Migrant Workers Build Public School in Mon Village

(By Bob Htaw, Bangkok)

Despite living a harsh existence in Thailand, migrant workers have banded together to send home funds to support education in their home village

Mon children's education in the villages has usually ended at the elementary level, facing an uncertain future, children are left to play or work around the village and are often seen playing in the river close by their village. For many years now, hundreds of children are seen working on farms and fishing after completing primary school in the village. Aware of the needs of the community, migrant workers from Krong Bae village no longer rely on the Government's educational infrastructure project in rural areas.

Goe Lavi, youth leader from Krong Bae Mon village, Pha Ann Township determined to make a difference formed the "Association of Assisting Education" in Thailand to support his community back home. Over sixty migrant workers joined the grassroots project in 2000. Soon after the Department of State Education from Pha Ann Township visited his village, a joint-middle school was opened, the school was just a small hut built of wood with a thatch roof. If the villagers do not fund the school, the temporary permit for joint middle school will expire. Children will then have to attend middle school in another village and walk up to three miles every day on foot.

News of the situation reached Lavi, chief of migrant workers in Samutphrakan District. Inspired to do something for his people, he quickly organized a meeting and formed an association of migrant workers concerned for the education needs of the community back home in Mon State.

"If there is no joint-middle school in our village, children will have to walk six miles daily to attend school at Htaw Plang (Zar Tha Pyin) village, I felt something had to be done to support the community. Now the building is 95% completed," he happily added.

Over eighty migrant workers with work permits (Bart raeng-ngan) issued by Ministry of Labor of the Royal Thai Government each contributed Baht 300 per year to the project, with a few senior workers generously contributing thousands of Baht on top of that. The migrants are employed at a rice factory and possess a strong work in conducting good management skills within the community led by their leader. They make up the largest pool of uneducated, unskilled labor in Thailand, who place a high value on education and have gladly given up some of their wages to the school building project.

Unskilled migrant workers have contributed significantly to economic stability in Burma for several years. While the villagers acknowledge the migrant's contribution, the Department of State Education in Burma totally disregards the social and educational concerns of migrant workers and their families back home.

"We have not only built the school but we also pay the salaries of local teachers in our village," Lavi declared to Kao Wao.

Local public teachers at Krong Bae village receive a stipend from the association while students are charged Kyat 150.00 per month (US 10 cents) of tuition fee. Despite being financially supported by migrant workers and the local villagers, the Department of State Education instructed the local headmen to put a sign (on the front gate of the building) saying "State Middle School" in Burmese text, denying the Mon language and effort in funding their own schools. The local headmen and his team proudly say they successfully built the school without state funding. Like many schools in Burma, the SPDC government pays not a single Kyat on education. According to Lavi, local headmen announced the school was built with enthusiasm by local villagers to get permission from the Burmese authorities for another year term to run the project after the school building was completed.

Native Mon teachers are appointed for a range of teaching programs including Mon language and literature. The Mon National Education Department, an organization of the New Mon State Party also conducts classes at the joint-middle school with its own funding. There are over 150 students at the joint-middle school with five teachers. Most teachers are from the village, three of which have completed Degrees from Moulmein University, Capital City of Mon State. According to Lavi, the graduates were not able to find jobs in the urban areas and returned to the village, they enjoy teaching in the village and have become dedicated role models for new generation.

"In the past, we didn't have a single person who finished high school in the 'tenth year,' Lavi explained. The energetic Lavi, in his 30s, has worked like superman for many years in Thailand to support his community.

Living a modest life in his home village, he has endeavored to help and guide young people for safe employment and other social works in Burma and Thailand. Usually avoiding commenting about politics, whether the government is good or bad, he criticized local headmen and high-ranking officials who give in to bribes. "I'm sick to death of the corruption in my birthplace and the surrounding areas and want a change in my country.

Shaking his head, "They don't work for the sake of poor people but they collect loads of money for themselves."

After the New Mon State Party, a nationalist political party with its armed force reached cease-fire agreement in 1995, a few Mon villages received educational access to public schools funded by the Mon National Education Committee. However, many in the rural areas like Krong Bae village had to build their own schools and hire teachers with no funding allocation either by the government or international aid.

Migrant workers at Samutphrakan District work 10-14 hours a day to save enough money for those back home, most know nothing about Labor Union or workers' rights. They are not trained by any Thai based non-government organizations to run community development projects or other related capacity training initiatives, neither democratic activists nor members of a political party. They are local civilians dedicated to their community and its future. "I can assure you if we don't have jobs here, our families wouldn't be able to survive at home," he said. Migrant workers both legal and illegal status have contributed to community development and other village infrastructure initiatives in Mon territory for years but are ill-treated or punished with immigration laws in both countries.

Despite the negative situation, they have built a joint-middle school at a cost of over Baht 400,000 under the direction of Lavi. He urges friends from other villages to organize workers into groups to run similar projects and has made himself available for consultation if workers from other villages invite him. Many migrants are not aware of educational projects in their areas despite most of villages back home have no funding for school buildings.

"I can't understand why workers have no interest to support educating their poor children back home," he commented. "We hope to support our children to continue their studies at universities and we award them every year," he added.

Kao Wao learnt that most new schools in Mon Territory are self-supported through cash collection of local households. According to a recent address of the military appointed Prime Minister of Burma, General Khin Nyunt, there are 40,049 basic education schools as of 2003 including branch schools and affiliated schools. However, he mentioned nothing about how funds are allocated. In reality, local villagers, migrant workers, surrounding community and local businessmen fund most schools.

The joint-middle school in Krong Bae village at Pha An Township is 80 x 20 ft. with no electricity or a water tap and is set in the middle of rice field. The project is waiting for additional cash at the end of financial year. The Association of Education Assistance not only pays for the cost of construction but for all facilities in the classroom. The lucky middle school students now only have to walk ten minutes to school from their home. The School runs its own generator for power at night, the students are able to complete their homework with the power, but the majority read their books in the candlelight.