In January 2026 senior managers from the Lao PDR Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) visited schools in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia to gain insights from the ASEAN-UK SAGE Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) project that has been running there since March 2025.
The MoES delegation learnt how TaRL has been helping Grade 4 and 5 students, who are at risk of dropping out, to develop the basic literacy and numeracy skills they need to catch up and stay in school. By going to the field, the delegation was able to see the teachers and students in action and also meet the TaRL mentors and district and provincial education authorities. This helps them to better understand the governance and support structures that underpin a successful TaRL intervention, as well as how it is implemented in the classroom.
A similar project is being developed in Lao PDR for out of school children in Savannakhet Province, delivered by Pratham International, supported by ASEAN-UK SAGE.
So far, the TaRL project in Cambodia has shown extremely positive results, with the number of students reading at paragraph level and up increasing from 40% in the baseline assessment to 65% in the midline assessment. The results are even more impressive with mathematics, with the number of students at the subtraction level and up increasing from approximately 43% in the baseline assessment to 93% in the midline assessment.
The TaRL project in Cambodia is being delivered by Pratham International, along with ASEAN-UK SAGE partners, the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), and SEAMEO TED.
The ASEAN-UK SAGE programme is delivered by British Council and SEAMEO Secretariat, in partnership with EdTech Hub and Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), and is an ASEAN cooperation programme funded by UK International Development.