Abstract
Focusing on inclusive and equitable quality education, Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) started with an ambition of reducing inequalities in education. This paper unpacks how SDG4 was enacted in Laos in relation to ethnic minority students, focusing upon the national policy documents and three groups of policy actors in the context - policymakers involved in developing education policy; donor agencies that provided funds to support education reform in Laos, and; school teachers in an ethnic minority boarding school who were charged with enacting the policy. Findings, informed by Nancy Fraser's three dimensions of social justice (distribution, recognition, and representation), show that SDG4 targets drew upon only the distributive dimension of social justice; Lao policy documents after SDG4 also only focused upon distributive justice. Interviews with key policy actors (policy makers, donor agencies, and teachers) revealed that even distributive justice for ethnic minorities (increased access to education) was further limited to basic education and technical and vocational training, with little access to university scholarships - a potential pathway out of poverty. Combined with prevalent meritocratic approaches to education and absence of policy support to alleviate inequalities in cultural recognition and political representation, SDG4' enactment in the Lao context appears to contribute to further difficulties for ethnic minority students' upward mobility. The findings of this research suggest the need for a more multi-dimensional theorisation of inequalities facing ethnic minorities if SDG4 is to enable 'inclusive and equitable quality education' for ethnic minorities.