2 hour evening classes 5 days a week for 48 village children who were failing in school when classes went online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background
The closure of schools here in Thailand due to the COVID-19 pandemic force students online. When you already struggle to pay the small amounts needed to cover your kid’s education, what are your chances of affording smartphones, laptops and a good internet connection? And for students, if your parents never completed formal education, how are they to help you?
Ban Pha Lai is a community we started supporting several years ago, first with a community school now handed over to the Thai Education Authorities to run, then with emergency food support for the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now with this small community run educational help.
Goals and Results
To mitigate the effects of school closures on the children of a whole community.
PCF had been supporting the preschool in Baan Pha Lai for five years from 2017 - 2021. Baan Pha Lai is a rural indigenous community, and students come from three surrounding villages to go to the preschool.
Thanks to our sponsors, PCF covered the running costs of the preschool until the local government stepped in to support the school. This happened thanks to our efforts to bring the school to the attention of the Thai authorities.
Last week, our team visited Baan Pha Lai School in Chiang Dao Province, which supports over 70 students from five different ethnic backgrounds. We support the school's operational costs including teacher salaries, lunch meals, capacity-building workshops, and basic necessities i.e. toothbrushes and toothpaste.
We were in awe of the children. Not only were they so energetic and in high spirits, but so well disciplined....they were taught to meditate every morning, pray before eating and brush their teeth after, clean their plates and recycle plastic, shower before their nap, and help their younger peers. We could all learn a thing or two from these children!
Thanks to the wonderful teachers, who work so hard at ensuring these children receive quality education and grow up to be healthy!