Heavy rain on 29 and 30 August caused flash floods across northern Laos, damaging schools in Luang Namtha and Oudomxay provinces and destroying textbooks and other learning materials.
More than 40 educational institutions across the two provinces were affected, with primary schools accounting for more than half. Floodwaters and landslides damaged school buildings, furniture, electrical systems, textbooks, teacher guides, and learning equipment.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has received emergency support from Australia and Japan to replace lost learning materials and help affected schools resume normal classes.
Australia, through the BEQUAL programme, provided 3,651 textbooks for students in Grades 1 to 5, covering Lao language, science and the environment, and English. It also supplied 6,550 notebooks, 6,330 pencils, nearly 900 storybooks and practice books, more than 500 educational posters, and sports equipment, including footballs, volleyballs, rattan balls, and badminton sets.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided 2,692 primary mathematics textbooks for students in Grades 1 to 5.
Officials handed over the materials on 13 October in Vientiane. Michael Currie, first secretary at the Australian Embassy, and Nobuyuki Kobe, senior representative at the JICA Laos office, presented them to Vilayphone Phommahaxay, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education and Sports.
Schools Face Long Recovery
Vilayphone said schools had cleaned and repaired their facilities after floodwaters receded, allowing students to return to class. However, some buildings suffered structural damage from erosion and still require repairs or reconstruction.
Provincial education authorities in both provinces have worked with disaster management committees to assess the damage and prepare recovery plans for provincial authorities.
The Ministry of Education and Sports has also allocated emergency construction funding through the Global Partnership for Education Phase 3 programme to rebuild the primary school building in Na Teuy village, Namtha District, Luang Namtha Province.
Vilayphone thanked Australia and JICA for their support, saying that education must continue despite the disruption caused by natural disasters.
“By helping schools replace essential learning materials damaged by the floods, we aim to reduce disruption, support teachers, and create better conditions for students to continue learning during the recovery period,” Currie said.
Kobe said JICA’s mathematics textbooks would replace books damaged or destroyed by the floods and help teachers organise lessons while giving students the materials they need to continue learning.
Editor’s Note: This article was contributed by BEQUAL Laos. Views and information presented are those of the contributing organization.
