Context
The increasing integration of Laos in its regional markets brings great opportunities for the country, but it also poses substantial challenges to this relatively small economy. As Southeast Asia heads towards the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, Laos is in need of skilled workers to develop competitive products for the domestic and international market. As the movement of skilled labour is liberalised, the workforce of Laos must be prepared for the pressure of increasing competition from neighbouring countries if it is to benefit from the growth of the Lao economy.
The Lao Government is keen to use vocational education as a key part of its strategy to improve competitiveness. It is endeavouring to provide young people with vocational education and training of a high standard so that they can successfully enter the job market and start living self-reliant lives. Unfortunately, vocational education traditionally has a bad image in Laos, while the lack of technical and teaching expertise in schools continues to hamper the aspirations to achieve sustainable, broad-based economic development.
Objective
The vocational training system in Laos has improved and meets the requirements of a modern and inclusive labour market. Marginalised students are now able to take part in vocational education.
Approach
The programme ‘Vocational education in Laos’, which is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, is being implemented in close cooperation with the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports, the Lao Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry
It aims to improve the vocational education and training system in Laos by supporting reforms and regulatory improvements, as well as collaboration between the state, private sector and civil society.
Through partnerships with the private sector, vocational schools are able to provide students with skills, while pursuing more practice-oriented training approaches. As a result they will be better suited to meet the demands of the labour market. To facilitate this approach, the programme will organise up to 2,000 apprenticeship positions in companies, where students can learn their trade in a practical work environment.
Young people in rural areas, who currently have no access to formal vocational education and training, will benefit in particular from the programme, as it will provide a large number of scholarships. Eleven vocational schools are receiving direct support designed to enable more disadvantaged people and school dropouts to attend training and acquire a formal certificate. Special funds have been set up to cover enrolment fees, students’ living costs and the running costs of the training. Short courses and mobile training units are also used to deliver some training content to the target group.
Results achieved so far
VELA builds on the results and experiences of earlier Lao-German development cooperation programmes in the same field. These supported the process of setting up a coherent regulatory framework for vocational education, as well as the implementation of standards and the revision of teaching curricula. Teacher training courses were provided to improve the quality of vocational schools. Annual enrolment rates in the country’s only accredited technical vocational teacher education programme have increased from 34 to 70 people since GIZ began its support.
Vocational school graduates are generally doing well on the labour market. The findings of a tracer study conducted in 2013 show that 63% find employment within six months of graduation, more than 75% of whom work in the field for which they have trained. Almost 70% of graduates rate their vocational training certificates as extremely useful.
In 44 demand-driven, non-formal vocational courses offered by the programme in 2013, more than 1,100 participants in rural areas (41.5% of them women) acquired practical skills with which to improve their standard of living. Subjects covered by these courses included, for example, mushroom cultivation and small engine and pump repair.