1 Feb 2010

LAOS / EDUCATION

UNICEF and the government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic work together to ensure that every child in the country receives a minimum of five years’ primary schooling. UNICEF

Posted at: February 1, 2010 12:55 pm

Duration: 03:00

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: LAO / EDUCATION
TRT:  3:00
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / LAO / AKHA

DATELINE: SEPTEMBER 2009, TAMY VILLAGE, LAO

SHOTLIST:

1. Pan right, interior of classroom, Tamy primary school
2. Med shot, teacher taking register
3. Close up, shot of teacher's attendance register
4. Med shot, boy wearing traditional Akha hat
5. Med shot of teacher talking and standing up from seat
6. Wide shot, teacher writing on board while children watch
7. Med shot, teacher writing in Lao on board
8. Pan left, boy putting large log onto cart
9. Med shot of 11 yr old boy loading cart with logs
10. Wide shot, boy helping his foster father with the log cart
11. SOUNDBITE (Lao) Behea, foster father: 
"I have one boy and one girl. The girl goes to school but this boy helps me in the fields and with household chores."
12. Med shot, 22 year old son
13. Pan right, teacher in schoolroom with children
14. Med shot, students - girls
15. Med shots, students – boys
16. Close shot of students writing numbers
17. Med shot, teacher and students
18. Med shot, students writing on chalkboard
19. Close up, student
20. Med shot, school director and teacher looking at map of Tamy village showing houses and children living in them 
21. Close up, houses on map
22. Med shot, teacher pointing to map
23. Close up, houses on map
24. Close up, house with outlined triangle indicting child who doesn't attend school
25. Close up, Lao letters
26. Med shot, School Director, Juila Thonseng pointing to map
27. Close up, map
28. SOUNDBITE (Lao) Juila thonseng, Director Tamy Primary School:
"At the start of each academic year, we collect the numbers and see how many boys and girls are in school. Then we meet with the education authorities, the Parent Teacher Association and community leaders to explain how important school is. And they talk specifically to parents whose kids are not in school."
29. Wide shot, teacher walking through Tamy village.
30. Pan left, teacher entering hut
31. Med shot, teacher with unidentified man
32. Med shot, teacher talking to man with two children 
33. Close up, man
34. Med shot, teacher talking with small girl
35. SOUNDBITE (Akha) Father of out of school children: 
"I don't send them to school because there is no grandmother or mother in this house. I need help in the field and to take care of the baby."

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE –UNICEF - LUANG PRABANG PROVINCE, LAO PDR

36. Tilt down, Classroom
37. Med shot, student 
38. Med shot, teacher 
39. Med shot, female student laughing
40. Wide shot, female student stading at front of classroom

SEPTEMBER 2009, TAMY VILLAGE, LAO

41. Wide shot, houses in Tamy village, Luang Namtha province.
42. Med shot, boy walking in Tamy village
43. Wide shot, mother walking with children
44. Tilt down, teacher and children in school

STORYLINE:

It is the way the school day starts just about anywhere. But at this primary school in the far north of Laos, taking the register is a routine with extra significance. Most of the students are Akha, from an ethnic group with its own distinct language and culture, and for whom classes in Lao language often can have limited appeal.

Indeed, you do not have to look far in the village to find children who - instead of sitting in a classroom - are hard at work helping bring in the family income.

SOUNDBITE (Lao) Behea foster father: 
"I have one boy and one girl. The girl goes to school but this boy helps me in the fields and with household chores."

Devising lessons that are both relevant and fun is one way of enticing Akha children into the classroom. The Government's Schools of Quality policy, being implemented with UNICEF's support, does exactly that. But making sure no single child in the community misses out on an education is just as important.

So much so that the school director keeps a map on the wall of his office showing where each child in the village lives. Homes marked with an empty circle or triangle indicate a child who is not attending class. For the director, each one represents a challenge.

SOUNDBITE (Lao) Juila thonseng, Director Tamy Primary School:
"At the start of each academic year, we collect the numbers and see how many boys and girls are in school. Then we meet with the education authorities, the Parent Teacher Association and community leaders to explain how important school is. And they talk specifically to parents whose kids are not in school."

Chasing up individual families is the responsibility of teachers like Miss Sano. Today she's going to talk to a man whose two daughters have not been turning up for class. Her visit uncovers an all-too familiar pattern of family breakdown and poverty, a situation in which a child's education can often be a casualty.

SOUNDBITE (Akha) Father of out of school children: 
"I don't send them to school because there is no grandmother or mother in this house. I need help in the field and to take care of the baby."

With well over a thousand Schools of Quality now operating across the country, efforts to increase school enrolment are bearing fruit. Latest figures show that nearly ninety per cent of boys and almost as many girls are now getting the primary education they need. Ensuring children from the wide variety of ethnic groups take their place in class will always be more difficult. But with the commitment of teachers, parents and administrators alike, it is a goal that looks increasingly within reach.