Making a difference with computers

Khoumtay Soutthavilay can’t forget a simple photograph of colleagues smiling before a soccer match. That’s because the photo launched him into the computer era just last year.

“It took me 40 or 50 minutes to upload the photograph,” said Soutthavilay, principal of Sisattanak Secondary School, located in the outskirts of Vientiane, Laos. “It was very difficult. I was so happy afterward.”

So happy, in fact, that the usually-reserved Soutthavilay sprinted down the hall to the computer lab to see if the picture was really on the web.

“It was so funny. I laughed but saw he was really interested in learning,” said Leuanglith Souvanlasy, the computer lab manager and a math teacher at Sisattanak.

Soutthavilay’s digital “a-ha!” moment is one that has been repeated over and over at 10 Lao schools in the past year thanks to the World Links ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) SchoolNet Project. The program has been so successful that the Lao Ministry of Education plans to adopt the World Links model and expand it nationwide, pending proper funding.

World Links provides computer and technology training to teachers, who then train students and other teachers. The program helps young people in underdeveloped South East Asian countries develop the skills they need to get jobs in a knowledge-based economy.

An urgent need

Laos, which is about the size of Italy and is sandwiched between Thailand to the west and Vietnam to the east, is one of the poorest countries in Asia. More than 75% of the population survives on less than $2 a day. The estimated gross domestic product per capita was $2,100 in 2007.

“There is an urgent need for technology in Laos,” said Ly Foung, director general of the department of secondary education in the Ministry of Education. “Most people still don’t know how to use computers. Most schools can’t afford them. If you don’t know how to use a computer then life is difficult.”

This point was driven home in 2002 to Bounsom Soudthivong, principal of Salakham Secondary School in Vientiane. His best student won a scholarship to the University of Laos. The student later informed Soudthivong that he struggled to reach his full potential because he had no knowledge of computers.

Soudthivong called a community meeting to discuss how they could bring computers to the school. After more meetings and financial negotiations with a computer company, Soudthivong brought 17 computers to Salakham in 2003. But there was still one problem.

“We didn’t have ideas about what to do. The teachers learned about the computers from wherever they could find information, but we wanted real training,” said Soudthivong. “That is why we needed World Links.”

Since World Links’ inception in Laos in 2007, nearly 200 teachers and 5,000 middle and high school students have received computer training. For many students and teachers, training was the first time they saw a computer.

Chatting online

It is the first week of summer break and a dozen students and teachers are working on the 22 PCs in Sisattanak Secondary School’s computer lab. Arisone Thipparavanh, 16, is slowly tapping at a keyboard. Every few seconds she stares at the computer screen to make sure she has properly spelled out her words. She is chatting with an online friend she has never met in the real world. Like many students here, Arisone has quickly taken to computers. She never touched one before three months ago.

“I have learned about a new technology and now I have access to any place in the world,” said Arisone. “I can chat with friends online. I can search for information and for lessons and use the computer to type my homework.”

This is exactly what principal Soutthavilay likes to hear. The school actually received its first computers three years ago as a donation from a South Korean group. But only a few teachers knew how to use the computers. No students ever used them.

Now, 13 of the school’s 39 teachers have been trained on the computers. Students learn about the technology in 10^th and 11^th grade. Demand to enroll in Sisattanak is up and interest in studying has increased among current students, according to Soutthavilay. He attributes both developments to the presence of the computer lab, the only computer facility in the school’s vicinity.

“One year ago World Links came and implemented its program. Our school has gained credibility, students want to come here and parents want to send their students here,” said Soutthavilay. “Now I need to be creative and think not only of the school but of the community as well.”

–Laura Elizabeth Pohl for World Links