The first tranche of the EU support of 11.5 million euros will be added to the 48 million euro Australian-Initiated Basic Education Quality and Access in Laos (BEQUAL) programme, which aims to enable more disadvantaged children to complete good quality basic education and achieve literacy, numeracy and other life skills.

This programme is expected to benefit 450,000 primary school children in 66 most disadvantaged districts. Programme activities include renewing the curriculum, developing new materials, upgrading teacher skills, sponsoring pre-service scholarships to villages suffering from a tea cher shortage, and improving school based management.

The programme also aims to improve school infrastructure, provide school meals, and undertake a range of other activities with the intention of improving the quality of primary education and improving the participation of children and their communities in primary education.

The second tranche of 3.5 million euros will be used to continue strengthening education sector governance, particularly planning and budgeting, according to a joint statement on the project.

This information was revealed during the launch of the programme in Vientiane yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Education and Sports Sengdeuane Lachanthaboun, EU Chargé d’Affaires to Laos Mr Michel Goffin, and Acting Head of Mission of the Australian Embassy in Laos Mr Andreas Zurbrugg took turns to address the ceremony.

The event was also attended by representatives of the government’s line agencies, diplomatic corps, international organisations and development partners to officially launch the EU financial support programme.

Speaking at the event, Sengdeuane said that improving the quality of education was one of the top priorities of the Lao government and was critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and helping Laos to graduate from Least Developed country status.

The BEQuA-BasED programme is well aligned with the priorities of the Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP 2016-2020) and will also actively contribute to implementation of the National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP 2016-2020).

“Education is a strategic sector for poverty reduction and sustainable development but first and foremost ‘Education for All’ is a main cornerstone of a fair society. BEQuA-BasED was built upon on the EU Agenda for Change and the strategic priorities of the 8th NSEDP 2016-20 and the ESDP 2016-2020. The EU will work closely with the Ministry of Education and Sports and Australia to deliver this programme fruitfully,” Goffin said.

Education is one of the EU’s three priority sectors under its development strategy for Laos from 2014-2020.

Other key sectors include nutrition and governance and human rights, while its support for the areas of trade and private sector assistance, agriculture and rural development, health, environment and natural resources and UXO assistance are also maintained.