than boys. The tradition value of Hmong on the preference on the youngest son to take care of their parents was another reason to make some boys quit from the school. Some children did not have adequate school uniform, educational materials and lunch at school leading to poor health condition causing largely by the poverty situation of Hmong particularly among poor households. The teacher also had a low education attainment who was rather inexperienced and lack of teaching skill. He was overloaded by the number of students as he has to combine more than two grades into one class due to insufficient at this level. The teacher had low motivation at work due to low salary and the delay in the salary payment as well. Anyhow, the performance of the teacher was perceived as good by the parents of the pupils in the school overall with their satisfaction on the quality of education despite of many problems were found at the school. These included the lack of library, educational materials and teaching aids, limited space of playground, poor toilet facility and inadequate technical support to teacher and financial assistance to the school particularly on the maintenance of school building. The pupils were in the greatest need to have sufficient teachers and accessible school and financial support while their parents had preference on financial support and followed by teacher and school building. A set of recommendations were given in this research to improve the compulsory education of Hmong ethnic minority. These included the need of financial support to the pupils from poor households particularly girls to ensure that they would complete the compulsory education without any great difficulty. This support should cover various kinds of educational materials and other expenses. It is important for the school to implement a school lunch program for the poor pupils. Other suggestions were given on the provision of training to the teacher to enhance their teaching skill and increase their multi-grade technique in teaching more than two grades in the same class to enhance the educational quality of the pupils of the compulsory education |
| Year | 2008 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | |
| Type | Research Study Project Report (RSPR) |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Soparth Pongquan |
| Examination Committee(s) | Ahmad, Mokbul Morshed;Kusakabe, Kyoko |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | SWEDEN (Sida) |
| Degree | Research studies project report (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2008 |