unicef laos: sa pae's story

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 1Schools for Asia Lao PDR

Sa Pae’s storyCOMMUNITY-BASED SCHOOL READINESS

2 UNICEF Laos

COMMUNITY-BASED SCHOOL READINESS

Lao People’s Democratic Republic is an ethnically, culturally andlinguistically diverse country. The people of its 49 officially recognizedethnic groups make up almost 50 per cent of the country’s population. However, ethnicity is also a key determinant of vulnerability. Not only dothey face the recurring threat of seasonal food insecurity, they must alsodeal with new commerce and agricultural policies, changes to their naturalresources and rapid cultural transformation. Because most still live inremote rural areas—many of which are inaccessible by road—they havelimited access to government services, including markets, health care and education.

In these pages you will meet five-year-old Sa Pae. He is a member of theAkha community, an ethnic minority estimated to be more than 80,000strong in Laos, that is also present in parts of China, Myanmar and Thailand.Once situated deep in Laos’ jungle-clad mountains, Sa Pae’s communitymoved to its current location in 2008. In 2009 they worked together to buildHuaythad village’s first school and the government provided a teacher.

Despite a demonstrated desire for education, children in Huaythad—likethose in other areas with a large number of ethnic minorities—have tendedto enter school late and their rates of repetition and drop out have beenhigh. Poverty, the need for children to work at home, and low levels ofparental awareness about the value of education, have all played a role in this. So too has another factor: lack of exposure. For many ethnicminorities, first grade brings children’s first encounter not only with school,but also with pencils, paper and books. For many it also brings their firstreal exposure to the Lao language, which is the national language of instruction.

Huaythadvillage

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 3

UNICEF and the Government are committed to ensuring that all children—especially ethnic minorities and others who are at an educationaldisadvantage—enter primary school on time and ready to succeed. Theyrecognise that the key to achieving this is improving school readiness.

Research has shown that pre-school preparation is a clear predictor ofsuccess in primary and even secondary school. Those who start schoolahead, stay ahead; they are less likely to repeat a grade or drop out.

Today, as a result of UNICEF’s advocacy, early childhood education is anintegral part of Lao’s national education plan. And yet to date, just 33 percent of children in Laos, most of them living in urban areas, have access tothis important learning opportunity. Extending the reach of theseprogrammes to children living in small, remote communities has beendifficult and costly—until now.

UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES),is piloting a school readiness programme for communities that have too fewchildren to qualify for a formal pre-primary programme. By askingcommunities to participate in the constuction of facilities and engagingspecially trained ‘volunteer teachers’ they are now providing an effectiveone-year programme to support these children by bridging the gap toprimary school—without requiring a significant investment from the MoES.

Five hundred children in 27 communities, including Sa Pae, currentlyparticipate in the Community-Based School Readiness programme. For threehours every morning, they sing, count, read, write and play. They also learnabout personal hygiene and become familiar with the Lao language. In thecoming years, many more children will benefit—acquiring skills that preparethem for success in school and support them over a lifetime of learning.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 5

Sa Pae is five years old. He lives in Huaythad Village,population 199, in Sing District in the northern highlands ofLao People’s Democratic Republic. Sa Pae lives with hismother, father, two older brothers and younger twin sisters.They are members of the Akha ethnic group. Sa Pae’s father,Paewsa, is a farmer and also works as a labourer on anearby Chinese-owned rubber plantation. His mother, Acha,also works there. Sa Pae’s great grandmother, Sue Too,lives with the family and looks after the children in the day. This year, Sa Pae attended a UNICEF-supported schoolreadiness programme in his village. This is a day in his life.

05:30 Mother gets up early.She lights the fire and startscooking rice for breakfast.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 7

05:43 Then she fetches water.

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06:14 My father gets up later. He prepares breakfast while mother takes care of me and my sisters Meeto and Meeya.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 9

06:23

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06:35

06:51

07:12 The village chieflives in the next house.He stops by to talkwith my parents.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 13

“We moved here five years ago from another location that was veryremote. We wanted to be near the road. At that time, our children had togo to Mom Village—14 km away—to go to school. Those who went wouldlive there during the week and walk home for the weekend. At that time,though we had many children in the village, few went to school, andnobody sent them until they were nine, ten, eleven years old—oldenough to walk alone. After we had been here two years, our villagepeople built the primary classroom and the government sent a teacher. Itoffers grades one through three, still with one teacher.

“Last year the District education people came and talked to us aboutsetting up a pre-school here. They said ‘You have 18 children in thevillage who are five years old. We are starting a new school readinessprogramme and we want to help set it up in your village.’ They also saidthat if our children did not know how to read and write in the Laolanguage they would be different from the children in other villages andthey would face difficulties in the future. We all agreed that we wantedour children to participate. We want them to be educated.

“In the past, when the government people came in and talked with us,we didn’t understand. We didn’t read or write or speak Lao. That made itvery difficult for us to go anywhere. Even for me. I have very littleeducation. I studied to grade two. I can read the Lao alphabet andnumbers but I don’t understand what it all means. Sometimes I feel shywhen I go to town because I can’t read the signs or talk with others. Wewant our children to go to school, not to be like us. These days the Akhapeople can’t get along without education.”

JAYSAVillage Chief

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF Laos is engaged in ongoing

evidence-based research into how to

teach the Lao language to children in pre-

school and primary school. This includes

the development of teaching and

learning materials for the early grades.

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07:23 My brother helps me put my shoes on.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 15

07:25 Most days I walkto school with my twoolder brothers. Today Iwant my father to take me.

07:29 We leave the village. School isn’t very far away.

“Today is a special occasion. The Chief of the village askedeveryone to send their children to school in traditionaldress. We have a jacket for Sa Song, but we don’t haveanything for Sa Pae and Sa Mey to wear. It costs too muchand we don’t have time to make it.”

—Paewsa, Sa Pae’s Father

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“I’m happy to see my children learning. The school buildings are not very good, but I think the teaching is good.

“A couple of years ago, I earned my primary equivalency certificate. Idid it right here in the village. It was a three month course. I didn’t haveany formal education before that. Most of the other people my age wentto school so they know how to read and write and calculate. I wanted tobe like them. I take some of what I grow—bamboo shoots, melons,cucumbers, papayas, chickens and other things—to the border [withChina] on my motorbike. I wanted to be able to understand the numbersand letters I was seeing on motorbikes and bicycles and I wanted to beable to calculate so that I could sell my produce at a good price.

“Does this mean I can help my children with their homework? No, it’sthe other way around, they teach me! Nearly every day, the two olderboys come home from school and read together. When they see me therethey tease me. They say ‘Dad, you got that certificate for leaving primaryschool’—see it? It is the one hanging on the wall over there?—’but wecan read better than you and we are only in grades two and three.’

“I think it’s good that Sa Pae has the chance to go to pre-school. Heisn’t just playing all day. He is getting ready for next year so that he canget a good start in grade one. Then it will be easier for him to continueon to grades two and three. As for going on to grades four and five,which are in another village, we will just have to see what we can afford.”

PAEWSASa Pae’s Father

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF Laos has developed several

resources to encourage parents’

engagement in their children’s health,

development and wellbeing. A television

series called ‘My Village’ (2012),

developed for both parents and young

children, seeks to get parents involved in

their children’s development and learning

through guided play and the creative

delivery of information to caregivers.

In addition, the volunteer community-

based school readiness teachers provide

parents of children enrolled in the pre-

school programme with a parenting

orientation package that contains

information on positive parenting

practices and mother and child health.

07:34

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07:56 My parents leave for work.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 19

08:10 “Rubber tapping is done at night,” explains the village Chief,Jaysa. “During the day we are just removing the grass and weeds.”Rubber came to this area several years ago and Jaysa says they areglad it did: “Previously we lived in the mountains far from othersand far from the road. At that time it was hard to earn money.”

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08:12 We sing and raise the flag.

“Now that we have a school in the village,our children go to school. And because nowwe also have a pre-school here, and becausethe children are happy there, they will insiston starting primary school at age six likethey should. And because they have been inschool and are used to learning, they willlearn well and won’t have to repeat.”

—Jaysa, Village Chief

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 21

08:22 “I am one of the youngest in grade three,” says Sa Pae’s brother Sa Song (centre), who is 12 yearsold. “My friend Thi (right) is 16. He is the oldest inour class. He repeated the first grade three times.”

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“I was in grades one and two in our other village, then I moved to Momvillage to complete grades three, four and five. It was a long way fromhome, but I never complained because I dreamed of working for thegovernment, so I wanted to study hard. My favorite subject? The Laolanguage. I remember how hard it was in grade one because I didn’tunderstand what the teacher was saying when he spoke to us in Lao.Today I am okay at it; not very good, not very bad.

“I finished grade five in 2009 and then I stopped going to school. Iwanted to go on and my parents also wanted me to, but all of my friendsstopped and I didn’t want to be alone in going to a new school for sixthgrade. Now I wish I had chosen differently.

“After I stopped, I worked with my family on our rice farm and helpedthem feed the animals. I had mixed feelings. I was happy to be homeagain, but I also wanted to go back and study. I really didn’t likeworking in the rice field. You walk an hour to get there and then youwork all day in the hot, hot sun. I would be so tired when I got home,but then I still had to feed the animals, collect water, wash the dishesand wash our clothes. There was no time to relax. Then I went to bedand woke up and did the same thing again the next day.

“When the District education people came here and asked for avolunteer to teach pre-school, they talked with the village chief and the

SHONG BOCommunity-Based School Readiness Village Teacher, Huaythad village

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of

Education and Sports (MoES) in

designing and developing an accredited

training programme for Community-

Based School Readiness Village

Teachers. This will be conducted through

a combination of face-to-face training

and on-site practice which will be

monitored by Early Childhood Education

Technical Advisors based in the District

Education and Sports Bureaus. During

the initial pilot phase 48 community

facilitators—usually one young woman

and one young man from each site—

from four Districts in two Provinces

(Luang Namtha and Saravane) have

been trained.

08:26

08:28

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 25

community leaders and then they asked me if I was willing. They saidthey would train me to work with the children so that I could preparethem to go into grade one. I felt so happy when they asked me! I saidyes right away. It is much easier to be a teacher than it is to work in arice field.

“Of course, there are still challenges. The first is my poor under-standing of the Lao language. Second, the school building is not sogood—the community worked together to build it and we did the bestwe could with the resources we have. Third, we don’t have a lot of toysfor playing games and doing different activities; the children want to do new things, not just the same things every day. Another challenge isthe small salary. But the District education people have told me thatbecause I am working as a volunteer teacher, I will get to continue myeducation and go on to become a government teacher. It would be adream come true!

“I feel really excited about that. I like teaching. We play games, learnletters and numbers, sing, dance and draw. I also teach them about basichygiene—cleaning their teeth and washing their hands with soap andwater—things they didn’t do before. But my favorite part is still when Icome into the classroom and they call me ‘teacher.’

“When I am a certified pre-school teacher I want to teach in thisvillage. These children are my neighbors and my relatives. They like meand I like them. I want to see them grow up to have a bright future—tobe nurses or good soldiers—not bad soldiers—and to grow up healthy.”

How does UNICEF help?

Pending the results of this pilot

programme, UNICEF is currently

covering the cost of the stipend for

Community-Based School Readiness

Village Teachers. In time, as the

programme becomes part of the

country’s formal Early Childhood

Education services, it is planned that the

volunteer teachers will continue to

upgrade their education level and receive

teacher training. Once they have met the

requirements for qualification as a

teacher, they will be integrated into the

education system.

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08:35 We sing songs and learn to count.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 27

08:49

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“We first came here about a year ago looking to set up a school readinessprogramme. Our records showed that many children in this village werelate enrolling in school, that it was hard to teach them, and that manyhad to repeat grade one—some of them multiple times.

“The community leaders supported the idea. They proposed that Shong Bo, the only fifth grade graduate in the village, could serve as the volunteer teacher.“After five days of intensive training in the District Offices, Shong Bo

and the other volunteer teachers received a printed manual to guidethem through teaching the lessons and returned back to their villages tostart work.

“Because these volunteer teachers come from ethnic communities,many have limited education and a limited understanding of Lao.Looking back, I don’t think they understood everything we covered inthe training. And they don’t understand much of what is in the teachingmanuals they received—they are also in Lao and are pitched at level thatis too high for them. So right now the two days of training they receiveevery three months and my visits to them at the community-based siteshave to take them the rest of the way.

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF is committed to supporting the

Government in strengthening educational

management and planning in four of Lao’s

most educationally disadvantaged

Districts. This includes building the

capacity of the District Offices to develop

annual costed plans which will allow them

to obtain funding for early childhood

education from the central budget.

Support to District Education staff is

also key. UNICEF works with Early

Childhood Education (ECE) Technical

Advisors to build their capacity. It also

provides them with tools to monitor

teachers and facilitators, and gives them

money to cover the costs of their transport

for training and monitoring.

By supporting education personnel at

the District level, UNICEF is working to

ensure that the 500 children in the pilot

and the 1500 who will be involved in its

expansion over the next two years, receive

a quality service that is sustainable.

PHENGSY KEOMANIUONGEarly Childhood Education Technical Advisor, Sing District Education Bureau

08:55

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“Unfortunately, the more remote the community is, the more difficultit is for me to support and to monitor. Huaythad is a very remote village.It takes me more than three hours on bad roads to get here on mymotorbike. And I have other schools to monitor as well, so it is hard toget here as often as I would like. But I come as often as I can—sometimes once or twice or even three times a month—because of all the schools I am responsible for, this one needs the most attention andShong Bo needs the most support.

“When I come, we talk through everything that is in the manual and Ishow her how to teach the children. I also encourage her to speak moreLao in class so that the children will be ready for it next year.

“I also make sure to visit a site regularly when I am afraid a volunteermight stop working. The stipend they receive is just 130,000 kip (US$17) per month—which they could earn in just over a day’s workcollecting bananas or working in a rubber plantation. That’s why weoffer the incentive of further training—all of these teachers are onlyworking because one day, they want to be permanent governmentteachers. There are challenges to making this happen, but it is a promisewe absolutely must keep if we want to have more volunteer teachers inthe future.”

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF has consistently sought toexpand the reach and quality of earlychildhood education in Laos throughpolicy development and piloting. Thiswork and their work with thegovernment to develop national earlychildhood education standards, will help

ensure that all children, regardless of

where they live, receive early childhood

services that meet or exceed the

minimum standard.

08:58

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09:13 We play with blocks...

09:41 ...make bracelets out of clay...

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 33

10:03 ...and learn to write.

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF and the Government have worked together to develop a

core curriculum for the community-based school readiness

programme. The topics covered include village life, family life,

traditional ritual activities, the environment, roles of community

members and how to interact with others. Emphasis is given to

reinforcing children’s pride in their culture of origin.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 35

10:24 We learn to cut with scissors.

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Sports provide all community-based school readiness centres with relevant

materials for both teachers and students through Early Childhood Education kits. Where possible, basic furniture for

seating is also provided. In many centres, like Huaythad’s, one of the greatest challenges is storing the materials so

that they are not destroyed by the elements. In these centres the Community-Based School Readiness Village Teachers

are provided with facilities for storing pedagogical materials in their homes.

Children’s story books developed in cooperation with the My VillageTV programme and private printing firms

reinforce learning and help address a serious shortage of books for young children. UNICEF trained these firms in how

to design and produce appropriate storybooks for young children. Twelve storybooks were produced in 2013; ten will

be produced in 2014 and ten more in 2015.

36 UNICEF Laos

“I am so happy that the children in our community are going to school,and now to pre-school. We don’t want them to work on rubberplantations. We want them to be doctors, nurses teachers and police—good police! People of my generation can’t become those things becausewe have no knowledge. But we want them to.

“We know things are not perfect. When it rains—especially if it’swindy—the children in the pre-school may get wet. And the teacher,despite being the highest educated person in our village, doesn’tunderstand or speak Lao very well, so the children don’t get everythingthey need from her to prepare them for school. But we encourage herbecause this programme is important for our children and for ourcommunity. The children are learning, and they are also teaching. Theybring home what they learn at school—not just the games they play orthe songs they sing, but information about the importance of washingtheir hands and bodies with soap and cleaning their teeth, and parentslisten.

“The other benefit for parents is that while their children are atschool, they have time to take care of other business—working in therubber plantation, feeding the animals, working in the field—withouthaving to take their small children with them. This allows mothers toalso work and earn money to help support their families.”

SHOBIACommunity Leader

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF will ensure that every

community-based school readiness

centre has access to sanitation facilities

and an adequate supply of safe water so

that children can wash their hands with

soap as part of the morning routine.

As these centres are developed further,

they will also benefit from linkages with

other sectors. Mr Keune, Deputy

Director of the Department of Pre-school

and Primary Education at the Ministry of

Education and Sports, explains: “In the

future other sectors—health, agriculture,

transport—will also be involved in our

programmes, because education can’t do

it all alone. For example, latrines and

water supply for schools may require

drilling a borehole. Access to school may

require building a section of road. And

hygiene education is an important part of

the curriculum. All of these fall under

other sectors, so leadership on these

issues must come from everyone in the

District government because all of these

sectors need cross coordination.”

10:38

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Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 39

10:59 We sing a song and say goodbye until tomorrow.

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“Every day when Sa Pae gets home, he shows me what he learned inschool. He is learning a lot. I really like having him show me, eventhough I can’t read or write at all.

“I am not sure how old I am. Maybe 80? When I was a girl, we lived inthe forests in the mountains near the border with Myanmar. There was noroad. It was very, very far to the nearest town and very, very rare that wewent there. No one in our village went to school. We didn’t even know theword ‘school,’ and we’d never heard of reading or writing. We never sawanything to read. Even in the town there were few pictures or letters.

“Today, things are very different. If you are like me and you don’t haveany learning it is difficult. We don’t know how to talk to outsiders and wedon’t know how to read or write, but we want our children to learn.”

SUE TOOSa Pae’s Great Grandmother

11:06 My class goes home.

11:31 When I gethome I like toshow my GreatGrandmother andmy sisters what Ilearned at school.

12:24 “When we bathe in thestream Sa Pae always tells me‘Grandma, use soap! Use soap!”...”

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 43

13:18 ”...and before we eat he always reminds me that we must first wash our hands.”

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15:31 I play with the other boys in the village.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 45

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16:43 My aunt Meechu is going to get water. I want to help.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 47

“We get positive feedback from the community about the children in theschool-readiness programme. Most say the children are more polite, morehelpful at home, play better with others and listen better to their eldersthan before. The community really likes that.”

—Phengsy KeomaniuongTechnical Staff for Pre-school and Primary Education

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“When I was young, there was no school in our village. I am glad mychildren get to go to school. I want them to continue at least throughgrade three, which is now available here in the village. It could be verydifficult to send them on to grade four or five. My husband and I workall day, every day, in the rubber plantation. We still have troubleproviding them with enough food, not to mention school clothes andschool materials—and they are studying in this village. It would cost somuch more if they had to go to school in another village.

“We would like them to do well in school and continue on if they can.If they could go on to get a job that would be good. But if not, we wantthem to work and live with us and be good children. Going to schoolseems to help that.”

ACHASa Pae’s Mother

17:13 Mother comes home.

17:24

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 51

17:48 She feeds the animals.

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18:09 Father cooks dinner and we eat.

18:54 ”Our village has had electricityfor less than a year,” says Paewsa,“but everybody has a TV. We like towatch Thai dramas.”

All children deserve the opportunity to attend aquality early childhood education programme.

UNICEF is working with the government andlocal education authorities to provide Lao PDR’s most vulnerable children with community-based

programmes that prepare young children for success in school and lifelong learning.

www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia

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 andpromoting 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 byvaccine, 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.

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

Following the success of Schools for Africa, in January 2012

UNICEF launched the Schools for Asia initiative:

www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia