"One, two, three, four!" a young man shouted as he punched the air energetically with his fists, his feet keeping to the beat of music belting out of an old sound system. Behind him, forty grade school children fervently followed his every move. Beads of sweat formed on their foreheads as their hearts got pumping, and sometimes they giggled when they could not keep up.
Further away in a classroom, a small group of children were concentrating on the right way to move their fingers, hands, feet and bodies to the traditional Lao music in the background. A female volunteer corrected their poses, paying attention to the exact height of their hands and the delicate way they curled their fingers.
This colourful scene at Noungbouthongtai Primary School takes place every weekday afternoon when young volunteers, known as Youth Leaders, from PADETC (Participatory Development Training Centre) turn up.
The QS project, which began officially in 2005 to improve the quality of education, takes a multi-pronged approach: first, lesson plans based on the national curriculum were formulated using active learning principles; second, teachers were introduced and trained in child-friendly methods to implement the new lessons plans, and encouraged to move away from the 'chalk and talk' method; third, Youth Leaders were trained to carry out extracurricular activities, and to assist the teachers to adopt the child rights approach to teaching and learning; fourth, parents were encouraged to be more proactive with their children's education by getting involved in school activities.
"That atmosphere in Noughbouthongtai wasn't an easy one to achieve," said Sombath Somphone, director of PADETC. "It took the teachers a while to accept that some level of noise and play in school is acceptable and that it makes school fun for the children."
Making the ten schools a fun destination to go to has led to higher school attendance rates and better performance in the national examinations.
Teacher Khamhoo Phanthalasy said: "It's very good because all the activities make the children less stressed and there is now higher attendance in school than before."
She pointed out 11 year old Hatsaphone Mahaxay who travels 40 km daily to attend Noungbouthontai Primary although there are many other schools nearer to his village.
"My father got to know about the school here and the activities so he decided to send me here. I like the activities here especially the Lao dance class," the boy said.
In fact, the high attendance at Quality Schools is uncommon: most Lao schools are facing low attendance rates and high repetition rates in classes, as a local newspaper pointed out on January 14, 2007. The problem of truancy, it says, is affecting the quality of education at all levels.
Following the pilot's success, the government gave the green light for PADETC to expand its project to more schools. In mid-2006, PADETC staff trained teachers in 134 schools in Vientiane, Xiengkuang and Sayabouly provinces, on child-centered teaching methods and to introduce the lesson plans.
In early 2007, a nationwide forum was held in Vientiane to discuss the incorporation of Youth Leaders and extracurricular activities into the mainstream education system. This would be the precursor to eventual adoption and implementation of the Quality School model to all Lao schools in the future.
"I think a lot of the success of the QS project was due to the participation of our youth volunteers, " said Somphone. "They helped to demonstrate and assist the traditional teachers to implement the activities in the lesson plans in activity-based learning. The young people promoted discovery-based approaches and were more student-centred.
"It was only after seeing how the children loved the activities and learnt much better that the traditional teachers were willing to apply the activities in the lesson plans."
The idea of young people showing older people how to teach, runs against the grain of traditional Lao culture: it turns the concept of education on its head, and demands that both the young volunteers and teachers be open-minded in order for the exchange of knowledge to occur.
"Initially the community and the school couldn't understand the activities, and were not sure if the volunteers really could teach. They said they were too young and inexperienced," said Bouachan Thanouvong, QS Project Officer.
She continued: "At first they only allowed me to teach so I would teach for the first hour and then let the volunteers teach the second hour to let the teachers see if they are ok.
"The teachers saw the change in students and asked, 'How did the volunteers do it?' After members of the community came to see some of the activities, the school allowed the young people to teach."
On weekends, it is not uncommon to see a cluster of slippers and shoes at the bottom of a staircase leading up to PADETC's training room. Here is where groups of young people come for training before they can run classes. After all, they are considered 'teachers' by the young children and their work closely scrutinized by the community and authorities.
Each batch of Youth Leaders undergo general orientation and then specific skills training in their chosen subjects. These trainings are conducted by the centre's staff, senior volunteers and also members of communities. Most of the young teachers are undergraduates who have to balance their schoolwork with voluntary work.
At Thongkang Primary, a class of eight students in a drama class were putting up a short drama about rural communities not seeking proper medical help when ill. The script was developed by their teacher Dune Sioubon, who had been assisted by two Youth Leaders to run the drama class.
"The children are showing off their abilities more now. They don't just come to study but to also have fun," said Sioubon.
School director Khounvilay Khenkitisack observed that the volunteers have really made a difference in both students and teachers.
"In the past, the students were afraid of the teachers, but now not so much after the volunteers came. This was because the age gap of the volunteers with the children was narrower than with the teachers. The children treat the volunteers like older brothers and sisters and also dare to joke with them. And when the volunteers teach, there is always a teacher with them, so the teachers have improved their teaching skills too," she explained.
The Youth Leaders, acting as bridges between teachers and students, have gained the respect from adults with their commitment and abilities. The communities they work in, as well as the authorities, are now aware of the role that these young people can play in the country's development.
"I've seen a change in the young people. Before, they were like children, now they are like adults. They've learnt to manage their time, learnt to be leader and follower, and learnt to appreciate what it means to be a teacher. They have also developed values to help society," said Thanouvong.
*ENDS*
Copyright PADETC
Written by Bridgette See
For more information: www.padetc.org
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