A Teacher’s Responsibility
The Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR and UNICEF are working together to ensure that all young children in Lao PDR are ready for primary education and continue to stay in school after their enrollment.
Being a teacher is a big responsibility. After all, you are nurturing the future of an entire generation.
But this dauting responsibility has not discouraged Ms. Daovy Atvilay from choosing to be a teacher, a profession that she is passionate about and nurtured for the past nine years. As a pre-primary teacher in Dong Mieng Primary school in Saravanh provinc of Lao PDR, she has the privilege of helping young children aged four to five prepare for primary education and ultimately unlocking their potential in life.
The early years of childhood, especially the pre-primary education years that fall in the middle of the early childhood period, can have a profound impact on a child’s future. When cared for in safe and stimulating environments, young children can develop a strong foundation for life-long learning and success as an adult.
Ms. Daovy aims to help her students build this foundation by engaging them in a variety of activities that combine both play and learning, to help them develop the basic necessary skills related to language, social and emotional skills, logic and problem-solving.
To enhance the support for pre-primary teachers like Ms. Daovy, a new pre-primary teacher guidebook was revised in 2020. The first training on the use of that guidebook was later organised in Saravanh province in December, 2022 and January, 2023. A total of 68 pre-primary teachers participated in the training, including Ms. Daovy.
'This was my first time attending such a training and I learned a lot about new activities based on the new pre-primary teacher guidebook,” reflected Ms. Daovy. “I also learned how to support children with disabilities who have may have special learning needs, such as engaging them in reading exercises using picture books,” she added.
Ms. Daovy alongside other participants enjoyed and actively participated in the training which she says was a great opportunity for her to learn about planning her lessons more effectively, promoting inclusive education and learning environments, and much more.
“I really feel that this training will improve my daily teaching and activities in my pre-primary class."
Ms. Daovay and other pre-primary teachers like her are key towards improving the quality of pre-primary education, which is considered an essential tool for achieving Universal Primary Education and the Sustainable Development Goals. To support Ms. Daovy and teachers like her, the Ministry of Education and Sports and UNICEF, under the auspices of UNICEF Australia, are working together under the “Improving Access to and Quality of Learning” initiative to expand access to quality early childhood education for young children, particularly those living in remote and rural areas.
