Completed IKEA project improves ethnic minority children confidence in school

By Mau Lan Phuong, IKEA project officer – Save the Children in Vietnam

Early in the morning, a local teacher rode me through the mountainous path to reach Pa Nang primary school, which is 18 km distant from Dakrong district center, Quang Tri province, 600km from Hanoi capital city.

 This is the final trip of the IKEA project team to the district before the project exit with an aim to conduct the qualitative evaluation for the project end-line review.

The project started in 2009 to support the children of Van Kieu ethnic minority who would struggle at regular schools because of language barrier. The project has implemented different interventions in the district to improve the quality of teaching and learning, focusing on strengthening teacher’s capacity through training courses on active learning methodologies, second-language teaching techniques and professional teacher’s meetings.

 We all felt the mixture of eagerness to explore the project impacts to the local beneficiaries, and pity of leaving. Van Kieu ethnic children welcomed us with warm bright eyes and shy smiles. My first impression about the school after three years of project implementation was that the children are much more confident and sociable. During the class observation, the children were given more chances to do individual work and pair work, and to express their ideas in front of the class. They were encouraged to answer questions and received the teacher’s compliments and comments from their peers. This is an encouraging change compared to the mono-lecturing lessons in the past years, in which the children passively listen to the teacher. This change was contributed by the teacher’s efforts to apply second language teaching methods and conduct the professional teacher’s meetings. Instead of judging the teachers, now the professional teacher’s meetings focus on the children’s learning activities to find out solutions to improve their learning effectiveness.

 After the class observation, instead of conducting an interview with the children, I organized a forum with ice-breaking games, group activities and give the stage for the children to talk. The children’s timidity gradually disappeared, replaced by exciting discussions and talk. They expressed their strong interest to go to school, where they not only learn but also have fun through extra-curricular activities. Their bright smiles and naïve voices still fulfill my mind on the way back.