Sakhon Khotnara, a hardworking-but-underpaid teacher at Ban Thalunglek School in Khon Kaen’s Waeng Yai district, teaches his primary pupils Thai.

The campaigns earned about Bt100,000 each time, with the money used to cover teaching materials and wages of a teacher at Ban Thalunglek School.

"All local villagers are happy to make donations. This is for the sake of their own children," Sittisak Kangkhonnok, the head of Ban Thalunglek village, said as he prepared for the upcoming campaign, scheduled for April 14.

The village dubbed his fund-raising campaign as "Pha Pa" - an expression associated with temple donations.

"Without donations, the school may be forced to shut down as the Education Ministry has recommended the merging of small schools," Sittisak said.

Ban Thalunglek School opened in 1972. Currently, it has 48 students from kindergarten to Grade 6 with only four teachers.

The Education Ministry has paid for three of the four teachers, while the other's salary is paid by donations.

"The ratio of students per teacher may sound appropriate here. However, if you consider the fact that there are many levels in a school and many subjects to teach plus extra jobs such as school cleaning, we suffer from a severe shortage of staff," Ban Thalunglek School director Sompoch Sudcha said.

The shortage of teachers forced him to decide to merge some classes, he said.

"Currently, we do not conduct Grade 1 and Grade 2 classes. So far, there are not many students to learn at these levels," Sompoch explained.

Sakhon Khotnara said he was paid Bt12,000 per semester - about five months at the school. "I know that my wage comes from donation money. The amount may be meagre but I love the job I do. Physically, I may be tired but I feel fulfilled because my job benefits the children," he said.

The university graduate, who took up teaching here in 2000, said he planned to work for the school until there were no more children left to teach.

Sakhon did not even mind that his starting salary here was Bt3,400 and was later reduced due to budget constraints.

Grade 5 student Prapatpong Manodee, 11, said he felt sorry for the hard-working teachers. "It would be good if the school had another teacher," he said.

Atippratch Tadpichayakoon, director of Khon Kaen's Education Area 3 Office, said most schools in rural provinces suffered staff shortages. He said the Education Ministry had decided to merge several small schools to ensure there were teachers for every class level.

"However, many local people have raised funds to keep their local schools afloat. They don't want the schools closed. There is a tie between the school and local people," Atippratch said.

Jakrapong Rawiwan

The Nation

Khon Kaen