For twelve weeks, nine-year-old Lattanakong spent almost every day in the fields or in his parents' garden. Now school is starting again and Lattanakong swaps the watering can for a pen.
The village of Nongpad is located in the province of Bolikhamsai in the center of Laos, nestled between agricultural zones and mountains, and can only be reached by car in good weather due to the mostly muddy road. 1400 people live here. One of them is nine-year-old Lattanakong. He lives with his little sister and his parents in a spacious house right next to the school. He is happy that he can finally visit again after twelve weeks of summer vacation. Although he really enjoyed the field and garden work, which he was allowed to do during the holidays. But at school he meets his friends. He can learn and play with them and show them what he learned in his parents' garden. The primary school here also has its own garden.
Green schools
Gardening in the schools is part of the Clean and Green School aspect of our project in Laos. Here the students learn how to be careful with nature, separate and dispose of waste properly, follow hygiene measures, grow local food themselves and use it for their lunch. Together with our partner organization, we develop guidelines for schools to achieve the "Clean and Green School" label. These measures not only promote the environmental education of Lattanakong and his schoolmates, but also enable them to learn in a clean, plastic-free and green environment.
Valuable further education
In addition, the students benefit from qualified teachers. Because we train teachers in children's rights, the implementation of the new national curriculum and the teaching of language and mathematics skills. Lattanakong's parents, who are trained teachers themselves and benefit from the further training, very much welcome the initiative. “The courses are really valuable. Although the government gives us a new curriculum, we are not taught how to implement it. I only learned that through further training," says Lattanakong's mother, Yia Song.
“The courses are really valuable. Although the government gives us a new curriculum, we are not taught how to implement it. I only learned that through further training."
Improved basic training for teachers
This project is implemented together with the local partner organization Dongkhamxang Teacher Training College (DTTC). The teacher training college is located in Laos' capital Vientiane. Here we support the training of prospective teachers. At the same time, we conduct further training in the provinces of Vientiane and Bolikhamsai. Many successes have already been achieved in the current second project phase. In November 2023, the next phase of the project will move seamlessly.
The program is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA.
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