Govt, Catholic Relief Services extend support for primary schools

Laos and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) have started a 5-year school lunch project called “Learning and Engaging All in Primary School” Phase III (LEAPS III).
Laos’ Ministry of Education and Sports, represented by the Inclusive Education Promotion Centre, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CRS on the project, which will be implemented in six districts of Savannakhet province, namely Atsaphon, Phalanxay, Phin, Vilabouly, Xepon and Nong.
This is an ongoing project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programme.

Deputy Minister of Education and Sports Dr Sisouk Vongvichit (centre) on Tuesday witnesses the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Catholic Relief Services and the Inclusive Education Promotion Centre.

Under the MOU, the Ministry and CRS will receive both cash and in-kind contributions worth more than US$16 million, including for local and regional procurement, which will benefit more than 30,000 students in 302 schools of the six districts.
The project aims to improve the attendance, attentiveness and literacy skills of schoolchildren in these six target districts of Savannakhet province.
To improve literacy, the project will ensure that schools have access to resources and community support to improve the quality of literacy instruction through teacher training and mentoring, improve student attentiveness by reducing hunger through the provision of school meals, and improve student attendance through community-supported school feedings and improved early childhood education.
LEAPS III expects to increase access to more than 8 million nutritious meals.
The project will address the need to improve school and community knowledge of health and hygiene practices through infrastructure rehabilitation and hygiene promotion.
This will be achieved by increasing school staff’s knowledge of safe food preparation and storage techniques and access to requisite tools and equipment, increasing community knowledge of nutrition through cook, teacher and caregiver trainings, and increasing access to clean water and sanitation services through water infrastructure.
The project has been designed to ensure that targeted schools are fully equipped for successful graduation into the National School Meals Programme, funded by the Lao government and overseen by the Ministry of Education and Sports, with complete phase down handover by the end of this five-year award.
US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Ms Joy Sakurai, said “In Laos specifically, the US Government has invested more than US$142 million since 2012, including the award to LEAPS III.”
She encouraged the Ministry of Education and Sports and Catholic Relief Services to work together to ensure that the communities served by the programme can ultimately continue the sponsored activities on their own or with support from other sources such as the host government or local community.
CRS Country Representative, Joshua Poole, expressed his sincere thanks to Government of Laos for taking the lead in efforts to sustain the School Lunch Programme by endorsing the School Lunch Promoting Decree in August 2022.
This indicates the strong commitment of the government to invest in continued long-term human resources in Laos, he said.
CRS is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community and has been active since 1943 in assisting impoverished and disadvantaged people in more than 100 countries.
In Laos, CRS focuses its work on school meals, child literacy development, inclusive education, WASH, and nutrition.
For the school lunch project, CRS signed Memorandums of Understanding with the Ministry of Education and Sports in 2013 and 2017 worth more than US$40 million for two phases of the LEAPS project in Savannakhet province.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update November 23, 2022)