Ministry of Education and Sports and Australia begin work on Gender Equitable Management tool

The Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR (MoES), with support from Australia through the BEQUAL program, has launched the development of a Gender Equitable Management (GEM) tool to help education, science and sports workplaces assess and strengthen gender equitable management practices.

This week, Mr Phimmasone Sisaath, Deputy Head of MoES Cabinet Office, chaired the first of three technical workshops to design the GEM tool under the leadership of the Division for the Advancement of Women, Mother and Child (MDAW). The workshop brought together more than 60 participants from central and subnational levels including Committee for Women Advancement, Mother and Child, Provincial Education and Sports Services (PESS), District Education and Sports Bureaus (DESB), Teacher Training Colleges (TTC) and BEQUAL experts.

Mr Phimmasone Sisaath explained the purpose of the tool: “MDAW identified the need for a simple, practical instrument to transform workplace culture in education, science and sports. The GEM tool will help MoES departments, TTCs, PESS and DESBs assess their practices, develop action plans, and remove barriers to women’s participation in leadership. I thank Australia for supporting this work and I welcome everyone’s contribution as we begin shaping a practical, tool suitable for the Lao context to guide workplace culture change across the education, science and sports sector.”

In a separate interview, Michael Currie, First Secretary, Australian Embassy, shared Australia’s perspective on the partnership and its expected outcomes. “Gender equality is central to Australia and underpins our International Gender Equality Strategy. It helps drive fairer, faster progress for everyone.  Greater political and economic participation by women makes societies wealthier and more peaceful. That is why we are proud to support MoES in developing the GEM tool: to raise awareness of the gender and social norms shaping workplace culture in education and to remove barriers so more women can advance to leadership roles. We share a common commitment to advance gender equality at all levels.”

Over five days, participants engaged in a series of hands-on activities designed to build their understanding of gender and social norms and translate that knowledge into a practical tool. The workshop opened with analysis of data from surveys with Internal Pedagogical Support staff. Teams reviewed data posters, discussed patterns in small groups, and reflected on what the findings reveal about workplace beliefs and behaviours. An “iceberg” activity then linked visible behaviours, what people say and do, with the deeper attitudes, social norms and assumptions that drive them.

Participants compared three international gender‑assessment tools to identify features most suitable for adapting for the Lao context. Small groups then mapped local social norms, institutional barriers and enabling factors relevant to MoES at central and subnational levels. The latter half of the workshop focused on collaborative drafting: participants identified the GEM tool’s core domains, proposed indicators, and sketched the overall structure. Participatory approaches, such as a gallery‑walk, were used  test, refine and reach consensus on the draft structure and indicators, ensuring the tool is practical and grounded in Lao realities.