Stories: Children, Community, Future

Ly has been working as the head master of Ha Vi preschool since 2008. She stops sweeping in order to welcome us to her school.

“Every single morning, together we prepare the classes so that they are clean and tidy to welcome the students. They are gathering for their morning exercise soon,” she explains as groups of students in the front yard play on the swings or wave goodbye to their parents.

Ly is currently very busy with the plans for the new school year.

“We have classes for all ages under five. This year, we have about 110 students coming from all the villages in the commune. With 14 staff, including me, we have a very busy schedule to run year-round – lessons to be delivered following the curriculum and meals to be served so that children grow up healthy,” explains Ly.

This is the third year that Ly has applied new management practices among her staff, which detail their tasks and how their performance will be evaluated.

Ly adds: “We have also been taught how to write proper job descriptions by ChildFund’s education advisors. In the beginning, this was not as easy as it seemed, but once we reached an agreement with each other, it has been working well.”

Practical management procedures are developed according to the conditions of each school. “Every staff member has their own job description, and criteria to evaluate their performance is detailed so that when benchmarking their activities later on, they understand how they are graded,” Ly explains.

Children enjoy lessons in a communicative way

Another important task for the principal is mobilising parents’ support. Explaining thoroughly the schools’ operation, organising meetings with parents, and encouraging them to participate in the teaching and care process means Ly is improving the quality of learning at her school.

“Parents play a vital part in teaching and taking care of their children at home. And we can always count on them for every activity in school by involving them from the beginning of the process, like making plans for our school year and encouraging them to take an active part in the implementation. Children will then benefit more from their schooling,” she says.

“Feedback is also important and all we need to do is to keep our minds open to receive that. We are heading to one direction and that should be the right way of working together”, Ly concludes.