New Phongsaly secondary school to benefit 1,700 students

The children of Bounneua district in Phongsaly province now have a new secondary school, built with more than 49 billion kip (VNĐ120 billion) in grant funding from the Vietnamese government.
The school, in Bounneua village, was handed over to Lao authorities on June 30.
A project official, Mr Hom Moukda, told Vientiane Times recently that the new school has two three-storey buildings with 40 classrooms and each room will be fully furnished.

There will also be a teachers’ office, a school club and a sports field. More than 1,700 students will benefit from having a larger and improved learning environment.
The project has been implemented with the assistance of the Vietnamese government, which granted more than 49 billion kip (VNĐ120 billion) to mark the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Laos and the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Laos-Vietnam Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
The project aims to provide high quality facilities allowing learning and teaching to be improved to meet international standards while advancing basic education outcomes and supporting human resource development.
The modern buildings will significantly enhance the learning environment, and it is hoped the students will be better qualified to contribute to the country’s development.
The Lao and Vietnamese governments have collaborated in several areas, including education development.
At the end of last year, Vietnam also handed over a new school in Dakcheung district of Xekong province, built with 9 billion kip (US$1 million) in grant funding.
The two-storey school has six classrooms, four laboratories, two computer rooms, a teachers’ office, library, meeting room, and two storerooms as well as toilets and other facilities.
The modern building is facilitating learning and teaching and helping raise education levels to international standards, which is supporting efforts towards much-needed education reform in Laos and improved human resource development.
In recent years, the Vietnamese government provided more than 50 billion kip to construct a new secondary school in Paek district of Xieng Khuang province.
Vietnam also provided a grant of more than 10 billion kip for building a new secondary school in Pakxan district of Borikhamxay province.
In addition, the eastern neighbour granted more than 16 billion kip to build the Laos-Vietnam Friendship Secondary School in Savannakhet province and supported a Vietnamese language programme in Champassak province.

By Phomphong Laoin
(Latest Update July 3, 2020)