|
Rural School in Oudomxay Province for Ethnic Minority Communities
Oudomxay Province, Laos
Global Ministries also has worked with CWS in the reinforcement of school infrastructure in remote, rural Laotian communities over the years. The current special project is to establish a second “lower secondary” (grades six through nine) boarding school in a rural ethnic minority area in Oudomxay Province. The site for this school is the Muong Nga District where CWS has been assisting in the training of primary school teachers for more than ten years. CWS has been working with the Oudomxay Provincial Education Department for more than 20 years and has been involved in re-establishing and improving access to education for ethnic minority (tribal) villages in remote, rural areas of the Province. Initially, the emphasis was on establishing elementary schools. Now they have moved on in support of "lower secondary" schools for grades six through nine (in the U.S. this would be called a middle school or junior high) in remote, ethnic minority areas. The establishment of this school (the second of its kind supported by Global Ministries) will enable more ethnic minority children who have completed fifth grade to continue their education, something that there is not an opportunity for at this time. The first lower secondary school established in this area through Church World Service with support from Global Ministries was in Ano District. The total population of the ethnic minority people which this project will serve is estimated at approximately 20,000 persons. The villagers are rural subsistence farmers and hunters/gatherers. The groups represented in the area are from the Akha, Hmong, and Khmu ethnic minority groups. The number of children expected to attend the new lower secondary school is 150-200 per year for the first three to four years of operation. The number is expected to increase in the following years. These children will be the most highly educated members of their families and villages and will bring benefits to their families as well as their village communities. The "establishment phase" for each lower secondary school is about two years (i.e. two dry seasons) for the construction of buildings. After the buildings are complete, CWS staff in Laos will continue to work with this school for several years as a part of their ongoing program of "Basic Education Improvement in Isolated and Minority Areas” in Laos. The total budget for the establishment phase is approximately $60,000. About $55,000 will be used for constructing the school and housing facilities (using cement, metal roofing, and wood). The complex includes a five-room classroom building, two dormitories (one for men, one for women), securing the water supply, restrooms, kitchen and dining room, and basic housing for some teachers (some teachers will necessarily have to relocate to the school from other areas of Laos). Approximately $5,000 will be used for training the teachers and providing some of them with metal roofing–these teachers will build their own houses. The local residents provide wood and labor for the construction process and also will make the school furnishings by hand. Their contributions are calculated to be approximately $15,000 over and above the $60,000 budget for the first two years. The Oudomxay Provincial Education Department provides supervisory help as well as teacher trainers. It also will provide the salaries for the teachers and school principal which is estimated to be a contribution of approximately $5000 per year. Once the school is established, according to the long-term agreement with CWS, the Provincial Education Department will take permanent responsibility for maintaining it including provision of salaries for teachers and administrators. To reduce poverty through education, especially in rural communities of ethnic minority populations, is an important Critical Presence of Global Ministries in Southern Asia. By providing secondary education to the minority people in this area, there will be hope and opportunities for members of these communities to go on to higher education (including University) where they may become teachers, doctors, agriculturalists, social workers–professions which are now sadly missing from these minority areas. To read the report of the first secondary school built in Oudomxay Province, click here: http://globalministries.org/news/sasia/oudomxay-secondary-school.html |
|
For many years Global Ministries, through its partnership with Church World Service (CWS) and the coordination of Global Ministries staff, social worker Xuyen Dangers, has worked in areas of education in Laos. This work has included the development of Community Development Centers in four rural communities and the establishment of and support to the first students at the School of Social Work at the national university. 