Better education, improved hygiene practices for equal futures
More than 400 students now have improved access to water and sanitation in Saravan province.
When Ms. Khambay Soulavong was young, she always dreamt of working with little children and helping them become active and self-confident individuals. She became the pre-primary teacher she always wanted to be however she faced a challenging reality – one of inequality, poverty and educational disadvantage when she started working in the Keng Kou Primary School in the southern province of Saravan.
The village of Keng Kou has a sparse population and bumpy dirt roads surrounded by cassava trees and uncoated houses. The unfinished houses on the sides of the roads dotted with potholes are situated against a backdrop of stunning greenery, which is a fitting image for the town: there is still some work to do and gaps to fill but also generosity that, when cultivated properly, is ready to reward with its natural resources.
High repetition and low completion rates in schools and conservative achievement numbers are some of the educational issues Keng Kou has. However, an effective early childhood program in this rural hamlet of 790 people has provided the possibility of a better future with quality education for school children, including those in 50 schools in Saravan.
Ms. Soulavong knew how to develop a teaching plan but after receiving the training on effective teaching and learning and class management provided by UNICEF with the support from Hong Kong National Committee, she started to put children at the center of her teaching methodology. The changes she witnessed afterwards were drastic.
“They participate in class more actively and learn better. They explore and learn things in their own way, independently. They have much more confidence now,” she says.
One of Ms. Soulavong’s students is Chantsuda, a four-year-old girl with big dreams. She says she wants to become a doctor and is putting the effort into it, having never skipped a class.
“I like coming here, we run and play games together. I like the learning corner a lot. My favorite is the role play corner,” said Chantsuda. During these activities, she likes to role play as a dentist most of the time.
Learning corners, making materials from local sources, learning through play are all part of the training Ms. Soulavong received alongside 49 other pre-primary teachers in Salavan province. More than 4,000 children benefitted from the training their teachers received along with the early childhood development tool kits and teaching-learning materials, such as coloring books, picture books and storybooks that have been distributed as part of the project.
Numbers prove Ms. Soulavong’s experience. While the repetition rate of Grade 1 students in Vapi district went down to 77 students in 2021-2022 school year from 369 compared to the previous year, the enrollment number of 5 years-old students in Lao Ngam, another district where the project was implemented, rose to 2,263 in the 2021-2022 school year from 1,254 that was recorded a year ago.
Ms. Soulavong added that the results of quality pre-primary education and the impact it can have also helped mobilize the school management and district community as well.
“Parents and community were not aware of the importance of the pre-primary education before. After the training and seeing the results, they realized the importance and difference it can make for children. School principals who also received the effective teaching and learning training mobilized the community and drove advocacy efforts to have more children attend,” stated Ms. Soulavong.
This change was not only noticeable in Ms. Soulavong’s school, but also in other schools where the project was implemented.
Seeing the rapid yet positive results of the investment in pre-primary, such as the washing stations, toilets and the training this project provided, the community also began taking an active role in improving the condition of their schools. They constructed outdoor equipment, helped repair classrooms, provided playground tools as well as materials that can help improve children’s motor skills and social emotional development.
Multiplying the impact with a holistic approach: Improving access to water and hygiene
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of Saravan’s children were estimated to be living under poor sanitary conditions. With the outbreak of COVID-19, ensuring access to water, sanitation and hygiene and enhancing students’ knowledge and practice of positive hygiene behaviors became increasingly important.
As part of this project, UNICEF supported 23 schools with improved access to water through the installation of water stations, construction of toilets and hygiene promotion activities. One of the schools that benefited from this project is the Nong Pho Primary School.
The toilet in Nong Pho Primary School was built in 2021 along with a water connection from an existing water supply and a handwashing station.
“Before the toilet was constructed, children were defecating in the open areas near the school. They were also using the same bucket of water without soap to wash their hands,” says Ms. Khamphavanh Sisamoud, Grade 1 teacher at the Nong Pho Primary School.
“Now we see that apart from implementing the hygiene practices, children are also helping to disseminate their knowledge of these hygiene practices on to their families and the community. One of my students even told me that he taught his family the five steps to properly using the toilet,” Ms. Sisamoud adds.
Like the water that rushes through the pipes when a tap is turned on, children at the Nong Pho Primary School rush to the water station the very moment their break starts. They are dedicated handwashers, they sing the ‘seven steps of handwashing’ song while washing their hands with soap. Handwashing is the new cool for them.
“I wash my hands for one minute with soap. I didn’t know how to wash my hands properly before coming to school. I learnt it from my teacher here at school,” said six years-old Pan.
The improved knowledge about sanitation and hygiene among students is not a coincidence. In addition to providing water supplies to schools, teachers have been trained in hygiene promotion, including group handwashing, proper use of toilet facilities and drinking clean water.
“We also collect garbage, keep our classrooms clean and wash our hands regularly. If we maintain cleanliness, we can stay far away from diseases,” adds Pan. She is one of 442 students who now has improved access to water and sanitation.
Ms. Sisamoud remembers the very first day she started working at the Nong Pho Primary School, a schoolyard without plants and flowers. However, with her encouragement, school management, students, parents all started to plant flowers which shortly turned the school garden into a greener place.
Now with the support the school received, she is witnessing her students grow like the very flowers that are flourishing in the schoolyard.
