Khok Pa Wai Primary School is located in Khok Pa Wai Village, Uthumphone District, Savannakhet Province, Laos. The village has 1522 inhabitants and is home to 372 families. It is 43 km away from the city of Savannakhet. The majority of the population depends on animal husbandry, industrial agriculture and construction for their livelihood.

The primary school in Khok Pa Wai, founded in 1990, has 2 school buildings. One is a new concrete building constructed in 2018 while the other is a dilapidated wooden building constructed in 1990. These buildings have a total of 5 classrooms and can accommodate 139 students, of which 66 are boys and 73 are girls aged 6-11. One of the five classrooms is the only room in the new concrete building and is in very good condition. The other four classrooms are in the original school building. This building is in very poor condition. Not only is this unsafe for teachers and students, but the large gaps in the walls between classrooms mean that students are easily distracted, creating a poor learning environment.

The holes in the roof and walls do not provide adequate protection during the rainy season, while the clay soil is unsanitary. The entire building is on the verge of collapse and in urgent need of replacement. Therefore, a new and standardized school building with 5 fully equipped classrooms is urgently needed to create a safe and motivating learning environment. This new building will underscore the importance of education to the community and encourage children to fully participate in their academic life. In addition, we will build 4 toilets to improve the school's hygiene standards and prevent hygiene-related diseases. The new school building will be a significant addition to the Kok Pa Wai Primary School, which is expected to enroll at least 100 students each year.

 

In order to improve the current learning environment, we decided to build a new school building with 5 fully equipped classrooms (instead of the rotten wooden building) and provide 4 additional toilets.

As with all our projects, the local community is also involved in the construction process. Community involvement is crucial as it fosters a greater sense of ownership of the project. The community is raising money to buy bricks and provide infill for the foundation.

A local contractor is hired to manage the labor and transportation of materials, supervise construction and arrange the necessary school furniture. Payments will be made in installments as construction progresses, with 5% of the total labor cost being held back for one year to guarantee the quality of the work.

Payment of teachers' salaries and training are supported and managed by the government. School leadership and the community have agreed to maintain and manage the facility upon completion.

The construction work will start in February 2019 and should be completed in September 2019, weather permitting, as the access road to the school can become quite inaccessible during the rainy season.