Smashing the barriers
>> About a decade ago, a local school in Samut Sakhon’s Muang district made a tough decision to start enroling children born to migrant workers. That decision was vindicated after many of the former students grew up and found jobs that paid enough to take care of their families.
Prasarn Sarawong, the former principal of Wat Sri Suttharam School in tambon Bang Ya Praek, conceded he initially faced challenges from Thai parents, most of whom were unwilling to let their students study in classes next to their peers from neighbouring countries.
Many of the migrant workers were also hesitant to send their children to study at the school, as they feared their kids would be arrested, Mr Prasarn said, noting that in the past most alien labourers had to sneak into Thailand to work unlawfully.
Most of the migrant workers’ children brought to study in their first years of school were aged between 12 and 14 years — much older than their Thai classmates, he said.
“They had trouble communicating with friends and teachers,” Mr Prasarn recalled, noting the Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) devoted to labour rights, at that time stepped in to help the kids assimilate into Thai schools.
They were also assisted by other foreign kids who could speak Thai, and tended to adjust well to their new environment.
“Right now, the students who were enrolled at the school in their first year are now more than 20 years old and currently have good jobs, such as working as clerks and foremen at factories,” said Mr Prasarn.
The former principal said many of these people performed a wai when they saw him. “I was proud to see them grow up to become good people with jobs that they can use to take care of themselves and their families,” he said.
According to Mr Prasarn, children of migrant workers are given free lunch. This encourages migrant parents to send their kids to the school as most of them have low incomes, he said.
He said that in the early period, the school faced a lot of criticism, as many believed this was a waste of time and money because these children would eventually have to return to their home countries.
Mr Prasarn said he only thought it was important to mould these kids into good people, regardless of which countries they would eventually live in.
“It has been proven that many children born to migrant workers are still in Thailand and have played a role in creating economic growth through factories or services,” said Mr Prasarn.
“I believe more than 1,000 foreign students have studied at the school over the past 10 years. This is something all teachers can be proud of,’’ he said.
One of them is a 22-year-old Myanmar woman, Ong San, who is now working as an assistant clerk at a construction firm. She also serves as an assistant manager at a condominium’s juristic office.
Ong San, who has skills fixing electric and water equipment through her experience as a construction worker, said her classmates now have good jobs, such as those of clerks, foremen and interpreters as well as freelance careers.
She recalled feeling shy when she first started studying with Thai classmates who were much younger. But she said she wanted to study so she would be able to read Thai.
After finishing Prathom 6 (Grade 6), she decided to leave to help her parents work to make money.
She is now studying in high school in the informal education system in a bid to pursue her studies in university.
Sompong Srakaew, director and founder of LPN, said education is a basic right for kids to grow up to be good and qualified people. He also expressed concerns that many children of migrant workers still lack access to basic education.
Citing a 2015 academic study, Mr Sompong said more than one million children of migrant workers were in Thailand and more than 60% of them were believed to have no access to education. This is because many of them do not have birth certificates, he said.
Many schools won’t enroll these kids because their teachers cannot speak the same languages the children do and some are simply too full to receive more students, he added.
Patima Tang pratchayakul, of LPN, said her organisation wanted to help children of migrant workers gain access to education to ensure they have a safe space and to create better futures for them.
She said the LPN started a campaign to encourage migrant parents to bring their kids to schools.
It first began the campaign in Samut Sakhon and has since extended to Rayong, Trat, Samut Prakan and Kanchanaburi. According to Ms Patima, the LPN has helped 3,000-4,000 migrant kids gain access to education in Thailand.
Surapong Kongchantuk, a member of a subcommittee at the Ministry of Education focusing on the issue of stateless students, said migrant parents of children aged five and older would receive non-Thai identification cards, which would give them the ability to enrol in school.
“Many children born to migrant workers are still in Thailand.
FORMER WAT SRI SUTTHARAM SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, PRASARN SARAWONG