Ministry of Education and Sports and Australia produce new resource to support inclusive classrooms

Ms Vanessa Hegarty, First Secretary, Australian Embassy said “Children with disability face significant barriers to accessing quality education in Laos, including misconceptions and discriminatory attitudes about the causes of disability and the abilities of persons with disabilities. Australia is encouraged to see that many teachers have expressed strong motivation to learn effective teaching strategies to overcome these barriers. We are honoured to work closely with the Ministry of Education and Sports, as well as experts from OPDs and other partners, to equip teachers with practical strategies that meet the needs of all learners.”

Mrs Vongdeuane explained “Continuing Professional Development is essential for teachers to meet all learners’ needs. This TSP gives teachers step-by-step approaches to include children with hearing, vision, mobility and learning difficulties in everyday classroom activities. Every teacher should be able to use these methods, even if they have never worked with students with disabilities before. Some students may have disabilities that are not obvious or have not been formally diagnosed, but they can still benefit from inclusive teaching practices and thoughtful support. Many strategies use local materials and require little or no extra funding, so they can be adopted widely.”

The TSP 14 includes the Child Functioning Module-Teacher Version which is a simple tool to help teachers identify students who have difficulties with attention, communication, memory, mobility, sight or hearing. By using this tool, teachers can better understand their students’ learning needs and select appropriate classroom strategies. The tool can also be used to develop an Individual Education Plan (IEP), bringing together teachers, parents, and students to plan the right support and refer their students to relevant services if needed. The TSP also includes a directory of organisations and services teachers can contact for further support.

Following approval by DTE, TSP 14 will be piloted in 30 target districts to test its useability, identify what works, and make refinements as necessary before national rollout. In parallel, RIES video-production teams, with support from Australia, will produce a Teacher Development Video demonstrating how to use the Child Functioning Module -Teacher Version and apply classroom strategies.