The world loves sport, and rugby is no different! Millions of people from all over the world are currently tuning in to catch the excitement of the Rugby World Cup in the UK. This includes young rugby players from rural Laos who are taking part in a new regional program called Pass It Back.
Pass It Back is an innovative Sport for Development program using rugby to equip children and young people to overcome challenges, inspire positive social change and “pass it back” to their communities. ChildFund Australia, in partnership with Women Win and Asia Rugby, launched Pass It Back in April 2015, starting in Laos and Vietnam.
Australian Ambassador to Lao PDR, John Williams, who hosted the partnership launch, recently congratulated the program: “Great work, ChildFund Australia and partners. Australia in Laos is proud to be contributing [to Pass It Back]. Sport for development is a central part of our sports diplomacy agenda.” The Australian Government is supporting the implementation of this program.
Pass It Back reached its first milestone in July 2015 when more than 50 youth from Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia came together in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to be trained as coaches. Twenty-three of those coaches are from Xieng Khouang province in northern Laos. They have already started to recruit players in their villages, with over 600 children and youth registered for the program, more than half of whom are female.
Across Laos and Vietnam, a total of 39 teams have been formed. All of whom are excitedly working on developing their team names and logos. The hundreds of young players will receive not only rugby knowledge but leadership and life skills training as well.
For children in rural Nonghet district in northern Laos, lack of access to quality education often means low learning outcomes for students and high class repetition rates. With only basic educational training, most teachers lecture to students rather than engaging them in the learning process, which gives children very little opportunity to voice their own ideas.
ChildFund Laos, with the support of the Australian Government, is helping to improve education quality and school leadership by training teachers, school principals and education officials from 22 schools in Nonghet. This Grade Five class would like to tell you about their teacher, Mr Youachung, who received teacher training through ChildFund.
How one good teacher can have a big impact
“We are a group of Grade Five students. Our school, which is located in Nonghet district in northern Laos, is one of ChildFund Laos’ supported schools.
Our school has always been taught by teachers from other villages. Those teachers normally live in their own home village and they travel daily to teach at our school. We would like to share with you about Mr Youachung who moved to teach at our school in September 2009. Since September 2014, he is also our school principal.
Mr Youachung is the second male teacher we have ever had, and he is also the first teacher whose classroom control methods inspired us more than just a little. We find that our classmates like to hear his soft voice, which inspires us to stay longer in our learning session.
Motivating students to embrace learning
Truth be told, in Grade Five, we needed someone to teach us who is continuously motivated and Mr Youachung is always there on time for our classroom studying sessions. And the most important fact about him is: he is one of the best teachers we have ever had!
