The Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism (MICT) and UNICEF, alongside partners including the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the European Union (EU) and USAID, on Oct 29 officially launched the 2nd season of the popular Early Childhood Development (ECD) TV series “My House”, which aims to promote young Lao children’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional development, as well as their learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The hybrid launch event, held at the MoES ICT Centre with the majority of participants attending virtually, was co-chaired by Vice Minister of Education and Sports Sisouk Vongvichit, Vice Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Vanhsy Kouamoua, and UNICEF Representative to the Lao PDR Pia Rebello Britto.
“The arrival of the series’ 2nd season is timely as families and children in the Lao PDR continue to experience disruption in their lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including school closures. It is my hope that My House will act as an important tool for parents to help facilitate their children’s learning during this challenging time and raise their awareness on hygiene practices that can help keep them safe from COVID-19,” said Vice Minister of Education and Sports Sisouk Vongvichit.
This new season of the ECD TV series contains a total of 12 episodes with sign language interpretation and integrates messages around COVID-19 prevention and control, including hygiene practices, alongside fun learning activities that provide basic knowledge for children, such alphabets, numbers, colours, shapes and other similar topics to help facilitate their school readiness. The series also contains a component targeting caregivers on how they can promote children’s learning through play.
My House 2 will be broadcasted through Lao National TV Channel 3, Lao Star channel, and the MoES ESTV (LaoSat Channel 8). In addition, it will also be disseminated on social media, YouTube and the MoES Khang Panya Lao.
“The second season of My House is the result of the great collaboration between MoES, MICT, Lao Star TV and UNICEF, with the support from the EU, GPE and USAID. MICT is very happy with the result of this collaboration and we hope that the second season will contribute towards providing quality media that is specifically catered towards the experience of young children in the Lao PDR,” said Vice Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Vanhsy Kouamoua.
The ECD TV series My House is noted for its uniquely Lao story context, characters and music. It contains a mix of animation and its development has brought together some of the most talented, open-minded and creative media in the country.
“A child’s ability to think, form relationships, and live up to his or her full potential is directly related to the synergistic effect of good health, good nutrition, and appropriate stimulation and care from parents. This combination of nature and nurture establishes the foundation of a child’s future and it is my sincerest hope that My House, both its first and second seasons, will prove to be an important contribution to this equation that will help realise the potential of all Lao children,” stated UNICEF Representative to Lao PDR Pia Rebello Britto.
In addition to the TV series, 12 storybooks based on My House 1 have been developed under the leadership of the Ministry of Education and Sports. The storybooks have been printed and disseminated to early childhood education centres, pre-primary classes and Grades 1 and 2 classes around the country with the support of UNICEF and partners. Storybooks based on Season 2 will also be developed, contributing to the availability of Lao language learning materials for children.
Episodes of My House alongside the storybooks are also available on the online MoES teaching and learning platform Khang Panya Lao (https://laos.learningpassport.unicef.org), which can be downloaded as an App allowing for offline access.
Source: Lao News Agency