For the second successive year, pupils at the Theun-Hinboun School in Khounkham District, Khammouane Province have registered success in national examinations for gifted students.

Silisopha Soukhaphone from the school’s primary section took third place in Lao language for children from across the whole country, while another primary school girl, plus one boy and one girl from the secondary section were all mentioned in the top twenty students in the national exams, held in late April. THPC Dec 2005 107

Mrs Khamwai Bounleutai, the school’s headmistress, said she and the school staff were very proud of the four students, but were also pleased with the general performance of the school’s pupils. “We try to give all our children a good start in life,” said Ajaan Khamwai, “and while we are pleased to see these high-flying pupils maintain the reputation of the Theun-Hinboun School nationally, we aim to deliver an education that benefits students of all levels.”

Ten-year-old Silisopha attributes her success to the extra time put in by her teacher and her love of reading. She gets an hour of extra lessons almost every day from her teacher and when she gets home she spends most of her free time reading books in Lao language. Her parents encourage this hobby and are always on the lookout for new books to help their daughter expand her knowledge and language ability.

The TH school opened in 1996 at the Theun-Hinboun Power Company (THPC) operations camp in Khounkham. It charges a nominal fee of 100,000 kip (US$12.5) per child per year but the bulk of its funding is provided by THPC. About half of the 385 pupils currently enrolled are the children of THPC staff and the other half come from surrounding villages. THPC provides additional allowances to children from the poorest families to help cover the costs of their uniforms and books.

This year 11 pupils from the school took district-level exams, with six qualifying for the provincial level tests and four for the national exams.

 

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