Korea lends helping hand to school reading programmes

Schoolchildren in the capital and Xayaboury province will get extra help with reading thanks to funding support from Good Hands, an international development NGO based in the Republic of Korea.
Hundreds of students and teachers in Xaythany and Sangthong districts in Vientiane and Kaenthao district in Xayaboury province are expected to benefit from the Good Hands Youth Centre programme ‘Community-Education Development Phase 3’.
The project will run from 2019 to 2021 with a budget of over 5.9 billion kip (US$688,707) sourced from Korean funding via Good Hands Laos.
A Memorandum of Understanding to officially launch the project was signed in Vientiane this week by the Deputy Director General of the External Relations Department, Ministry of Education and Sports, Mr Phouvanh Vongsouthi and the Director of Good Hands Laos, Tae Yu Seunim.
The main activities of the project will be to improve capability in reading promotion activities, provide school library activities, and generally improve the education environment for schoolchildren.
Good Hands Laos has been running projects to improve the education environment in Vientiane since 2004, involving 14 schools in Xaythany district.
In 2009, Good Hands provided US$50,000 to build the Good Hands Youth Centre in Vientiane to inspire an interest in reading and numeracy by providing young people with English and mathematics skills activities. The centre now has 9,800 books available for visitors.
In 2011, Good Hands Laos ran a programme that provided school library activities for children and young people in rural areas. A total of 13 schools benefited from the programme.

By Keoviengkhone Bounviseth
(Latest Update March 7, 2019)