Isolated small schools must run combined classes to cope

Combined classes are being tried to address this problem.

Among those implementing this teaching arrangement are Pha Khwang Witthaya School’s Khwae Wuadam branch in Chiang Rai’s Muang district (with 39 students and three teachers), and Pasak Ngam School in Chiang Mai’s Doi Saket district (with nine students and two teachers).

At Pha Khwang Witthaya, Prathom 1 (Grade 1) has been combined with Prathom 2 (Grade 2), Prathom 3 with Prathom 4, and Prathom 5 with Prathom 6. Also, Pasak Ngam has combined Prathom 1, 2 and 3, but Prathom 4, 5 and 6 have studied in the same combined class. 

Located in isolated areas – Pha Khwang Witthaya in a mountainous area and Pasak Ngam in an area where a dam separates it from other parts of the district – they are considered small schools that cannot be merged with bigger ones or closed down, although Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana has issued a policy to merge small schools.

He recently visited both schools to listen to their problems before deciding how to provide further assistance to small schools that are unable to merge with larger ones due to their isolated locations. The combined classes idea was conceived by the Office of Basic Education Commission to assist small schools cope with the problem of limited resources.

 

Slower teaching 

However, the teaching process was much slower than in schools with proper resources, Lerphong Phorn-phininworakij, acting director of the Khwae Wuadam branch, said.

A classroom of the school branch is noisy in the morning as pupils recite multiplication tables, but in the afternoon one can hear the sound of looms with which they weave cloth.

This is the way in which all the 39 pupils at Pha Khwang Witthaya School’s Khwae Wuadam branch in Chiang Rai’s Muang district enhance their learning.

The students are taught core curriculum subjects – maths, science, Thai and English language – in the morning. In the afternoon, the classes turn into occupational training rooms where local residents pass on their occupational skills to the pupils.

Suriyon Suriyodon, director of Pasak Ngam, said the number of teachers there was not enough to teach every subject to all the students.

His school has also made use of resources from its surrounding communities, including natural learning methods and locals who volunteer to teach students on how to grow vegetables and raise hens for eggs. 

After visiting both schools, Phong-thep said the ministry would provide them with more resources for the sake of the students. The school would be equipped with a satellite for distance learning and temporary teachers would be assigned to teach subjects with which local teachers were not so familiar. Locals would also take part in passing on their wisdom – such as weaving and basketry – so that students can apply them in their working lives. He urged local people and local administrative organisations to support the schools, as the budget from the ministry alone is not enough.