From: akm74@aol.com (AKM 74) 
Date: 28 May 1998 22:45:44 GMT 

A giant red-and-white mushroom grows in Vientiane 

By Nangly and Phonesavanh 
   IF you haven't noticed the Chakkavan kindergarten, 
chances are you haven't driven passed it. Located in 
Phonesinouane village off Dong Palane road, this fairy-tale 
like structure designed by Lao architect Phonxay 
Southiphong is a building that definitely stands out in 
Vientiane. With an oversized red-and-white mushroom and 
caterpillar in the school playground, it is a place that 
kids will undoubtedly want to stop and visit. Some lucky 
three-to-six year olds will even get to stay and play in 
the mushroom house and caterpillar tunnel.
   The school, which will not officially open its doors 
until September 1998, is already operating on a small 
scale. For the time being, there are only six children 
benefiting from the open-walled airy classrooms, designed 
to accommodate 40 children in three age groups. The planned 
teacher/child ratio is 1:6 for the 3-4 year olds and 1:10 
for the 4-5 and 5-6 year olds.
   The 2,400 m2 of property on which the 400 m2- school is 
built belongs to the Southiphong family who decided to set 
up the school because they wanted to offer a quality 
education to their children. For the Southiphongs, quality 
education means offering a wide variety of activities to 
children taught by trained professionals in a comfortable 
setting. The school currently employs two Lao teachers, 
Phetlavone and Somphane, who graduated from the National 
University's section for kindergarten teachers and are paid 
150,000 kip per month. There is also one native English 
speaker on Staff.
   The children, dressed in blue shorts and white Chakkavan 
school T-shirts, start the day off at 8 a.m. by singing the 
Lao national anthem. They then go on to other activities 
including math and English computer games, traditional Lao 
games, singing, colouring, drawing and writing until 4 p.m. 
The team of teachers divides the children up for some 
activities and brings them together for others. Each child 
has a folder where his work is filed and parents are kept 
informed of their child's progress in a monthly report from 
the teachers.
   The immaculate classrooms are pleasantly decorated with 
colourful posters and everything, from tiny toilets to 
pint-size desks, is just the right size for the wee ones. 
The lunchroom where the children eat their lunch brought 
from home is clean and conveniently located right in the 
main school building. Even on the 40-degree day when 
Vientiane Times visited the school, the classrooms were 
cool. A quiet, air-conditioned room is reserved upstairs, 
away from the noise, for the children's naps.
   As the children romped outside in the grass playground 
safely closed in by a fence and far from any busy streets, 
shouts could be heard in both Lao and English. Five-year 
old Lao-Australian, Kate, was most comfortable speaking in 
English while her Lao playmate, Anita Southiphong, was 
equally at ease in Lao and English.
   Although the school is open to all, foreigners and Lao 
alike, not everyone will be able to afford it. Foreigners 
may find it very reasonably priced at US$ 100 per month, 
but many Lao parents concerned about their children's 
education will have to make sacrifices to pay the US$ 60 
monthly fee that covers all the school materials and two 
snacks a day. Compared to the Lao Ministry of Public Health 
kindergarten that costs 5,000 kip per month, Chakkavan 
costs a fortune. But it is by far cheaper than the French 
and International schools in Vientiane which both run 
quality kindergarten programmes. One convenient difference 
from other schools is that this fairy-tale school will be 
open all summer long--a wish come true for parents!