Poverty in Laos is still wide–spread with an estimated 27 per cent of the population living under the USD1 per day poverty line and a considerable proportion of the population still living close to it. Poverty has strong geographic features with the poor concentrated in districts located in the remote and mountainous north and in the South East along the border with Vietnam. Malnutrition remains an important issue in Laos with little improvement in malnutrition levels in children under five over the last 10 years; 50 per cent of rural children under five years are severely malnourished (World Food Programme, 2007) and 40 per cent of all under five children are moderately stunted.
Educational statistics in Laos are poor and national budget allocations to the sector are among the lowest in the world. While Laos has made significant progress in relation to Millennium Development Goal two 'achieving universal primary education' reaching the remaining 'unreached', who mostly live in remote areas without access to roads, will prove difficult. At the current rates of improvement Laos is unlikely to meet its Millennium Development Goal 2015 targets for primary school retention or youth literacy indicators.
Women in Laos suffer systemic disadvantage, particularly rural ethnic minority women and girls. Educational access for girls is significantly below that for boys. There is also a strong relationship between ethnicity, geography and the status of women and girls. In the educational sphere, for example, an 18 year old rural ethnic minority girl is likely to have had only two years of schooling while her urban ethnic majority male equivalent will have enjoyed 8.5 years. However Laos is making progress with gender equality with significant improvements in the ratio of women to men receiving education, the ratio of literate women to men and representation in parliament.
Ref-http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/country.cfm?CountryId=35
Educational Landscape
Historically, only one ethnic group, the Lao Loum, relied on formal education. Consequently, most other groups had no written language, with education taking place in Buddhist temples and catering exclusively to male students. During the French occupation, a secondary education system was established with French as the language of instruction—producing a small group of elite, well-educated Laotians. Later on in the 1950’s the Pathet Lao began to provide instruction in the Lao language. A government-led effort simplified the language in an effort to render it more accessible to all Lao people.
Today literacy in Laos is on the rise, although often short-lived due to the scarcity of available reading material. Insufficient instruction time can also be a problem, as many teachers are forced to seek supplementary income outside of school that limits their availability. Insufficient classrooms, unavailability of textbooks, limited teacher training and lack of libraries are also major roadblocks to delivering quality primary education.
While primary and secondary education are free for both boys and girls, pressure to do farm work and contribute to the family’s income have left female literacy rates lagging 17% behind their male counterparts.
Video link to education and the opportunities it can provide
