Lao teacher wins coveted Princess Maha Chakri Award

Her achievements in relation to hygiene, green spaces, and high learning and teaching standards in Laos led to the Principal of Thongkang Primary School, Ms Khounvilay Khenkitisack, being presented with a Princess Maha Chakri Award in Bangkok, Thailand.
The award, which she won last year, acknowledged her efforts as an outstanding administrator in introducing a participatory approach among teachers and communities for effective student development.
Ms Khounvilay was one of 11 people from Asean countries to receive the award, presented personally by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.
The awardees came from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Thailand.
The award brought personal recognition to Ms Khounvilay and her school among the local community, creating a great sense of pride in her efforts, especially on the part of the teachers and students at her school.  They hope that this wonderful example will be sustained by Ms Khounvilay, her colleagues and students, so that the school becomes a model for other centres of education.

Ms Khounvilay Khenkitisack.

Before receiving this award, the state-owned Thongkang Primary School in Sisattanak district, Vientiane, had received various honours at the district, capital and national levels.
The school was recognised as being successful in nine areas: 1. Good health; 2. Good practices; 3. Learning to use a Japanese abacus; 4. Creating a green, clean and good quality place of learning; 5. Automatic promotion; 6. Cleanliness of teeth and hands; 7. Population and AIDS; 8. Extra classes for under-achieving children during term time and holidays; and 9. English classes for first to fifth year students.
An 80 percent success rate was determined to have been achieved in all of these areas. Sustaining quality is considered to be very important by the teachers and students, who work diligently to uphold standards.
This means that teachers must develop teaching plans that improve the curriculum each year, while the children are required to pay close attention to their lessons.
Ms Khounvilay, 57, said she was proud to receive this award because it had been her dream for many years. She had wanted to be a successful teacher since childhood.
“I wanted to teach because teachers are an excellent role model while being polite, happy, smiling, supportive, and encouraging children in their attempts to learn,” she said.
She believes it's important for teachers to help children to be as successful as possible during their lives and that she can personally make a positive contribution to all of the children she teaches.
When it opened in 1993, Thongkang Primary School had four teachers and 128 students. Today it has seven teachers including the principal and 326 pupils enrolled in pre-school to Grade 6.
All of the seven teachers were named ‘Excellent Teachers’ at the Sisattanak district level, six were selected at the capital level, and five were selected in this category at the national level.
All of the students pass their final exams each year and complete primary school, meaning there are no dropouts.
Special projects encourage the children's parents to provide both financial and physical support for the school to keep it in good condition. Their efforts have helped to build a new toilet block and a wall around the school.
The school's teachers and some of the students have met with children from schools in Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan. This experience has helped teachers and students to both improve their teaching and learning methods.
The school’s special status means it is visited by teachers from the provinces, and from Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, who come to learn about its teaching methods.
Ms Khounvilay graduated from Vangvieng Teacher Training School in Vientiane province in 1978, after finishing secondary school in 1996. In 2013 she graduated with a Diploma in General English from Dongkhamxang Teacher Training College.
She has also attended 16 in-country and eight international professional training courses.
The Princess Maha Chakri Award was established to mark the 60th birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in 2015.
The award honours Her Royal Highness for her outstanding achievements in the fields of education and the development of people’s quality of life, especially the underprivileged.
Last year was the second year the award was presented to outstanding teachers, with Her Royal Highness presiding over the ceremony.
Each recipient received a medal, a certificate of honour, and US$10,000 in cash.
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By Xayxana Leukai
(Latest Update February 22, 2018)