The State Audit Organization is continuing to work hard on the development of the training curriculum.

Experienced trainers with the State Audit Organization (SAO) of Lao PDR began their new roles as training course designers in May. They have been working on the training curriculum in financial auditing for junior financial auditors with coaching and supervision by an expert team from the Thai Office of Auditor General (OAG). The outlines of all four training modules have been developed based on the needs of SAO and the context of Lao PDR.

The next step is to develop training courseware. Participants’ notes, instructors’ guides, case studies, exercises and audio visual aids are all important tools to support the learning process and ensure effective training of participants. With support from the SAO regional office, the designer team attended an intensive workshop on courseware development in Luang Prabang, spending two weeks in July focusing on the audit planning and audit evidence courseware development.

A knowledge-sharing session between SAO’s northern and central offices was organised during the workshop to allow for the exchange of experiences and best practices. The OAG expert team introduced the concept of the fishbone diagram and explained how to use it in financial audits. Representatives from the SAO designer team also practised and demonstrated their facilitation skills by assisting with the session. The feedback was satisfying and the participants are willing to apply it to their real work.

The designers are now ready to teach a pilot training course to 30 junior financial auditors. This pilot training will test the effectiveness of the products they have developed and demonstrate whether they can deliver good results. The training evaluation at the end of the day will be used for further revision of the curriculum. The training was launched at the end of September.

“The training curriculum will serve as a good foundation to ensure an effective working process in SAO despite occasional personnel rotations. The designers will become our core trainers to build the capacity within the organization. The use of the Lao-Thai language between designer team and expert team cannot make the process any smoother. I appreciate the effort and contributions they have put in together.” – Dr. Padapphet Sayakhot, Vice President of SAO