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| Boston Educators (and me) with the Staff of Ban buakkrognoi Community School in front of the Ancient Temple of Wat papao |
As
a part of this Educational Tour, we were scheduled to visit 3 different schools
in 3 different regions. Each of these schools are different in type and set
up. Our first school visit happened on
Tuesday in Chiang Mai.
With
the Thai Constitution of 2007, there was a statement included that “All
children should have equal right to study at least 12 years and the state need
to provide education with good quality thoroughly without collecting
money.” As well, it also stated “The
poverty, disabled, infirm and anyone who are in trouble should also have equal
right to get education.” This was the
“Education for All” slogan. 
Using
this government directive, the Ban buakkrognoi Community School (Wat papao) was
established on August 27, 2009 for children ages 4 to 14 as a pre-school
education center. It was established to
help the disadvantage and poor who came to Chiang Mai but did not have status
in civil registration system or the children from other cultures needed this
unique education system. Basically,
these children were taught the Thai language and how to read and write in it. 
The
vision statement of the school is “Education for the disadvantage to prepare
their readiness; body; mind’ emotion’ society and wisdom for learning in the
basic level.” It also wanted to
strengthen the moral, ethics, discipline and good accountability of children
towards Thai. The school has a set of 5 objectives including:
1)
To
prepare children’s readiness; body, mind, emotion society an wisdom with full
potential
2)
To
train children’s communicative skills of Thai language, life-skills such as
listening, speaking, reading, writing and basic math
3)
To
look after children’s health and provide their immunity
4)
To
create continuous educational system for children to study further in
Department of Education, Chiang Mai Area 1 and another area
5)
To
make children understanding the good conduct whereas they are living in
Thailand following to Thai constitution, laws
The
school opened with 28 students in 2009 but as of the day we visited, they now
have 271 students In the grades from pre-kindergarten (ages 3-4) to the age of
16. The school also employs a staff of
13. Some were fully qualified teachers
but others were in the process of becoming teachers. They have to work for 5 years in a school
before they can become certified to teach.
The
school was established on the grounds of a Temple, which is why they have the
name Wat in it. It has gone through some
construction over the last few years but the basic buildings are the same. The rooms are opened air; desks are in rows;
they have chalk boards and a few posters, and every room has the picture of the
King and Queen. There is a computer room
that has One computer for all 271 students.
As the school is on a temple, some of the children are “Novice” or are
taking training in the Monk teachings.
This
was the school that we gave all of our donations that were brought from
home. Pencils, books, stickers, crayons,
markers, dice, flash cards, word cards, and the best thing I thought was a
Lacrosse game from Dan Norton. Dan is a
player and a coach of lacrosse back home and he wanted to spread the joy of the
game. What I found funny was as he tried
to explain what the game was, their first connect to the idea was HOCKEY. See, we have influence all over.
School Uniform of the Director of the School
Dish Duty
Playing a Game similar to Jacks
Director, Principal and Vice Principal of the School
Wide Open Doors During the Day
Closed at night like a Garage Door
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