At least 41 volunteer teachers in northeastern Laos have resigned, leaving many schools short-staffed as the former teachers seek paying jobs amid high inflation and a weak economy.
There are more than 7,600 volunteer teachers across the country, but due to budgetary constraints the Lao government can only hire less than 1,000 each fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Education and Sport.
In Laos’ centrally-planned economy, workers in schools and hospitals are generally government employees, and those who want jobs in their chosen fields are dependent on government quotas, as well as passing an examination.
Many young people therefore work as volunteers in classrooms and clinics until there is an opening for salaried staff.
Xieng Khouang province, in the northeast, has 124 volunteer teachers compared to 165 volunteer teachers last year, an official at the province’s Department of Education and Sport told Radio Free Asia on Monday.
“After the exam results were posted [in April and May], many of them decided to resign,” the official said. “This will affect the quality of education. Some teachers will have to teach in classes where students in different grades study together. Some will have to teach for more hours.”
‘Living in a hard time’
One volunteer teacher who resigned this year told RFA she taught at a school in the province’s Kham district for nine years but finally gave up hope that she would be added to the government payroll.
“My patience reached its limit,” she said. “I miss my students, but I cannot wait any further. I got married and have a child to take care of, and my husband doesn’t want me to teach anymore.”
The long commute to the school, staying in a teacher’s dormitory on weekdays and the realization that she would probably have to wait several more years before she would be hired all contributed to her decision, she said.
Across the country, administrators are merging schools and closing others because of a teacher shortage, which is largely driven by the government's lack of funds.
“Volunteer teachers are the true devotees, as they use their own resources and time to teach students,” said the father of a student in Xieng Khouang’s Paek district.
But the poor economy has brought hardship to everyone – even those civil servants who make a salary – so it’s understandable that volunteer teachers would want to look elsewhere for work, he said.
“Everything now is three times as expensive,” he said.
The mother of a volunteer teacher who recently resigned from a school in Xieng Khouang's Phoukout district said her daughter has since left Laos for a job in South Korea, where several thousand Laoatians work in factories and on farms.
“Our family is living in a hard time,” she said. “My daughter is now a legal migrant worker in South Korea and she is the only income earner for the family.”
The provincial official told RFA that, even with a tight budget, administrators are looking for ways to pay the remaining volunteer teachers.
“We had a meeting with relevant offices, and there is now a process to draft a policy for paying volunteer teachers,” he said.
Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Matt Reed.