Lao People's Democratic Republic: Second Technical and Vocational Education Development

Education / Technical and vocational education and training

The PPTA will prepare for the ensuing loan project by (i) assessing and documenting progress made and lessons learned under the current ADB-financed TVET project; (ii) preparing an assessment of the TVET sector in the context of the new TVET Master Development Plan 2016-2020 and benchmarking against Greater Mekong Subregion countries; (iii) providing an overview of TVET financing and assessing the financing gap towards achieving the targets of the new TVET Master Development Plan 2016-2020, (iv) assessing gender issues in TVET; (v) supporting the ADB-team in formulation of the project design, and preparing the project administration manual; (vi) assessing the current student voucher system used under the ongoing ADB-financed TVET project and formulate procedures for a stipend system for students from low income families; (vii) developing a format for the SDPs; (viii) identifying collaboration areas with other development partners; (ix) assessing the feasibility of using PPPs for the finance and delivery of TVET services; (xiii) reviewing safeguards assessments for environment, indigenous peoples, and involuntary resettlement prepared for infrastructure development under the project; (ix) establishing baseline data for the design and monitoring framework; (x) conducting due diligence including analysis of governance and procurement capacity dimensions.

The eighth socio-economic development plan 2016-2020 and the Education for All (EFA) Action Plan all emphasize the central role of education and human resource development for poverty reduction. The 7th NSEDP aims to support sustainable economic growth, reduce poverty and inequality and significantly scale up human capital. The Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2012 2016 is closely aligned with national priorities, and includes education as a core area. The CPS includes a focus on quality higher education and TVET that meet the needs of small and medium enterprises. ADB has also actively worked with the government and development partners to develop and implement the Education Sector Development Plan 2010 2015, which the proposed project will directly support. The proposed project is consistent with the strategic directions outlined in ADB's Strategy 2020 and Midterm update and would contribute to poverty reduction directly by promoting equitable access to, and improved quality of TVET, which will support inclusive economic growth through the upgrading of human capital.