A school in Mae Sot
We have been updating information about a group in Mae Sot that has been looking after Burmese refugees, migrants, and others feeling from conflict. Please take a moment to read an update about the school have been building to care for children who have had to flee their home, thus ensuring their education may continue. And if you are able to support them with even a small contribution, please consider joining their mission. Thank you!
After a few weeks of searching for suitable school grounds, we found a very nice property and signed the lease contract for 6 months. The site is approximately 1 hectare big with three classroom buildings and several bungalows for workshops and residences. After the renovation work and the furnishing of the classrooms, the office, and the set up of the workshop, we opened the school in March.
We have currently 38 students in three age groups. A primary school for children from the age of 6, a middle school for pupils around the age of 10 and an upper school for pupils from the age of 15. Six subjects are taught, from math and english through art and science, physical education, and biology. As in our school in Myanmar, our teaching concept is rendered on project-based learning in which we combine subjects and focus on practical lessons.
Regular trips to museums and the surrounding forests are part of our regular curriculum. Currently, we have six teachers in the school, five Burmese teachers, and one foreign educator. Classes are held in Burmese and English.
Students are picked up by our school bus and stay at the school from 8 am to 3 pm. We serve breakfast and lunch to our 40 students as well as the teaching staff, and the parents of the children who visit us frequently. The planned vocational training program for young adults, such as the tailoring course and a workshop for handicrafts, is planned for the coming year.
The School is running well for the past 5 months. In this relatively short time, the [redacted organization] has been well established in the region. The experience that we gained in recent years in our previous school project has benefitted us in many ways. Every day we receive requests from parents to enroll their children in our school. Unfortunately, we cannot accept any more students at the moment, due to limited space.
Both our teaching staff and the students feel very comfortable on the new school ground. The lease contract currently runs until the end of 2023. In the coming months, the expansion of our Eco Farm including a mushroom cultivation hut is planned. Furthermore, we would like to build an open classroom in the pavilion stile to create more space for teaching.
As we are currently renting the property, we can not invest too much in new buildings. To expand the school we have to buy a property and begin setting up our own buildings.
In the coming two years we plan to build classrooms that give space for about 100 students. However, this is only possible if our organization acquires land. In Thailand, foreign organizations are not allowed to own land. On the other hand, registered Thai foundations with a foreign board can be entered into the land register. We are currently working with a local partner organization that takes care of administrative matters. This is sufficient for a small size school of 40 students but doesn’t work for larger education projects.
The cost of the new property is around €50,000. We plan to collect donations for the land over the coming year. First of all, covering the yearly running costs for the school is the priority.