A floating school with eight students
Eight years ago, Samart Suta (33) arrived in Tambom Ko (Lamphun). 'When I arrived I asked myself: what am I doing here? I wanted to go back right away. But when I looked into the eyes of the children in this remote area, I saw that they really wanted to learn. This persuaded me to stay. And after 8 years I still have no plans to leave.'
Samart is a teacher at a floating school in Mae Ping Lake. The school has 8 students, from kindergarten to grade 6. They hadn't had lessons for eight months, because Samart's predecessors couldn't cope with the inconvenience. The school has no electricity, no telephone, no internet, only a small electric generator.
The students come from poor families, who live off fishing further down the lake. They sleep at school, because their parents' floating houses are too far away, and they are taught in the same classroom. Often at the same time, in some subjects separately, such as arithmetic, physics, ภาษาไทย and English. With some pride, Samart says that they can all read and know the multiplication tables by heart.
'The students live like brother and sister,' says Samart. "The elders take care of the young and teach them." A big problem is the parents. They do not understand the importance of education. 'Most of them do not think it is necessary for their children to go to secondary school, because eventually they will earn their living from fishing.'
12-year-old Maiprae Sumpong is happy with Master Samart. "I want to continue my education, and if possible become a teacher, like Samart, and work on this floating school."
Samart's commitment has not gone unnoticed. He recently received a 'good teacher award' from the Quality Learning Foundation and an amount of 250.000 baht for a project to improve student performance.
(Source: Bangkok Post, December 2, 2012)
A beautiful story and it will not surprise me that these children know more than their peers from larger cities.
It's wonderful that someone like that was rewarded, I like this kind of news.