ພາສາລາວ
Script writing team for the Child Functioning Module Video
A new Teacher Development Video will show teachers how to identify students’ specific learning needs so they can adapt teaching for all learners
This week, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), with the support of the Australian Government through the Basic Education Quality and Access in Lao PDR (BEQUAL) program, began writing the script of a new Teacher Development Video (TDV) designed to help teachers identify students’ learning needs and adapt their teaching to ensure all children can thrive.
The video will complement the new Teacher Support Pack (TSP) 14 “Supporting Students with Disability in the Classroom”. The script writing team brought together experts from the Research Institute of Educational Sciences (RIES), Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs), the Department of Teacher Education (DTE), the Inclusive Education Promotion Centre (IEPC) and the Communication team from BEQUAL.
Ms Manoly Dongvan raised the importance of supporting teachers to ensure a more inclusive education
Ms. Manoly Dongvan, Deputy Director of RIES, who opened the workshop said “Every child has the right to education, whatever their abilities. But if teaching is not adapted, children with disabilities may never go to school or may drop out. In Laos, teachers often do not know how to recognise individual learning support needs or how to adapt their teaching. To address this challenge and ensure all children have a chance to learn, the Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR, with support from Australia, developed a new Teacher Support Pack to support students with disabilities. TSP 14 gives simple, practical strategies for ensuring students with hearing, vision, mobility, and learning difficulties are fully engaged in learning. RIES will now lead the development of a video to complement the TSP.”
Inclusive classroom – Teacher supports a student during a science heartbeat experiment
Mr Michael Currie, First Secretary, Australian Embassy said “Many children in Laos have unidentified learning support needs related to hearing, seeing, moving and learning, which limits their school participation. Australia is proud to work closely with the Ministry of Education and Sports to give teachers clear, practical tools to recognise students’ needs and take steps to help all learners succeed.”
Central to TSP 14 is the Child Functioning Module – Teacher Version (CFM‑TV), a simple tool that helps teachers identify possible difficulties with attention, communication, memory, mobility, vision or hearing. The new TDV 29 will focus on observable classroom behaviours that suggest a student may have difficulty in any of these areas, and guide teachers on how to complete the CFM‑TV accurately.
Ms. Manoly Dongvan said “The TDV series is designed to help teachers with teaching strategies that answer common challenges they face in the classroom. This is why they are closely linked to the Teacher Support Packs. The videos are filmed in real classrooms, showing concrete examples of how to apply recommended techniques in practice. TSP 14 covers many teaching strategies and could be the basis for several videos. For this phase, we have chosen to start with the first and most important step: how teachers can identify possible disabilities and use the CFM-TV.”
Script writers from the TTC discussing signs teachers could observe to identify learning difficulties
Script writers exploring the 20 questions of the Child Functionning Module
The workshop included training for the script writing team on how to ensure best practice child protection and safeguarding when filming scenes with children, and the specific additional considerations when video content relates to children with disabilities. The TDV will use neutral, strengths‑based language and the script will be reviewed by inclusive education and disability experts before filming. Casting decisions will be coordinated with parents, Organisations of People with Disability and IEPC.
BEQUAL will distribute TSP 14 and the TDV 29 for the beginning of 2026–2027 school year in 30 target districts and will pilot the tools in 18 schools in Xiangkhouang. The pilot will test how TSP strategies work in practice, identify additional teacher support needs, and indicate which topics should be developed into further classroom demonstration videos. Findings will guide refinements to the Teacher Support Pack and future TDV topics.
Child Functioning Module helps teachers identify students with special learning needs
Script writers from the TTC discussing signs teachers could observe to identify learning difficulties
In the video, two Pedagogical Advisors will highlight specific techniques
Michael Currie concluded “Children with a 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. When teachers make small, evidence-based adjustments to classroom practice, students with disabilities can successfully learn alongside their peers, and the whole class benefits from learning in a supportive and inclusive environment. We expect this video and the TSP to help teachers make those changes with confidence, for the benefit of all students.”