Some project success stories (Education)

Participatory school improvement and renovation

In order to contribute in improving and solving the aforementioned problems, the project worked together with 18 teachers and students from Savannakhet Technical-Vocational College (Construction-Carpentry Department) under the guidance of the committee from the Office of Education and Sports in the district to implement together with the community with both village technicians and parents until they were able to achieve the following goals in 12 schools: build 3 toilets, 3 drilled water bores, 5 school signs and 5 school barbed fences, build 2 flag poles, 1 bulletin information board, 6 bookcases, extend 1 additional wooden classroom, provide 6 blackboards, 11 school toys and build a new wooden school using old and new wooden, 1 additional classroom. There are some schools in the target area of the project that are up to standard and beautiful because of the support and help from many parties. But there are still some schools where the assistance has not yet reached, some schools were built by the community as a joint effort, but they are not up to standard, the tables and boards are broken and some schools are not enough classroom. Some schools have been built for a long time and are now dilapidated whether the walls, roof, ceiling and other facilities that caused a shortage of classrooms.

Thus, students have to study together at the same classrooms. In addition, schools are still lacking of other facilities such as wells, drilled water bores system, toilets as well as attractive outdoor playground equipment to motivate children wanting to go to school, such as swing outdoor playground and traditional outdoor slicing sport equipment..etc.

The implementation of the activity, the project team was very impressed with the achievement because of the participation of the parents of the people in the village who provided assistance with labor and necessary construction equipment (plank wood, sawed wood...). Previously, the initial thought of the project team that there may not be good cooperation up to this stage, but in fact everyone was working together to implement activities for the school and students. After completing the invention of the toys (outdoor playground equipment), the students have tried to play with that equipment, and the project teams could observe was that the students come to school in earlier time, during the break hours the students have a place to play and have fun, the students' minds are cheerful because they play with new equipment together with many friends, which could be attracting students to come to school every day without school absent.