Social Responsibility

Liu Shu, China

New classrooms and facilities to ensure a safe and hygienic learning environment

In April 2009, work began on Building Futures’ Xiao Feng Primary School Improvement Project.

Project Overview

Located 1.5 km west of Liu Shu Township, Xiao Feng is home to around 544 families and 1858 villagers. The livelihood is based around horticulture, livestock raising and labour exporting which means the restricted income sources heavily constrain the local economic development and the current per capita income is only RMB716 yuan (about 100USD).

Xiao Feng Primary School, established in 1984, is a six-grade complete primary school that provides primary education for children coming from 5 residential areas in the foothills.

About 40 students and 5 teachers stay over at the school during the week. Eight rooms in the school had been identified as being D-level dangerous and were subsequently removed in 2006, but other stick-wood structured rooms were still in use.

The main aim of this project was to ensure that the students in the Xiao Feng Primary School (Grades 1 to 4) were able to receive quality education in a safe and hygienic environment. In order to achieve this the project focussed on rebuilding the damaged school and included the construction of 12 classrooms, a kitchen and dormitory, 8 bio gas latrines and the supply of furniture and sports equipment.

Current Situation

Through the ongoing support from Study Group, Plan, the local government and various other individuals and organisations, the Xiao Feng School construction project is now complete.

The newly constructed areas at Xiao Feng School are now in use and currently 121 students are enjoying school lessons in their new classrooms. In addition to this, the newly built bio gas latrines and all of the nine refurbished rooms are in use. Another improvement which has had a profound effect on the school children’s lives is the access to clean tap water, which now runs from the school kitchen.

The school has also undergone external changes such as the renovation of the school gate, the cementing of the school path and the construction of a boundary wall and drainage system. The overall school campus has been improved by the construction of a flood embankment, a rubbish disposal tank, an ornamental garden area and a flag pole and platform.

Additional rubbish bins and supplies of school sports equipment have also helped to create a better school environment for the children and teachers at Xiao Feng School.

Community Involvement and Sustainability

Throughout the project period, there was a high level of community participation, which will help to ensure the sustainability of this project. The local government, the Village Development Committee and village representatives maintained a regular presence at the school construction site to monitor the progress and to validate the quality of the work.

Their presence was particularly prevalent during the construction of the one storey room for classroom use, where the community came together to discuss the layout of the school and to ensure that a precise budget was laid out for the work. In addition to this, the local government played a key role in ensuring that the entire project was completed in line with the initial project plan.

Within the project period, the school also organised many activities which involved the students and the local community, including:

Monitoring and Evaluation

The commitment to the regulatory and monitoring processes has ensured that this project is completed to a high standard. During the reporting period, representatives from the local government, the Country Development Committee and the community visited the construction site regularly, to review the activities taking place and to ensure that all standards that were set, have been met.