Na Muang Primary School

Na Muang Primary school is located in the Savannakhet province in the Southern part of Lao.

The Na Muang Primary School was first established during the period of civil unrest after Lao gained its independence from being a French Colony in 1945. Also known as the Secret War, the struggle mirrored the Cold War in the West and only ended in 1975. 

Before the school was established, education used to be provided in the temple. The principal told the Child's Dream project team that the older of the two existing buildings was built even before he moved to the village in 1977. The second building with bamboo walls was built as a temporary measure to ensure that all children can attend classes.

Today the Na Muang Primary school is responsible for the education of children from three different villages in the area. Currently a total of 118 students (66 girls, 52 boys) are enrolled in the school, the majority of the who come from the Lao Lum ethnic group.

Being one fo the few primary schools in the area, the Na Muang Primary School plays a critical role in providing the foundational education for the children.

Over the years, the communities' active support in repairing and maintaining the buildings have been crucial for the school in being able to continue operating.

As the school only has a total of four classrooms, students from two different grades have to share one of the classrooms for their lessons. Whilst the buildings have been very faithful in providing a learning space to the students and teacher; the buildings have greatly deteriorated over the last few years and are no longer deemed safe for lessons to be conducted in.

On the last site visit by the Child's Dream project team, one of the buildings looked like it was going to collapse anytime soon.

One new school building will be constructed with five classrooms to replace the existing school buildings.

In addition, the new classrooms will be equipped with school furniture and two toilet rooms will be constructed for the students.

The villagers will contribute their labour and wood forms for the scaffolding and frames for the construction. The Lao Government has provided the land for the construction of the new building.

A professional construction team headed by a foreman will manage the actual construction work. All required materials can be sourced and transported from the district town of Xeno, which is about 90km from the school.

Construction is expected to begin in September 2012 and be completed by March next year. The budget for total construction is US$47.000. However, the recent surge in building projects in Savannakhet may affect the cost and supply of materials and the unpredictablility of the rainy season may also affect the timeline.

The Na Muang Primary School is located in the Saibuli district in the Savannakhet province.

To visit, you can fly to Savannakhet from either Vientiane or from Bangkok with Lao Airlines (flights are offered 3 times a week). From Savannakhet it is then about 1 & 1/2 hour drive to the school.

Due to Loa being a communist run country you may only visit the school if you are accompanied by a reprensentative of the Loa Department of Education and a member of Child's Dream team. If you would like to visit the school we would be more than happy to arrange the trip for you. Please contact Alex on alshaw03@gmail.com