Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme
As the education policy debate in Viet Nam has shifted from quantity of access to improved quality of learning, obtaining reliable literacy data for evidence-based planning and monitoring has become increasingly essential.
Together with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, the Ha Noi Office is supporting the Ministry of Education and Training to implement the Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP), a tool designed to assess literacy skills and to enhance the available body of statistical evidence.
Through an innovative combination of household survey methods and educational assessments conducted on a five- to ten-year cycle, LAMP measures five levels of literacy and numeracy skills and five component skills that underpin fluent reading. The programme has the following objectives:
- develop a methodology for providing quality data on the distribution of the literacy skills of adults and young people in developing countries
- obtain high-quality literacy data and to promote its effective use in formulating national policy, in monitoring and in designing appropriate program interventions to improve literacy levels
- build national capacities in the measurement of literacy, to develop and use LAMP data and methodologies
- contribute to an enhanced understanding of literacy and to engage various stakeholders to take action at the community level
UNESCO began implementing LAMP in Viet Nam in 2007 and by late 2010 the national team completed the field test stage. During this phase, test instruments were adapted to the Vietnamese context, country-specific criteria were developed, the test survey was conducted in 650 households, and data was collected and analyzed.
Based on their assessment of the field test, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has decided to undertake the LAMP main survey. The National LAMP Team, collaborating with UIS and UNESCO Ha Noi, is currently undergoing preparations for this phase, which will be carried out in late 2011 and will produce Viet Nam’s first set of real-test literacy data.