On August 30 2013, the Education for Development Fund (EDF-Lao) handed over more than 2,500 sets of school textbooks for disadvantaged primary school pupils in Sekong Province. Present at the ceremony were representatives of THPC, which donated US$1,000 to EDF’s Books to Schools Project in 2013.
The handover ceremony marked the end of the third year of the EDF-Lao Books to Schools Project, which runs from March-July annually. This year 2,506 students received a textbook set, comprising books for Lao language, Mathematics and the World Around Us subjects. The goal is to ensure that primary school children have their own sets of books, encouraging them to develop reading and study skills at an early age. The project also brings sets of the textbooks plus six teaching manuals to primary school teachers.
This year marked the first time the project has appealed to a Lao domestic audience, and EDF-Lao were impressed by the response of local people, businesses and media organisations. Total donations to the project came to over 100 million kip in cash, plus in-kind contributions of fuel, textbooks and other school supplies.
Ms Jamie Bounleuth, Public Relations and Fund Raising Manager for EDF-Lao thanked THPC for the generous donation, saying that without such support the project would not have been a success. THPC’s General Manager, Mr Robert Allen, said THPC was happy to support initiatives for the future of Lao children, adding that education was vital to the continued growth and stability of the country and also to the long-term performance of Lao companies of such as THPC.
Photos courtesy of EDF-Lao