All photography provided by Dylan Tyler Turner
Help Thai Schools was established in June of 2016. We are 501c3 Non-Profit Corporation based out of Texas, USA.
Our Mission
The purpose of Help Thai Schools is to address underfunding and poverty as it affects education in Thailand. We offer assistance to schools in Thailand by providing charitable contributions and volunteering in order to:
* Build, renovate and expand school facilities;
* Advance in-class technology and supplies for teaching;
* Provide utility improvements to help marginalize costs of operations;
* Offset personal costs of supplies for students' families;
* Improve learning environment to increase attendance;
* Assist families in enrolling children in school.
NARRATIVE
It is typical of Thai families to provide a large monetary sacrifice (if able, most are not) to ensure their children have the best education possible in a proper environment. Motivation is three fold: (1)As in any family, parents want the best for their kids: future, opportunity, college, good job etc. (2)Acceptance to a secondary school that can get kids into college is dependent on entrance exam scores. It is common for families to pay the (secondary school) teachers to help ensure their child's test scores are high enough for acceptance, but for the poor this is not an option (basically a tutoring fee to catch them up). (3)It is the responsibility of the children to care for their elderly parents. Better education = better job = parents are less of a financial burden for their children after retirement.
The lack of available teachers, technology and a well rounded educational environment, parents who can take on the large financial burden to send their kids to a private school.
For the poor, there is little option. If the primary schools do not provide a proper education, they cannot afford private school or the cost to pay the teachers at a good secondary school to help tutor their child. It is not uncommon for children to stop going to school after the 6th grade because there is little hope they will make it to college and they provide a greater impact by working at home to help the family.
Teachers Salary Avg: 22,000 Baht monthly ($625)
School base budget covers staff salaries only.
School budget (above base) 1,900 Baht ($54) per student/ per year. Covers utilities, repairs and supplies.
Lunches 20 Baht ($.57) per day/ per student.
Private school cost 24,000 baht ($682) + books, uniforms and transportation. (annual)
Avg per person annual income 165,291.48 baht ($4695.78) (City wages, Rice farmers and land owners skew the average). Realistic average would be closer to 80,000 baht and even less in rural communities.
STRATEGY
Our strategy is to enable public primary schools to become more strategic about their own development. Because the government support is so low, there is no current path to develop and become a better school, without outside help.
What we do differently is communicating directly with the school leadership, a school representative from the town and the community. We research the current conditions of the school in relation to the town and market conditions. We develop and propose a solution in agreement with all stakeholders that will help meet longer term objectives.
Our belief is that the assistance has to solve the actual need, not only meet short-term goals. The project has to be a successful long term, for the children, families, and community.
We do this 4 ways:
o Self-sustainability - solar grid, water well/water catch systems. Agricultural solutions
o Increase technology cost effectively - Tablets, Computers, projectors
o Improve classroom environment - AC (in certain circumstances), improve build structure, classrooms, furniture and teaching aids
o Improve school life for kids - Clothing, recreational equipment, playgrounds etc.
If these 4 goals are achieved in a project the result is:
o Better overall school environment - Increase attendants
o Attendants increase - Increased cash flow
o Eliminating utility costs - Increased cash flow
The ultimate objective is to enable a public primary school to increase their cash flow on a permanent basis in order to sustain the school independently and without outside contributions. Basically, to enable them to have the ability to self-improve. If we can improve the public schools, we can lessen the market for expensive private schools that effectively remove revenue from towns and increase poverty levels locally.
100% of contributions go to Help Thai Schools projects. All personnel involved are volunteers and are in place to ensure the strict allocation of funds to project goals. We require detailed reports from project managers as well as from the school leadership on accurate, efficient and effective use of funds to complete projects.