Wide Horizons, Community Development Program

    

Rebuilding the School to Provide Conducive Learning Environment

School                 : New Wave Learning Centre

Address               : Marko Supermarket, near by Mae Sot, Tak, Thailand

Contact person   : New Wave headmaster

Contact No.        : 082 770 9381

Submitted by      : Wide Horizons Students 2015-2016

E-mail                : aungminoojohn@gmail.com

Contact No.       : 0624266466 (John)

Executive Summary

New Wave School was founded by Mr. Zaw Htet in 2008 with 7 teachers and 128 students. They started with Nursery to Grade-6. Currently, there are 10 teachers and 130 students in the school and they offer Nursery until Grade 7. It is located 1km from the market in Tak province, Thailand.

 In this community, students and teachers do not feel safe with the school building because it was built using low quality materials. The roof, wall and floor are broken and decayed. Consequently, students and teachers are facing leaking water from the roof, rain water is splashing in through the holes of the walls and a decaying floor that makes students unable to sweep the rubbish on the floor, place desks and chairs on the cracked areas. Therefore, the community would like to rebuild the dilapidated school building from February to March, 2016 to provide a safe and sturdy school building for the community.

After the implementation, it will allow the community to have a conducive and safe classroom building that can last at least 7 years without needing any repairs. This will encourage students to concentrate more in their lessons. 

For implementing this project, we are requesting funds to partially or wholly cover the costs of rebuilding the school 185,230 Baht for the foundation, 326,200 Baht for the divider, and 852,130 Baht for the roof.  

Organization Background

Wide Horizons School is located in Mae Sot, Thailand and founded in 2006. Our mission is to develop the capacity of young adults from the Thai-Burma border by improving their project management, English and computer skills to work effectively as community leaders.

School Structure

 The organization is made out of 4 full-time staffs and 2 part-time staff with years of experience in working in communities.

We collaborate with 7 main partners such as World Education and Burmese Migrant Worker’s Education Committee. We are funded by over 5 organizations such as USAID and Thai Children’s Trust.

Past Community Projects

Over 200 students have graduated from Wide Horizons since 2006 until now. Over the last 8 years, WH has run more than 15 projects in different communities. For example, students completed a fence project in Elpis dormitory successfully in (2014-2015) academic year. When they return to their own organizations, they have helped with computers, management, writing proposal, translation and interpretation.

Programs

Wide Horizons is a 2-year leadership development program.  The first year is for studying and the second is for internship in their mother CBOs. We have 3 subjects namely Community Development that trains students organizational and management skills, English and Computer.  For this academic year, 24 students are working in groups of 4 with 4 different community projects. Each project is organized by 6 students.

Awards 

·         The UNESCO Wenhui Award for Educational Innovation 2014.

Team Members

            For this academic year, 24 students are working on in groups of 6 on 4 different community projects. This project is organized by six member students:

Mu Ku                         (Karen Students Network Group)

Mary                            (Bridge Organization)

Pa Pa Moe                   (Karenni Social Development Centre)

Kyi Khala                    (Mon National Education Committee)

John                             (Mae Tao Clinic)­

Ko Ko                                     (Hsa Thoo Lei Orphanage, IDP Learning Center)

Community Background

New Wave School was founded by Mr. Zaw Htet in 2008 with 7 teachers and 130 students. They started with Nursery to Grade-6. Later, they moved to Mo Har Gyi Lee near Mae Sot Market in April, 2013. It is located 1km from the market in Tak province, Thailand. The school’s mission is to provide quality of primary school education, to reduce illiteracy and to get the same level with Burmese children to the unparented and orphan children in Mae Sot areas between the ages of 5 to 14 years old.

            They currently have 10 teachers and 130 students with Nursery to Grade-7. The school is managed by Mr. Zaw Htet, the school principal, with the support 9 full-time teachers.

Some of the students’ parents are lacked the financial resources to support school fees for their children as they are low-wage earners mainly working as migrant workers. Moreover, some students in New Wave School are unparented students who come from the backgrounds of being orphaned, abandoned or neglected by their parents.

The school is currently 1 single classroom which divided 6 classes with basic amenities like toilets, a small library, a dormitory and playground.

Mathematics, Science, English and Burmese are among the 6 subjects taught in New Wave School. The students also have extracurricular activities such as dance, painting and football which are conducted after class hours.

            The teachers and students run the school themselves by doing fundraising activities such as gardening, raising fish, raising duck and chicken. Currently, they have some donors to support the school materials, cooking utensils and nutrition for the children. However, they have no donors to rebuild the school building. Teachers get the salary by collecting money every month from the students’ parents to support themselves. In addition, Mae Tao Clinic provides some medicines once a month for the dorm’s students. According to the headmaster, they received the vegetables from the gardening for cooking and they sell some vegetables for supporting some school’s stationaries.

Since New Wave School was established, they have provided hundreds of unparented students and outside students with the educational opportunities to construct a better and brighter future. Every year, 90% of students passed the exam with great scores. According to the headmaster, around 15 to 20 students remove to the high school every year. This is a big achievement for New Wave School and it is what keeps teachers and staff enthusiastic to providing educational opportunities to unparented children and outside children in New Wave School.

Problem Statement

Classrooms are an essential part of any educational institution. It creates a place that is safe and conducive for students to learn and excel. However, the school building in New Wave School is dilapidated. The 4 main problems are a weak roof, deteriorating floor and school wall, and a narrow, open classroom. These problems threaten the safety of students and staff, and causes serious learning discomfort and inconvenience. To solve this problem, we will rebuild the school building.

The size of the current school building is 30m x 8m. There are currently 130 students receiving education in New Wave School. Out of this number, 30 unparented students between 5 to 14 years old study in this school.

The school building houses 6 classrooms and this is where 130 students spend their weekdays from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM learning subjects. This 3-year-old school building is made of bamboo walls, bamboo floor by using recycled materials from old building and a thatched roof. Over the years, it has gone through many repairs such as replacing the roof. The last time it was repaired in 2014.

The roof is made of thatch but they are very low quality. According to the headmaster and teachers, thatch is only available once a year. Over the past 6 years, 10 teachers with the help of outsiders have replaced the thatch annually because it deteriorates fast and does not withstand heavy wind and rain. Using tin sheets instead of thatch would produce a sturdier and long-lasting roof but thatch is all the school can afford. However, replacing the roof annually has become a financial burden and teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to find outside labor for help as their students are too young to assist in repair works.

  The problem with the roof has also affected other parts of the building, particularly the bamboo floor. Because of the low quality roof, water leaks into the classroom and onto the bamboo floor causing the bamboo to rot. According to our interview with 10 students, the water leaking from the roof interrupts their classes as they have to move places. This is particularly problematic during monsoon season between the periods of June until September. Class teachers also reported that when the rain is very heavy and windy, they have to close the school for 1 or 2 days because the classrooms become wet the whole day.

Moreover, the bamboo floor has many cracks because it has been used for over 3 years. They cannot sweep the rubbish on the floor and place desks and chairs on the cracked areas. As a result, even though they have desks and chairs, they cannot use them and the classroom is often filthy. 

Additionally, the school’s walls are showing signs of decay because they used the recycled bamboo from the old school building. This decay was caused by rain water and it made the students who feel uncomfortable and do not concentrate in their learning. 

            Lastly, the current school building does not have dividers to separate the 6 classrooms. Therefore, students in 6 classes study in a large open area. This means students are able to clearly hear and see everything that goes on in other classes and many students are unable to pay attention in class. 

                                                                                                                       

To provide a safe school building and conducive learning environment for New Wave students, we are requesting for funds to rebuild the floor, roof and walls including the dividers between Februarys to March, 2016. This will enable students to concentrate in their studies in a safe building and environment that encourages learning. According to the headmaster, some of the students’ parents and the headmaster can construct the building themselves. This is the most sustainable solution as the building parts will not have to be replaced every few years. A well-built school building will benefit over hundreds of unparented students who would enroll into New Wave School in the coming years. If they do not get a safe school building, these unparented students will not have a chance to continue their studies. Furthermore, if they do not repair the building, the school will not be able to use in coming year.

 

Figure 1. Deteriorating floor

Figure 2. Decayed wall and a weak roof

 

 

Goal

            To provide a safe and sturdy school building for all students who are receiving education in New Wave School

 

 

Objective

            Rebuild the New Wave School building with the teachers and students’ parents between February to March, 2016 by replacing the roof, floor and wall including dividers to provide a conducive and safe learning environment for all students.

 

 

Impact

            A safe and conducive classroom will encourage 130 students, including 30 unparented children in New Wave School to improve their concentration and motivation in class resulting in a greater chance of them performing well academically to secure a brighter future. More importantly, a sturdy school building ensures New Wave School would be able to continue providing quality education to more than 700 children, including hundreds of unparented children for years to come. 

Action Plan
Objective:		Rebuild the New Wave School building with the teachers and students’ parents between February to March, 2016 by replacing the roof, floor and wall including dividers to provide a conducive and safe learning environment for all students.
Indicator:		·         Percentage of building completed ·         Quality of construction ·         Number of students and staff who feel comfortable and able to concentrate on their lessons better
Means of verification:		·         Physical inspection, Interview the headmaster  and Small group discussion
No.	Activity		Time Frame	Persons Responsible	Resources
1	Make appointment with  New Wave headmaster		1 - 3 Oct 2015	Ko Ko	Phone credit
2	Discuss with New Wave headmaster that we need to hire engineer		4 - 7 Oct 2015	John Mary and Pa Pa Moe	Notebooks, pens and truck
3	Consult with the headmaster how many students parents could help him to build  school
4	Check location and measure the size of school building		8 - 10 Oct 2015	Kyi khala Ko Ko and Mu Ku	Notebooks, measuring string and truck
5	Consult with the headmaster about school design
6	Consult with the headmaster what kinds of materials do we need		11 - 14 Oct 2015	Pa Pa Moe John and Ko Ko	Notebooks, record and truck
7	Check materials that can be recycled
8	Ask the community what materials they have		15 - 17 Oct 2015	Mu Ku Kyi Khala and Mary	Notebooks, record and truck
9	Make a list of building materials		18 - 20 Oct 2015	Mary Ko Ko and John	Notebooks and pens
10	Survey the price of materials		21 - 25 Oct 2015	John Mu Ku and Pa Pa Moe	Notebooks, pens and truck
11	Discuss with the headmaster about which price of materials we will choose		26 - 28 Oct 2015	Kyi Khala Ko Ko and Mary	Notebooks, record and truck
12	Make budget plan		29 - 2 Nov 2015	Ko Ko John and Pa Pa Moe	Notebooks, pens and computer
13	Apply for funding		23 - 25 Nov 2015	Pa Pa Moe Mu Ku and John	Computer
14	Manage our budget for each materials		2 - 7 Feb 2016	Mary Mu Ku and   Kyi Khala	Notebooks, pens and computer
15	Discuss with the headmaster about the transportation		8 - 12 Feb 2016	Mu Ku           Ko Ko	Notebooks and pens
16	Buy the materials		13 - 19 Feb 2016	Kyi Khala All	List of materials, notebooks, money and truck
17	Breakdown  the old school  building		20 - 27 Feb 2016	Ko Ko Mu Ku	Camera, notebooks and construction tools
18	Start to build the school		28 Feb - 21 Mar 2016	Ko Ko Mu Ku	Camera, notebooks and construction tools
19	Conduct an evaluation  about the project		22 - 25 Mar 2016	Ko Ko Mu Ku	Notebooks
20	Write  the report		26 - 29 Mar 2016	Ko Ko Mu Ku	Computer and  notebooks
21	Submit the report  to donor		30 Mar - 2 April 2016	Ko Ko Mu Ku	Computer

 

Deliverables

Upon the completion of the project, New Wave will have a new school building. The school building will have a total area size of 240 m² that houses 6 classrooms. The building will be constructed using cement, bricks and wood. Each classroom measures 5m x 5m and in between each classroom, there will be dividers made of ply wood. Each room has one main door and two windows. The windows and doors will be constructed using ply wood, and the roof will be built using tin sheets. The foundation of the building measures 30 m x 8 m and will be dug 3 feet deep with rock, gravel and bricks, then paved with cement.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beneficiaries

At least 700 upcoming New Wave students aged 5 to 14 years old and 10 teachers between the 2016 – 2023 academic year will benefit the most from this new school building as it will last for a minimum period of 7 years without needing any repairs. New Wave students who come from migrant, refugee, Burma, Thai-Burma border. They come from backgrounds of being unparented, neglected and abandoned. This project will help students increase their chance of performing well academically to develop a brighter future.  Moreover, it can also help the 6 organizers of this project, who are Wide Horizons students with proposal writing, project management, critical thinking and communication skills to develop their own communities upon completion of the WH program.  

Community Participation

Thirty students and 10 teachers from New Wave School cooperated closely with the organizers in the planning of the project. The organizers consulted and included the teachers in decision-making for every step of the project such as collecting information about the school’s problems, background and their urgent needs. As a result, they determined to rebuild the school building by using good quality materials.

The community, especially the headmaster, also helped the organizers not only in gathering materials and tools for the construction but also in the building plan of the infrastructure. Moreover, the students’ parents will be providing skills during implementation as some are carpenters and have experiences in construction. Instead of replacing new wood and posts, the community will inspect the condition of materials to know whether they can be reused. During the implementation, the headmaster and students’ parents will oversee the construction till it has been completed by staying in the students’ dormitory.

The headmaster will manage the workers and students’ parents in order to make sure they have all the materials they require to complete the building. As a result, they will assist the organizers in writing a report to the donor by giving information about the project. All in all, the organizers and community will recheck every step of the project to ensure all tasks are completed. For project evaluation, organizers will lead a small group discussion with student representatives to know how they feel about the new building.

Budget
Foundation/Floor
Expenditure	Quantity		Unit	Cost Per Unit (baht)	Total Cost (baht)	Amount Requested from Donor (R2G)	Amount of other Resources    (in-kind)
Personnel
Headmaster	41		day	300	12300		12300
Staff (9)	41		day	300	110700		110700
Volunteers (9)	41		day	300	110700		110700
Materials
Cement	400		bag	130	52000	52000
Brick	2000		piece	5	10000	10000
Welding electrodes	10		pack	90	900	900
Iron (4')	300		piece	120	36000	36000
Iron (2')	300		piece	80	24000	24000
Welded mesh for floor	10		piece	1500	15000	15000
Wire string	10		piece	200	2000	2000
Raw sand	20		truck	180	3600	3600
Graver	12		truck	180	2280	2280
Soil	50		truck	500	25000	25000
Equipment
Camera	2		piece	2000	4000		4000
Computer	1		piece	12000	12000		12000
Transportation
Petrol	20		trip	300	6000	6000
Other Direct Costs
Refreshments	41		day	200	8200	8200
Phone credit	5		card	50	250	250
Total cost for foundation/floor (baht):					434930	185230	249700
Dividers
Materials
Cement		100	pack	100	10000	10000
4 iron		200	piece	140	28000	28000
2 iron		200	piece	80	16000	16000
Rough sand		5	truck	1800	9000	9000
Rock		2	truck	1900	3800	3800
Door		7	piece	500	3500	3500
Window		21	piece	400	8400	8400
Plywood		200	piece	350	70000	70000
Join wall iron		50	piece	700	35000	35000
Iron pole (4' around)		30	piece	500	15000	15000
Iron pole (4'2")		200	piece	350	70000	70000
wood (6'1')		200	piece	250	50000	50000
Thinner (5 gallons)		2	bucket	500	1000	1000
Paint (5 gallons)		5	bucket	900	4500	4500
Paint for iron		2	bucket	300	600	600
Welding electrodes		10	piece	90	900	900
Wire string		5	kilo	100	500	500
Total cost for dividers (Baht):					326200	326200
Roof
Materials
Tin roof	1000		piece	130	130000	130000
Welding electrodes	10		piece	90	900	900
Screw for tin roof	10		pack	80	800	800
Long rafter	300		piece	350	105000	105000
Cover for roof	30		piece	100	3000	3000
Ceiling	600		piece	25	15000	15000
Short rafter	300		piece	250	75000	75000
Paint	10		bucket	900	9000	9000
Thinner (5 gallons)	2		bucket	400	800	800
Paint for iron	2		bucket	350	700	700
Wire string	5		kilo	100	500	500
Total cost for roof (baht):					340700	340700
GRANT TOTAL (Baht):					1101830	852130	249700

The budget above reflects the total amount of funds needed to rebuild the school. In the event that Room To Grow is unable to fund the full amount, we are urgently requesting 525,930 baht to rebuild the school floor and roof as it is in very bad condition.  We will seek funding for the remaining costs (326,200 baht) from the other donors to complete the building.

Project Sustainability

 This project can benefit more than 700 students including upcoming unparented students in New Wave School and the building can last for a minimum period of 7 years without needing any repairs because the school will be built by using good quality materials. If there are any problems, such as a broken roof, they can fix it by themselves as the headmaster, teachers and students’ parents are involved in the construction of the building during project implementation and some parents work in the construction industry. As the building can last at least 7 years, the community will not have to spend their own funds for any school repair work during these years. It will also improve their safety in the classroom because they will get a sturdy classroom building to learn. A conducive and safer learning environment for all students will encourage them to concentrate more than more in their lessons.  

 

 

 

Monitoring and Evaluation

While the teachers and students’ parents are implementing the project, two organizers will monitor the construction progress. The organizers will interview the New Wave headmaster, teachers and selected students’ parents to ensure the building has been completed. The organizers will do an inspection again to make sure the building plan requirements. If there are any problems with the school building, we will discuss with the headmaster to perform repair work. 

One month after the 2016 – 2017 academic year begins organizers, Ko Ko and Mu Ku will lead a small group discussion with selected students - 4 boys and 4 girls, as class representatives. We will let them share how they feel about the school building’s safety and comfort in order to concentrate in their lessons. As a result, we will get their feedback on our project from them.

 During and after the project has been completed, 2 organizers will record everything such as the project’s successes and challenges. After that, 2 organizers will write a report to the donor, after getting the information about the project.