One Community, One School, One Health

By Cecile Lantican

June 4, 2012

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The Training

There were 32 participants, equally divided between teachers, school administrators and health care workers. They represented five districts of the province. Of these participants, seven health care staff had attended the API (avian pandemic influenza) and H1N1 influenza virus training conducted by us in 2009. Of the 32 participants, 11 were women. In the province, there was an observed gap between men and women in terms of equal opportunities to assume position in the government service.

The training was officially opened by Mr. Kham Phone Sibounheang, Vice Director of the cabinet of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES). He underscored the importance of the activity in relation to the ministry’s strategic objective of being globally competitive. The making of the guidelines for infectious diseases in school was strongly supported by the national leadership.

Hence, he said, “The guideline’s implementation should not only manifest results among our students in schools, but also transcend the knowledge and practice of infectious diseases prevention in communities where they live.”

Deputy Director Mrs. Vanna Phomsy welcomed the participants and put in context the purpose of the training. The school and teachers have a big role in reducing the risk of infectious diseases.

“We can produce more educated citizens of Luang Prabang if we keep our students healthy. Our school should provide the enabling environment to provide knowledge and practice of good health – the key to producing healthy students and good teachers in the future,” she stressed.

CIEH Deputy Director Mr. Phoumy Bodhisane provided the link of this activity to the national plan and strategy for infectious diseases of 2011-2016.

Our team was composed of (from left): Ms. Siphay Vongsautham from CIEH; Ms. Wassarinh Chounlamany from MOES; Mr. Kham Phone Sibounheang, Vice Director of Cabinet of the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES); Cecile Lantican from FHI 360; Khounkham Xaymounvong, FHI360 training specialist; and Mr. Phoumy Bodhisane, Deputy Director of CIEH under the Ministry of Health.

The lead facilitators were Ms. Wassarinh Chounlamany and Khounkham Xaymounvong. 

Participants were grouped – school administrators and teachers with health care workers. The health care workers provided the technical guidance of the diseases being discussed while the school administrators and teachers identified ways and strategies that they can integrate the infectious disease guidelines in classroom and outdoor activities of the students.

At tea break, I had the opportunity
to interact with the participating teachers. I listened to their expectations of and reactions to the training. From their stories, I also gathered some insights about teacher education and the profession in this country.

The education system in Lao PDR is grade and curriculum-based that relies on textbooks. Teachers use lesson plans to facilitate student learning. Thus, in this training, school administrators and teachers were challenged to identify strategies to integrate the guidelines on infectious diseases in their curriculum and lesson plans.

Acharn (means teacher) Chantone Souriya teaches geography and history in the district high school of Phonexay. He teaches more than one subject because the number of teachers in the district is not enough to cover 800 students from
year six to 12.

I asked Acharn Chantone, “How do you integrate infectious diseases in your history and geography in your classes?” He replied. “In history, students learn about past and current events that created impact on their lives, in the society. Pandemic outbreaks also become part of history. But we do not teach students only to remember history; we encouraged them to be more critical of historical episodes and draw lessons from these events. In geography, our students learned places and communities where we live and work; why changes occur in our communities; how our individual and societal actions contribute to those changes. Along this premise, I would say, our students can make choices in managing their health for their future.”

I interviewed Acharn Bounlath Slilath, who has been the district education supervisor in Nambak for 15 years. He was an elementary classroom teacher for 11 years before he became district supervisor. To date, he supervises 400 teachers in elementary and high schools. He provides oversight to teachers’ performance in 86 primary schools, five secondary schools, and three high schools.

Acharn Bounlath shared that all teachers are obligated to update their lesson plans. Integration of the prevention measures to lesson plans by all teachers under his supervision would benefit 16,604 students. 

In 2008, Nambak district recorded a bird flu outbreak in ducks. AI-BCC trained community leaders as trusted sources of information on bird flu in 2009. In the same year, we also reached out to this district to help in the government’s H1N1 vaccine campaign. I was trying to imagine and compare the reach of teachers under Acharn Bounlath’s supervision versus our technical assistance to train selected community leaders.

I also had the chance to meet Acharn Sounthone Keosovan, the Director of the High School Division, Santiphab School in Luang Prabang. This is the national and biggest public high school in the province. Acharn Southone was a high school teacher for 10 years in Santhiphab School before he became the Director. He still teaches but assumes lesser teaching loads.

I asked Acharn Sounthone, “How do you sustain motivation of your teachers to integrate in their performance this type of training?”  His answer: “As a school administrator, I always consider and include in the teachers’ development/training program their attendance of this type of training. Therefore, we have a way of monitoring their performance after the training. Also, I am involved in updating our high school curriculum. As such, I can request these trained teachers to share and re-echo about their experiences. I believe it is not difficult to integrate infectious diseases in our work because HEALTH and EDUCATION are linked together.” He did not have a chance to elaborate on his statement because tea break was over.

This is the Santhiphab school ground. Acharn Sounthone provides oversight to a teaching force of 193 teachers from year six to 12 with a student population of 3,600.

Imagine a school where the educational environment isn't confined to the classroom, but instead extends into the home and the community and around the world. Information on infectious diseases isn't bound primarily in books; it’s available everywhere in bits and bytes from concerned sectors.

I was once a teacher in my own country. I personally believed that this intervention was one example of instructional innovation. Teachers should be aware that the curriculum must relate to students’ everyday lives.

My interview with the teachers of Luang Prabang made me reflect on the hundreds of teachers who were rethinking every part of their jobs – how to ensure the health of their students, their families, and the community; the tools and techniques they employ; and the form and content of their curriculum.

Their role to keep the students and community safe from infectious diseases was an enormous challenge. I was again reminded of the Towards A Safer World framework. The key was INTEGRATION. Teachers and the school in this province were duty bound to integrate in their jobs the guidelines on infectious diseases as they guide their students’ abilities to seek, understand, and use knowledge; to make better decisions in their personal lives, and to value contributing to society. But what preparation do they need?

Dr. Bounlay Phommasack, Director of NEIDCO, was present on the second day of the meeting and made an appeal to all the participants, especially to teachers to prepare the school and the community for any pandemic threat from infectious diseases. He did not make specific recommendations on preparation mechanisms but I am confident that he was thinking of the creativity of the education sector on how to translate the guidelines into action and make these doable and operational in the school system. Regardless of other issues, teachers in Luang Prabang would see themselves now not only as masters of subject matter such as history, math, or science, but also teachers who would increasingly inspire students and the community to be free from infectious diseases and have a healthy life.

MID-BCC Project is funded by USAID.

Photos by Cecile Lantican 2012 | FHI 360

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