UNICEF Laos: Sa Pae's story

Sa Pae’s story COMMUNITY-BASED SCHOOL READINESS

Schools Laostory PDR1 Schoolsfor forAsia Asia Sa Pae’s

COMMUNITY-BASED SCHOOL READINESS

Huaythad village

2 UNICEF Laos

Lao People’s Democratic Republic is an ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse country. The people of its 49 officially recognized ethnic groups make up almost 50 per cent of the country’s population.

However, ethnicity is also a key determinant of vulnerability. Not only do they face the recurring threat of seasonal food insecurity, they must also deal with new commerce and agricultural policies, changes to their natural resources and rapid cultural transformation. Because most still live in remote rural areas—many of which are inaccessible by road—they have limited 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 the Akha community, an ethnic minority estimated to be more than 80,000 strong in Laos, that is also present in parts of China, Myanmar and Thailand.

Once situated deep in Laos’ jungle-clad mountains, Sa Pae’s community moved to its current location in 2008. In 2009 they worked together to build Huaythad village’s first school and the government provided a teacher.

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

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

Research has shown that pre-school preparation is a clear predictor of success in primary and even secondary school. Those who start school ahead, 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 an integral part of Lao’s national education plan. And yet to date, just 33 per cent of children in Laos, most of them living in urban areas, have access to this important learning opportunity. Extending the reach of these programmes to children living in small, remote communities has been difficult 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 few children to qualify for a formal pre-primary programme. By asking communities to participate in the constuction of facilities and engaging specially trained ‘volunteer teachers’ they are now providing an effective one-year programme to support these children by bridging the gap to primary school—without requiring a significant investment from the MoES. Five hundred children in 27 communities, including Sa Pae, currently participate in the Community-Based School Readiness programme. For three hours every morning, they sing, count, read, write and play. They also learn about personal hygiene and become familiar with the Lao language. In the coming years, many more children will benefit—acquiring skills that prepare them for success in school and support them over a lifetime of learning.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 3

Sa Pae is five years old. He lives in Huaythad Village, population 199, in Sing District in the northern highlands of Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Sa Pae lives with his mother, 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 a nearby 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 school readiness programme in his village. This is a day in his life.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 5

05:30 Mother

gets up early.

She lights the fire and starts cooking rice for breakfast.

05:43 Then

she fetches water.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 7

06:14 My

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

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06:23 Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 9

06:35

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06:51

07:12 The

village chief lives in the next house.

He stops by to talk with my parents.

JAYSA Village Chief

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF Laos is engaged in ongoing evidence-based research into how to teach the Lao language to children in preschool and primary school. This includes the development of teaching and learning materials for the early grades.

“We moved here five years ago from another location that was very remote. We wanted to be near the road. At that time, our children had to go to Mom Village—14 km away—to go to school. Those who went would live 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, and nobody sent them until they were nine, ten, eleven years old—old enough to walk alone. After we had been here two years, our village people built the primary classroom and the government sent a teacher. It offers grades one through three, still with one teacher.

“Last year the District education people came and talked to us about setting up a pre-school here. They said ‘You have 18 children in the village who are five years old. We are starting a new school readiness programme and we want to help set it up in your village.’ They also said that if our children did not know how to read and write in the Lao language they would be different from the children in other villages and they would face difficulties in the future. We all agreed that we wanted our 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 it very difficult for us to go anywhere. Even for me. I have very little education. I studied to grade two. I can read the Lao alphabet and numbers but I don’t understand what it all means. Sometimes I feel shy when I go to town because I can’t read the signs or talk with others. We want our children to go to school, not to be like us. These days the Akha people can’t get along without education.”

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 13

07:23 My

brother helps me put my shoes on.

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07:25 Most

days I walk to school with my two older brothers. Today I want 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 asked everyone to send their children to school in traditional dress. We have a jacket for Sa Song, but we don’t have anything for Sa Pae and Sa Mey to wear. It costs too much and we don’t have time to make it.”

—Paewsa, Sa Pae’s Father Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 15

PAEWSA Sa Pae’s Father

“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. I did it right here in the village. It was a three month course. I didn’t have any formal education before that. Most of the other people my age went to school so they know how to read and write and calculate. I wanted to be like them. I take some of what I grow—bamboo shoots, melons, cucumbers, papayas, chickens and other things—to the border [with China] on my motorbike. I wanted to be able to understand the numbers and letters I was seeing on motorbikes and bicycles and I wanted to be able 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’s the other way around, they teach me! Nearly every day, the two older boys come home from school and read together. When they see me there they tease me. They say ‘Dad, you got that certificate for leaving primary school’—see it? It is the one hanging on the wall over there?—’but we can 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. He isn’t just playing all day. He is getting ready for next year so that he can get a good start in grade one. Then it will be easier for him to continue on 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.”

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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 communitybased school readiness teachers provide parents of children enrolled in the preschool programme with a parenting orientation package that contains information on positive parenting practices and mother and child health.

07:34

07:56 My 18 UNICEF Laos

parents leave for work.

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 are glad it did: “Previously we lived in the mountains far from others and far from the road. At that time it was hard to earn money.”

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 19

08:12 We

sing and raise the flag.

“Now that we have a school in the village, our children go to school. And because now we also have a pre-school here, and because the children are happy there, they will insist on starting primary school at age six like they should. And because they have been in school and are used to learning, they will learn well and won’t have to repeat.”

—Jaysa, Village Chief 20 UNICEF Laos

08:22 “I

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

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 21

SHONG BO Community-Based School Readiness Village Teacher, Huaythad village

“I was in grades one and two in our other village, then I moved to Mom village to complete grades three, four and five. It was a long way from home, but I never complained because I dreamed of working for the government, so I wanted to study hard. My favorite subject? The Lao language. I remember how hard it was in grade one because I didn’t understand 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. I wanted to go on and my parents also wanted me to, but all of my friends stopped and I didn’t want to be alone in going to a new school for sixth grade. Now I wish I had chosen differently.

“After I stopped, I worked with my family on our rice farm and helped them feed the animals. I had mixed feelings. I was happy to be home again, but I also wanted to go back and study. I really didn’t like working in the rice field. You walk an hour to get there and then you work 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 dishes and wash our clothes. There was no time to relax. Then I went to bed and woke up and did the same thing again the next day.

“When the District education people came here and asked for a volunteer to teach pre-school, they talked with the village chief and the 22 UNICEF Laos

How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) in designing and developing an accredited training programme for CommunityBased 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

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.

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

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

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

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

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 25

08:35 We 26 UNICEF Laos

sing songs and learn to count.

08:49 Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 27

How does UNICEF help?

PHENGSY KEOMANIUONG Early Childhood Education Technical Advisor, Sing District Education Bureau

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.

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“We first came here about a year ago looking to set up a school readiness programme. Our records showed that many children in this village were late enrolling in school, that it was hard to teach them, and that many had 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 guide them through teaching the lessons and returned back to their villages to start 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 in the training. And they don’t understand much of what is in the teaching manuals they received—they are also in Lao and are pitched at level that is too high for them. So right now the two days of training they receive every three months and my visits to them at the community-based sites have to take them the rest of the way.

08:55

“Unfortunately, the more remote the community is, the more difficult it 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 my motorbike. And I have other schools to monitor as well, so it is hard to get 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 and Shong Bo needs the most support.

“When I come, we talk through everything that is in the manual and I show her how to teach the children. I also encourage her to speak more Lao 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 volunteer might 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 work collecting bananas or working in a rubber plantation. That’s why we offer the incentive of further training—all of these teachers are only working because one day, they want to be permanent government teachers. There are challenges to making this happen, but it is a promise we absolutely must keep if we want to have more volunteer teachers in the future.”

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How does UNICEF help?

UNICEF has consistently sought to expand the reach and quality of early childhood education in Laos through policy development and piloting. This work and their work with the government to develop national early childhood 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

09:13 We

play with blocks...

09:41 ...make 32 UNICEF Laos

bracelets out of clay...

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 33

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 Village TV 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.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 35

How does UNICEF help?

SHOBIA Community Leader

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.”

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“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 rubber plantations. We want them to be doctors, nurses teachers and police— good police! People of my generation can’t become those things because we have no knowledge. But we want them to.

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

“The other benefit for parents is that while their children are at school, they have time to take care of other business—working in the rubber plantation, feeding the animals, working in the field—without having to take their small children with them. This allows mothers to also work and earn money to help support their families.”

10:38

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10:59 We

sing a song and say goodbye until tomorrow.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 39

11:06 My

class goes home.

SUE TOO Sa Pae’s Great Grandmother

“Every day when Sa Pae gets home, he shows me what he learned in school. He is learning a lot. I really like having him show me, even though 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 in the forests in the mountains near the border with Myanmar. There was no road. It was very, very far to the nearest town and very, very rare that we went there. No one in our village went to school. We didn’t even know the word ‘school,’ and we’d never heard of reading or writing. We never saw anything 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 have any learning it is difficult. We don’t know how to talk to outsiders and we don’t know how to read or write, but we want our children to learn.”

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11:31 When I get

home I like to show my Great Grandmother and my sisters what I learned at school.

12:24 “When

we bathe in the stream Sa Pae always tells me ‘Grandma, use soap! Use soap!”...”

13:18 ”...and

before we eat he always reminds me that we must first wash our hands.”

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 43

15:31 I 44 UNICEF Laos

play with the other boys in the village.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 45

16:43 My

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aunt Meechu is going to get water. I want to help.

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

—Phengsy Keomaniuong Technical Staff for Pre-school and Primary Education

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 47

17:13 Mother

comes home.

ACHA Sa Pae’s Mother

“When I was young, there was no school in our village. I am glad my children get to go to school. I want them to continue at least through grade three, which is now available here in the village. It could be very difficult to send them on to grade four or five. My husband and I work all day, every day, in the rubber plantation. We still have trouble providing them with enough food, not to mention school clothes and school materials—and they are studying in this village. It would cost so much 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 want them to work and live with us and be good children. Going to school seems to help that.”

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17:24

17:48 She

feeds the animals.

Schools for Asia Sa Pae’s story 51

18:09 Father 52 UNICEF Laos

cooks dinner and we eat.

18:54 ”Our

village has had electricity for less than a year,” says Paewsa, “but everybody has a TV. We like to watch Thai dramas.”

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

UNICEF is working with the government and local 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

ABOUT UNICEF UNICEF’s goal is to make a difference for all children, everywhere, all the time.

All children have rights that guarantee them what they need to survive, grow, participate and fulfill their potential. Yet every day these rights are denied. Millions of children die from preventable diseases. Millions more don’t go to school, or don’t have food, shelter and clean water. Children suffer 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 takes place every day in remote villages and in bustling cities, in peaceful areas and in regions destroyed by war, in places reachable by train or car and in terrain 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 is measured 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.

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 Lao PDR

PO Box 1080 KM 3 Tha Deua Road Vientiane LAO PDR Tel : + (856) 21.315.200 - 04 Fax: + (856) 21.314.852 Following the success of Schools for Africa, in January 2012 UNICEF launched the Schools for Asia initiative:

www.unicef.la

Photography, writing and design: Kelley Lynch

www.supportunicef.org/schoolsforasia