The Department of General Education of the Ministry of Education is tasked with achieving universality of primary education in Laos by the year 2015, with expanding provision of basic education to remote, isolated ethnic minority areas, with eradicating gender disparities in education and with improving the quality of basic education through the implementation of innovative programmes and projects. It is responsible for the overall administration and supervision of the basic general education system (pre-school, primary and secondary education) in Laos and of resources and funds for the implementation of programmes and projects in this sector. Specific areas of activity include: statistics and plannification (research and evaluation); school infrastructures (design, guidance, standardisation and maintenance of classrooms, offices and libraries); teaching aids and materials (design, purchase, distribution, inventory); finance and budgetary matters (overall sub-sector budgeting and financing, funds and resource-raising mobilisation); general administration (secretarial work, staffing and vehicle management); pedagogy and professional support (pedagogical advisers and academic teachers, curriculum monitoring and evaluation, textbook official use, monitoring and evaluation, grade and level examinations, student learning and achievement assessment, in-service training for teachers and managers, school rules and regulations, pupil-parent associations, schools clusters); management; and community relations.