Interview with 'Education for Development Foundation' (EDF) - Bangkok

I spoke to both Ms.Nartrudee Nakornvacha (Pooh) (Director, Secretary and Treasurer) and Kantapon Sangkhapreecha (Ton) (a Project Development Officer) from EDF on Monday, 27th November for 30 minutes. The audio for my Skype video recording of this interview did not work, but below is a summary.

Ton asserts that it is very difficult to find qualified teachers or staff to work in rural areas, and schools were often lacking the resources, and infrastructure to provide quality education.

Another challenge in providing quality education in Thailand, particularly in rural areas is the increased number of refugees from countries such as Myanmar. Ton asserted that because Thailand gives free basic education to children for 15 years regardless of legal status, refugee children provides additional pressure to rural schools due to language barriers, emotional issues and limited resources to cope with the increased number of students. Access to quality education can then be very difficult.

What makes EDF so successful, is not just their programs, but the immense amount of cooperating partners, support structures and networks that EDF has developed over more than 30 years. This is the reason why both Pooh and Ton consider their organisation crucial in developing a sustainable future in Thailand. "EDF is helping young people to develop not only their own capacity, but their communities" Ton outlined, and this sense of community provides a very powerful source of vigour to collectively develop a more equitable future.

Ton explained that all students go through an extensive selection process and that they work with a Provincial Committee in each province to find students who are motivated academically to succeed. These students are nominated by local schools, screened and go through a selection process, and random home visits to ensure that the student is suitable. Scholarships begin at 2000 baht per year, or higher, depending on the student's need and level of study. EDF then provides a network of support mechanisms to manage the EDF's scholarship funds.

The scholarship funds are used to pay for transportation costs, food, school uniforms and supplies, stationary and other school related expenses and extracurricular activities.

Pooh explained that the majority of their funding comes from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), where big corporations give back to the community, and work together with organisations to have a positive impact on their community.

When I asked them both if they believed Thailand could meet the United Nations' Sustainability Development Goals by 2030 (specially providing quality education to every child in Thailand), Ton was honest in admitting that "it will be very challenging to achieve quality education for all by 2030, but if we continue to promote our outcomes, more people will support us and help us with achieving our goal of providing quality education to all children."

Ton and Pooh truly believe in the power of the education and how this develops not only the individual but their community.

How is 'Education for Development Foundation (EDF)' helping to provide quality education to every child?

More personal success stories

Their website also has a selection of personal success stories, such as

http://www.edfthai.org/en/?page=Feature_Stories&id=392