a day in the life: loy's story
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Schools for Asia Lao PDR
Nonhmixai Village
Loy’s storySUPPORTING SCHOOLS OF QUALITY
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 54 UNICEF Laos
Lao People’s Democratic Republic has made real strides in increasing accessto education in recent decades: enrolment in primary school now stands atover 96 per cent nationwide. But the country still has a long way to go.One in ten children still never receive any formal schooling and amongthose who do go to school, repetition and dropout rates are some of thehighest in Asia: only 71 per cent of students who enrol in grade one go onto complete the full five years of primary school. These figures are evenlower in rural areas and marginalised communities.At issue is school quality. Says Mr Kheune Xaysanavongxay, Deputy
Director of the Department of Pre-school and Primary Education: “Ensuringaccess has been relatively easy compared to ensuring the quality ofeducation our children receive.”In 2005 UNICEF worked closely with Mr Kheune and the Ministry of
Education and Sports (MoES) to pilot its cross-cutting model for qualitybasic education, the ‘Child Friendly Schools’ approach, in three schools inthe country. Four years later Lao PDR was home to over 1,200 child friendlyschools and the model had been nationally endorsed under a new name:‘Schools of Quality’. In 2012 the more than 2000 Schools of Quality providedan evidence base for the development of the national Education QualityStandards, which the MoES is in the process of rolling out nation-wide.These aim to make every school in the country a School of Quality by 2020. UNICEF has supported the Government every step of the way, providing
technical and financial support to changes in the curriculum and directsupport to the roll out in 40 Districts. In the process, it has become clearthat providing teaching and learning materials and training schooldirectors, teachers, and community leaders in the child-centred approach is
SUPPORTING SCHOOLS OF QUALITY
not enough. If those tasked with overseeing the implementation of the newstandards at the school level—namely education staff at the provincial andDistrict levels—lack the knowledge and skills to implement the roll out, thegovernment’s ambitious plans will not be fully realised. Most have beenrecruited into their positions with little or no experience in educationadministration and management. They lack not only essential skills inplanning and budgeting, but also the background to inform effectiveteaching and learning. This has a direct impact not only on the state ofschool facilities under their care, but also on the quality of instruction, theavailability of teaching and learning materials, the involvement of thecommunity—and learning outcomes for tens of thousands of students. In the following pages you will meet 11-year-old Loy Luangboliboune.
Loy is a second grade student in Phalanxai District, one of three low-performing Districts where UNICEF is concentrating its efforts on buildingthe capacity of the District education staff. The District’s numbers speak forthemselves: less than 89 per cent of children are enrolled in primaryschool; almost 16 per cent of children repeat the first grade and more than36 per cent drop out after their first year of school. Just 32 per cent ofchildren complete the full five years of primary school, and far fewercontinue on to secondary school. By supporting local education authorities so that they can provide
schools and school communities with the support they need, thenationwide implementation of the Education Quality Standards for PrimarySchools will have its intended effect—transforming learning outcomes forLoy and thousands of others across the country whose educationalachievements will ultimately form the foundation of Lao’s future success.
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 76 UNICEF Laos
My name is Loy Luangboliboune. I am 11 years old and I am in the secondgrade. I live in Nonhmixai Village, Phalanxai District, SavannakhetProvince in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. My father is a farmer anddaily labourer and my mother is a housewife. I have two older brotherswho live in town with my grandfather and go to school. I also have fouryounger sisters and a younger brother—he refuses to go to s chool. Lastyear I couldn’t go to school because I had to help my mother take careof my sisters. I am so happy to be back this year.
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 9
05:53 After I wakeup I wash the dishes...
06:03 ...and wash my face.
10 UNICEF Laos
06:36 ...and leave for school.
06:20 ...play with my sisters...
06:14 Then I get dressed...
“Last year, I was really unhappy not to be in school. I wanted tobe with all of my friends in school. I also felt guilty. I wanted tolearn. I wanted to do my best and be in school, but I couldn’t.Looking after my little sisters was a really tiring job. The youngestcries a lot. Sometimes she stops when I hold her. Sometimes not.When my mom was away, I had to take care of all of them bymyself. Once the youngest fell down. Luckily, my parents didn’tbeat me. My mom usually just shouts. She says ‘If we beat themthey always get sick.’”
—Loy
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 1312 UNICEF Laos
06:41 I stop to pick up my cousin Koung, who lives nearby. I wait while she finishes her chores. She makes sticky rice for her family... 06:46 ...and cooks breakfast for her brother.
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 15
06:58 We walk to school. It can be scary walkingon the road. One day I was almost hit by a car.
There is a shortcut, but you have to go through theforest. We’re afraid of ghosts—my friend saw one
there once—so we don’t go that way.
07:06 On the way we meet our friends.
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 1716 UNICEF Laos
07:13 Some of the students pick up the trash in the schoolyard. Koungand I cut small branches with leaves from the field behind the school andhelp to sweep the classroom.
Do you clean the classroom every day?“Yes. We learned to do it in first grade.” Does the teacher ask you to do it?“No. If she asked us we wouldn’t do it!”
—Koung, Loy’s cousin
07:33 It is the boys’ jobto put the chairs up onthe tables and the girls’job to do the sweeping.
18 UNICEF Laos Schools for Asia Loy’s story 19
Constructed: 1983
Grades offered: 1, 2, 3
Number of classrooms: 2
Number of teachers: 2
Number of students:grade 1: 35; 20 girls, 15 boys
grade 2: 10; all girlsgrade 3: 15; 5 girls, 10 boys
Facilities: water, but no latrines
Nonhmixai Incomplete Primary School“To make this a School of Quality wemust improve the environment, bothinside and out. If we start with theoutside, people passing—bothchildren and parents—will see theschool and say ‘I want to go!’ On theinside we need to hang some things
on the walls, and make some repairs. We need latrines,more classrooms and more teachers so that we canadd more grades and the children of Nonhmixai cancomplete primary school in their own village.”
—Phommachanh Piaxayasane,
Head of Pre-School and Primary Education Unit,
Education and Sports Bureau Phalanxai District
07:13 We play outside until school starts.
20 UNICEF Laos
08:13 The first grade sitson one side of the roomand the second grade sitson the other. The teacheralso splits the chalkboardinto two. She writes ourwork on one side and theirwork on the other.
“This District faces a number of obstacles in implementing Schools of
Quality, but among the biggest is human resources, both at the school and
District levels. The quality of teachers is poor. Most have only a lower
secondary education and were trained on the job; School principals are over-
stretched and lack the management skills they need to do their job; and the
District level staff are supposed to support the teachers and principals in
doing their work, but they don’t have the skills to do so. It is good that
UNICEF is putting its focus not on supporting individual schools, but on strengthening the
capacity of the staff at the District level. When all of us can perform our given roles to the best
of our ability, we will be able to help improve the performance of the teachers and principals.
When they manage the schools well and teach well, the parents will be more motivated to send
their children to school. As a result, our schools will become quality places for children to learn.”
—Phonexay Vilaysack, Director, Education and Sports Bureau, Phalanxai District
“I would love to have a more beautiful classroom. If I could, I would put upbanners with slogans, alphabets and numbers. I would also put thestudents’ work on the walls. But it won’t stay there. I used to producevisual aids for the classroom and I would hang them on the walls. Afterschool the older children come to play here and the doors to the classroomdon’t lock. They came in, took them off the walls and ripped them up.Since then I haven’t produced any new ones or hung anything on the walls.We tried to fix a lock on the door several times, but it wasn’t strongenough. Right now it still can’t be locked.”
—Velmani Sipaseud, Head Teacher
ENVIRONMENTS FOR LEARNING
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 23
08:16 “Sometimes I bring mybaby to school,” says Velmani.“Usually he stays home with hisgrandparents, but if they are sick or away he comes with me.”
“In Phalanxai, the
quality of instruction
varies from place to
place. Thirty-two of
our 62 schools are
incomplete, so they
offer only grades one
and two or one, two and three. In these
schools, the quality of instruction is often
not very good. There aren’t enough
children to warrant a teacher for every
grade level, so most—52 schools—use
multigrade teaching. Many teachers only
completed grade nine and then had on
the job teacher training. They have little
or no training in how to teach multiple
grades in the same classroom. It is
difficult for them to manage the children
and to focus on each grade, much less
on individual students. Our District staff
can help them a little, but we too need a
better understanding of the skills
involved in multigrade teaching. This is
not something the government currently
has the capacity to provide. But UNICEF
does. That is why the support they give
to Districts like ours is key.”
—Phommachanh Piaxayasane, Head of
Pre-School and Primary Education Unit,
Education and Sports Bureau, Phalanxai
District
“One of the main challenges I face in the classroom is multigradeteaching. It isn’t easy. Some days, if everyone attends, I have 45students in the classroom. It is too many. When I teach grade one, gradetwo doesn’t have much to do so they are playing and disrupting theclassroom. Then grade one does the same when I teach grade two. A fewmonths ago it was worse. I was the only teacher so I was also teachinggrade three. As a result, the students didn’t really understand thematerial they were supposed to be learning. I felt so discouraged—andtired. Sometimes, I have to explain things again and again and again tomake sure everyone understands and I have to raise my voice. In myteacher training we had a few lectures on multigrade teaching and theteacher gave us a copy of the multigrade manual to read, but we didn’thave any actual practice.“If I could change things? I would have a nice school building and I
would have more teachers so I didn’t have to teach a multigradeclassroom. I would also like to have some more training.”
—Velmani Sipaseud, Head Teacher
EFFECTIVE TEACHING
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 2524 UNICEF Laos
“As a Pedagogical
Advisor, it is my job
to provide support to
the teachers in the
classroom—to check
their lesson plans,
observe them
teaching and provide feedback. I also
conduct trainings and workshops to give
teachers new skills. I used to be a
teacher so I know it can be a difficult
job. One of the most common
challenges I see is that many schools
practice multigrade teaching and the
teachers have difficulty planning their
lessons. I never taught multigrade or
had any proper training in how to do it.
I learned the method I recommend to
the teachers—using two sides of the
chalkboard and teaching first to one
grade and then to the other—from my
predecessor in this job. I would really
like to be able to give these teachers
more strategies. Maybe we could visit
schools that do multigrade really well
and share experience with them. I want
to know what good multigrade teaching
looks like.”—Sengdavone Souan-Outhai,
Pedagogical Advisor, Education andSports Bureau, Phalanxai District
08:38 The teacher helps the first grade...
08:38 ..then she helps us.
“The Pedagogical Advisor visits the school about three times a year.When he is here he observes the class and gives me advice on how toimprove my teaching. His suggestions usually help. But I don’t alwaysagree with them. For example, last time he came, he observed me doing a drawing lesson. He said it was a bad idea to allow the children to drawfrom their imaginations. He thought it would be better if they had todraw real objects that were sitting in front of them. In my opinion, whenyou talk about drawing it can be free.”
—Velmani Sipaseud, Head Teacher
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 2726 UNICEF Laos
How does UNICEF help?
UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) as it implements the
national Quality Education Standards in primary schools throughout the country. It does this by:
• Supporting the development of early grade literacy teaching and learning materials, especially
for children who are learning Lao as a second language.
• Providing training in the ‘Schools of Quality’ model to MoES staff in four Provinces and 40
Districts. This includes training for both administrators and teachers at the primary and
secondary level. Specific trainings will focus on building capacity in multi-grade teaching, school
management and leadership.
• Providing child-friendly water and sanitation facilities in approximately 480 primary schools
across the country and introducing hygiene promotion activities within school routines.
• Distributing grade one and two textbooks to all students nation-wide accompanied by the
required teacher guidebooks.
08:58 The teacher calls ondifferent students to present theiranswers in front of the class.
“I’d say I am an average student. I feel like I could have done better inschool this year. I don’t think I’ve paid enough attention to my studies. And I don’t do enough homework. But I get tired of copying from thetextbook. At the beginning of the year, the teacher used to write on theboard and we would copy that into our notebooks. Later, when we gotbetter at reading and writing, we started copying from the textbooksduring class. It’s boring. If I don’t finish at school, I have to finish athome. Sometimes I forget to do it.”
—Loy
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 29
10:41 “As the Village Chief,it is my responsibility to followup on teacher and studentabsences,” says KitKeobounhome. “I go into schoolonce a week to talk with thechildren. They tell me if theteachers are not in school everyday. This is really importantbecause if they are not here ona regular basis, the students willnot be here regularly either. Lastyear, one of the teachers missedthree days during the harvest. Iwent to see them. I said, ‘Youare a salaried governmentemployee. You must do yourduty.’ I have the authority toreport them to the Districtoffice, but I prefer to handlethings in a softer way.”
“The Village Education Development Committee (VEDC) is responsible fortaking care of the school building and organizing repairs. This school is30 years old. During that time the community worked together to changethe roof, add the doors and build the fence. In the future I want this tobe a nice school, with toilets and attractive school grounds. If childrenhave a good experience here, they will want to continue to come to school.”
—Kit Keobounhome, Village Chief and President of the VEDC
How does UNICEF help?
Throughout Lao PDR, the Village and District Education Development Committees, which
are made up of members of the local population, are essential to the delivery of education
services at pre-school, primary and secondary level. Having already received training on their
roles and responsibilities in the areas of school management, enrolment and attendance,
UNICEF and its partners are now working to provide over 14,000 VEDC members in 40
Districts with an in-depth understanding of the new national quality education standards.
The goal is to help make their local schools ‘Schools of Quality’, both at the primary and
secondary levels.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 31
11:55 When I go home for lunch, my brother and someof the others are next door watching cock fighting. Idon’t like it. I eat and go back to school as fast as Ican. I want to be with my friends. At home, I don’t havea choice of which friends I play with, but at school I do.
“Last year, my brother Kemh was in first grade. This year, two of hisfriends quit, so he did too. Now they come to play at school during breaktime, but they don’t come to class.”What will he do in the future if he doesn’t go to school?“He can be a rice farmer like my father. Being a farmer is also good.” Do you talk to him about coming back to school?“No. If he doesn’t listen to my parents when they tell him to go toschool, why would he listen to me?”Do you know what he does all day?“He plays and he goes to the forest to hunt.”
—Loy
“Most of the children in this village who are not in school are at homelooking after younger siblings. A few, like Loy’s brother, are different. Hesays school isn’t fun. I say he’s just lazy. I have told his parents theymust send him to school, but he’s still not going. Compared to my time,there are some fun things to do at school. After school the children canhang around with their friends and play, and there are breaks during theschool day. But children are not at school to have fun.”
—Kit Keobounhome, Village Chief and President of the Village Education Development Committee (VEDC)
CHILD-CENTRED LEARNING
32 UNICEF Laos
13:03 We decide who is first to be ‘it’ and play until school starts again at 13:30.
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 35
How does UNICEF help?
UNICEF and its partners are working to support District Offices in the collection, storage and
use of the data they gather from their schools. They are also working to train District
education officials in the development and analysis of this data for more effective decision
making and the development of Costed District Education Plans. All Districts are required to
produce these, but many fail to do so. The result is poor planning, inefficient use of funds and
an inability to leverage more funding for their schools.
UNICEF support covers both school and District level planning. Sound school plans mean
greater prioritisation of the money schools receive from the national school block grants
scheme towards areas that make a difference to quality schooling. UNICEF will also provide
block grants to District Offices. Among other things these grants can be used to increase the
number of pedagogical visits to schools, train District education staff and/or ensure that
District offices also have adequate water and sanitation facilities.
“One of the other big challenges I face is a lack of teaching and learningmaterials. We don’t have enough textbooks. I do the best I can. Forexample, if several children live near to one another, I give them atextbook to share so that they can do their homework.”
—Velmani Sipaseud, Head Teacher
14:43
ADEQUATE RESOURCES
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 3736 UNICEF Laos
15:32 I When I get home from schoolmy mother is washing the clothes. I helpher whenever she asks. I steam the rice,wash dishes, carry water from the tapand look after my sisters. But she doesmost of the work.
“I went to school through grade three. Then, when I was 14, my parentsdied. All seven of us were sent to live with a different relative. I likedschool and I wanted to continue, but with our family all broken andscattered, I just didn’t feel like going. I also knew there wasn’t much of a future in it for me because I didn’t have the kind of support I wouldneed to continue on for very long. So I stayed home and helped my auntand uncle with the farming. “My husband and I know education is very important for our children’s
future. We will keep them in school for as long as possible, but it is noteasy. What my husband earns is not enough to cover our daily expensesand we have so many children to provide for. But our hope is that theywill be able to stay in school and eventually get a good job so they cantake care of us when we get older. If that is not possible, we will makesure they all get enough education so that they can at least read andwrite.”
—Narm Luangboliboune, Loy’s mother
How does UNICEF help?
Household poverty is a major
determinant of who goes to school, for
how long and with what results. In
general, a poor child is less likely to go to
school than a rich one. UNICEF works to
help the most vulnerable children in
Lao PDR by:
• Working alongside other development
partners to advocate for the
implementation of 'free' primary
education under the law.
• Using 'top up funding' (providing
additional funding to the school block
grants) to help poor-performing schools
achieve national education targets.
• Advocating for the implementation of
the Ministry's policy regarding flexible
school calendars. Allowing schools to
choose their calendar according to the
agricultural season means more children
are able to attend.
ENGAGED PARENTS
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 3938 UNICEF Laos
16:08 I make noodles for us. 16:20 And I wash the dishes before I go to play.
“It seems Loy is an okay student, but I don’t know. I don’t have any contact with the teacher. I haveonly ever been to the school once and that was tomake sure my son was in class.”
—Narm Luangboliboune, Loy’s mother
40 UNICEF Laos Schools for Asia Loy’s story 41
16:40 If my mother ishome, I try to go aloneto play with Koung andPao and my otherfriends. Today I haveto take my sisters withme. I can play untilsunset. Then I have togo home.
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 4342 UNICEF Laos
16:48 When my father gets home from work, mybrother helps him start the ‘steel buffalo’ [power tiller].
“I went to school through grade four. I stopped because I am the eldestson and I had to help my father on our family’s farm. I wish I had beenable to continue, but I didn’t have a choice. I have seen what educationcan do. Some of my siblings stayed on in school and now they have agood job working for the government. “I want my children to stay in school through upper secondary and go
on to get jobs. But that isn’t easy. Our village school is incomplete. Ourchildren have to go to another school for grades four and five. Still, weare luckier than most. When our children reach that point, they can goto live with my parents in town and continue their education there. Forother families, it can be difficult to get their children to school, so somedrop out. “I don’t know what the future holds, but we will continue tosend them to school for as long as we can afford it.”
—Tee Luangboliboune, Loy’s Father
“Right now, children from this area may try to go on to secondaryschool, but because the nearest one is 15 km away, they soon drop out.Transportation is too costly. We have made an agreement with thegovernment that next year we will support the building of a secondaryschool for our community.”
—Kit Keobounhome, Village Chief and President of the VEDC
How does UNICEF help?
Despite the government’s target of 75
per cent participation in secondary
education, the figures remain far lower.
Gross enrolment rate in lower
secondaryschool is 69 per cent, while
that of upper secondary is 36 per cent.
Though secondary education is not
currently an area of focus for UNICEF
Lao PDR—and will not be until a greater
number of children in the country go on
to complete a primary education—the
organisation’s support to the District
Education and Sports Bureaus will allow
District staff to provide a better level of
service to lower secondary schools
through improved skills in educational
planning and management.
A WAY FORWARD
44 UNICEF Laos
17:26 Every afternoon my father checks on the charcoal he makes forour family. He gets mud from a crater. He told me it was made by abomb in the war a long time ago. He uses the mud to cover the smallholes so most of the smoke stays inside.
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 47
17:25 ...Koung and Pao and I do our homework.
17:25 While mother washes my sisters...
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 4948 UNICEF Laos
16:55 Somebody pushed me.
19:20 ...we watch TV and then go to sleep.19:20 After we eat dinner...
19:20 Look what we caught! Everybody likes to eat lizards.
Schools for Asia Loy’s story 5150 UNICEF Laos
All children have the right to receive a quality education.
UNICEF Laos is working with the government, local education authorities and other developmentpartners to ensure that students in educationallydisadvantaged communities get an education thatprovides a solid foundation for a better future.
www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia
52 UNICEF Laos
To fund all of its work UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary donations from individuals,
governments, institutions and corporations. We receive no money from the UN budget.
UNICEF’s goal is to make a difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.
ABOUT UNICEF
All children have rights that guarantee them what they need to survive,grow, participate and fulfill their potential. Yet every day these rights aredenied. Millions of children die from preventable diseases. Millions moredon’t go to school, or don’t have food, shelter and clean water. Childrensuffer from violence, abuse and discrimination. This is wrong. UNICEF works globally to transform children’s lives by protecting and
promoting their rights. Their fight for child survival and development takesplace every day in remote villages and in bustling cities, in peaceful areasand in regions destroyed by war, in places reachable by train or car and interrain passable only by camel or donkey. Their achievements are won school by school, child by child, vaccine by
vaccine, mosquito net by mosquito net. It is a struggle in which success ismeasured by what doesn't happen—by what is prevented.UNICEF will continue this fight—to make the difference for all children,
everywhere, all the time.
Following the success of Schools for Africa, in January
2012 UNICEF launched the Schools for Asia initiative:
www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia
UNICEF Lao PDR
PO Box 1080
KM 3 Tha Deua Road
Vientiane
LAO PDR
Tel : + (856) 21.315.200 - 04
Fax: + (856) 21.314.852
www.unicef.la
Photography, writing and design: Kelley Lynch
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