The World Bank approved a $35 million project to help Laos improve how it trains and manages teachers and health workers, the bank announced. The six-year program will focus on primary school teachers and frontline health staff, particularly in rural areas where shortages hit hardest. The project aims to tackle deep challenges in Laos’s education and health systems through better training, staff management, and incentives to work in underserved communities.
Laos has seen its spending on education and health drop sharply—from 4.9 percent of GDP in 2013 to just 2.3 percent in 2023. That decline shows up in workforce gaps at schools and clinics, especially in poorer, remote areas. Surveys also point to backsliding on earlier progress in child nutrition.
For teachers, the project will upgrade teacher training colleges with smart classrooms and support a two-year bachelor’s degree program. It will also modernize online professional development and introduce classroom observation paired with learning assessments. On the health side, the program will expand worker registration and licensing while beefing up both pre-service and ongoing training. Training and retention packages will reach district hospitals and health centers across eight provinces.
“The government is to be commended for its leadership and commitment in mobilizing these much needed resources to help those at the frontline of teaching and medicine, so that they can fully devote their efforts to the needs of local people,” said Khwima Nthara, World Bank Country Manager for Laos.
Both sectors will get help attracting and keeping qualified staff in rural areas, along with better systems for managing personnel at the national level.
