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Published on September 3, 2007

"Why are the grown-ups fighting?" a student in the northern province of Sukhothai asked as he watched adults in his village exchange harsh words about politics.

This question prompted him to investigate the family tree of every villager.

To his surprise and others in the community, these villagers' ancestors were brothers and sisters.

In a way, they came from the same origins and should in theory be able to live in harmony despite having different views.

This project would probably not have been completed without the establishment of the Moral Centre, a project run by the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) aimed at increasing the non-academic qualities of Thai youths.

Under the project, students nationwide have been invited to write proposals on how to solve social conflicts - and win a Bt5,000 prize.

So far, the project has received 14,000 proposals.

One student from Si Sa Ket initiated a project to visit classmates and younger students whose parents left their home-towns for work in Bangkok.

Some projects continued even when they ran out of funds, like an idea to collect leftover ice cubes to preserve milk and vegetables at a school, said Obec secretary-general Khunying Kasama Voravan na Ayudhya.

"One project that impressed me was a moral cartoon. It was hand-written and well designed. The content was also interesting," Kasama said. "This increases a child's self esteem and encourages them to give input."

The project is part of Obec's realisation that academic excellence is not the only goal to ensure youngsters get on in society. They also need additional care from teachers and others.

Kasama noted that through participation of education panels, and parents who are members of student committees, young people will be encouraged to excel in different areas of their life and not just academically. She said input from student committees was vital, given that they knew what their peers wanted and aspired to be.

"If we are focused only on tests and results, some students will miss out. Our aim is that although they are not academically brilliant, these kids have the basic foundations of knowledge as well as alternatives to proceed in non-academic ways.

"Some of these projects took a lot of time to start, but when a school succeeds, others follow suit," Kasama said.

One of the projects carried out is "Chingcha Sawan" [the Ferris Wheel], a luk thung music contest. Broadcast weekly on Modernine TV, the project features students who are proving their talent as musicians, singers and dancers. Students design and make their costumes themselves. They are enthusiastic, even though the prize money is small.

To Kasama, schools should be open to all kinds of creative shows put on by students. They can do whatever they like "as long as it is not obscene".

"Children are valuable. Negligence in schools is the root of so many problems."

The Office has recently joined hands with the Mental Health Department to groom teachers as student counsellors, to observe students who need special attention. "There could be problems with a girl who comes to school inappropriately dressed."

But all these creative projects need money. At present, 82 per cent of the budget to the Office goes to about 400,000 teachers in 30,000 schools, leaving a small amount to finance extra projects.

Limited budgets are now forcing Obec to review financial management. This year, Kasama said, some of the 558 schools built under the "I See You" project could be closed if they have few students.

Kasama noted that funding was never sufficient, and forced some schools to collect extra fees from parents. Some schools in Bangkok, despite an additional contribution from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration of Bt1,500 per student, have to pay teachers sums collected from students' parents.

The new Constitution promises 14 years of free education for children, starting from pre-school level. The budget per head will be increased. At present, schools get Bt1,100 per Prathom 1 student, but this will be increased to Bt1,900 within three years.

Meanwhile, some schools are now controlled by local administrative bodies, and this reduced the central government budget. Last year, 70 schools were transferred, followed by 20 this year. Kasama said next year the rate could be higher as those schools under local bodies would be offered increased funds and would be able to afford to employ more teachers.

The more money there is, the more creative projects can be launched, she said.

Achara Deboonme,

Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation