A school in the wilderness makes early learning accessible for isolated minority children
By Robert Few MAE HONG SON, March 2006 – “These shoes only cost me a dollar, but they are four-wheel-drive,” laughs Prajuap Gaewsiri, Director of Pang Ma Pha Primary School. And it is lucky for him they are, because we are visiting an isolated ethnic minority village of 200 people, which can only be reached with difficulty, even in the most suitable of footwear. The village of Baan Dong Ma Fai is about 16 kilometers from the closest road, deep in the lush, misty mountains of Mae Hong Son, Thailand’s highest and most inaccessible province. In the summer, that means a half-hour drive over back-breaking potholes and up 45-degree slopes. In the rainy season, it means a two-hour hike. “Before the centre opened, I couldn’t study,” said 9-year-old Supaporn, as she sat in the timber schoolroom, causally picking lice from a younger student’s hair. “My mother did not want me to live away from home in a boarding school because I am the youngest daughter and it is dangerous for a girl to live alone very far away. So I used to help my mother grow rice in the fields instead of studying.” These days, Supaporn uses her time differently. She spends six days a week learning Thai, math, science and basic life skills that help to keep her healthy and safe. A little education also goes a long way when the children travel into town. If they can read signs, they can find their way home. When they grow up and start work, their education will provide them with more opportunities and it will be harder to trick or exploit them. There are also benefits beyond education, because in rural villages such as this, a school is a vital part of the community and teachers are a valuable source of information and advice. In addition to teaching, Thangarat works unofficially as an advisor to parents on problems ranging from citizenship to child healthcare, and she mediates between the community and the government.
For example, some of the children in the village are not properly registered with the local authorities because the villagers know no government official who can act as a witness for their applications. Now Thangarat can perform that service. She is also campaigning for funds to build latrines for those families in the village that do not have them – while at the same time educating the children and their parents on the need for sanitation. “It is my responsibility to push the village forward,” she said. Parents are delighted that their children can spend their days more usefully. They also know that education is essential for their children to fulfill their ambitions. In Supaporn’s case, that ambition is to become a doctor. The early learning centre could be her first step on way. After all, she has already deloused her first patient.
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