Dr. Daravone Kittiphanh, Vice Minister of Education and Sports, and Mr Bilal Aurang Zeb Durrani, UNICEF Country Representative to Lao PDR, attended the ceremony. 

“When the floods struck Luang Namtha and Oudomxay, our priority was that teaching should not stop in any affected school,” said Dr Daravone Kittiphanh, Vice Minister of Education and Sports. “The Ministry has led the response with our provincial education services, and these textbooks mean that teachers and students can carry on with their lessons while damaged buildings are repaired or rebuilt. We thank UNICEF and all the development partners who are supporting this work.” 

Heavy rainfall on 29 and 30 August caused severe flash floods across several river systems in northern Lao PDR, affecting more than 40 educational institutions in Luang Namtha and Oudomxay, more than half of them primary schools. Textbooks, teacher guides and learning equipment were among the main losses, and buildings, furniture and electrical systems were also damaged.
Across the country, the 2026 monsoon season reached much further: as of early September, Government figures compiled by the National Disaster Management Office recorded more than 350,000 people and 168 schools affected nationwide. 
The Ministry asked UNICEF to help provide textbooks so that teaching and learning could continue in the affected schools. The support is valued at 735,838,000 kip (about US$33,000) and covers early childhood education and pre-primary textbooks for Luang Namtha, and primary and lower secondary textbooks for Luang Namtha and Oudomxay.

The order includes 1,680 lower secondary textbooks (Grades 6–9), 9,034 primary school textbooks, and 2,406 early childhood education textbooks for nine affected kindergartens, along with further primary and pre-primary titles: more than 13,000 textbooks in all. The textbooks are being procured from the Education Printing Enterprise State Company, and the cost includes delivery to the Provincial Education and Sports Services in both provinces. 
“These textbooks mean that children in Luang Namtha and Oudomxay can stay in school and keep learning, and their teachers can keep teaching,” said Mr. Bilal Aurang Zeb Durrani, UNICEF Country Representative to Lao PDR. “We are proud to support the Ministry’s response. Together, we are working to make schools safer and better prepared, so that every child can keep learning, whatever the weather brings.”In Luang Namtha and Oudomxay, the Ministry reported in October that affected institutions had been cleaned and repaired so that students could resume their studies, though some buildings needed repair or reconstruction. 

KPL