March 7, 2008
Consulate-General of Japan in Chiang Mai
The Government of Japan, under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects Scheme (GGP), will provide funds amounting to 3,256,500 baht for a project entitled "Construction of a Dormitory for the Buddhist Junior High School in Sa Moeng District, Chiang Mai Province". On March 6, 2008. Mrs.Junko Yokota, the Consul-General of Japan in Chiang Mai and Phrakru Sirichaikhun, Manager of Wat Sa Moeng Witdhaya School, jointly signed the funding contract for the project at the Consulate-General of Japan in Chiang Mai.
Wat Sa Moeng Witdhaya School is located in the compound of Sa Moeng Temple and was established in 1999 as a Buddhist school under the supervision of the Office of National Buddhism and the Education Service Office of Chiang Mai province Area II. Nowadays, the school accepts young hill tribe monks mainly from mountainous areas in Sa Moeng District free of enrollment charge. For needy hill tribe boys, the chance to receive a free education is limited and, consequently, most of those boys will become Buddhist monks. Wat Sa Moeng Witdhaya School is the only Buddhist junior high school accepting young monks from the forty-three temples in the district.
At Wat Sa Moeng Witdhaya School, there are many applicants every year but due to the limited capacity of its dormitory, the school has to control the number of students. Besides, the sharp rise in school bus fares has hit the household economies of students and their parents. Moreover, most of the roads in the school zone are not paved and become very dangerous to use during the rainy season. Therefore, the school wishes to increase the number of boarding students.
However, the present dormitory is in very poor condition and is already overcrowded with twenty-five students. In these circumstances, the school has had to disperse some students from the dormitory into other facilities. Thus, at the moment, three students have to sleep overnight at a monk's house, six students at the office of the chief monk, ten students in the main building and thirteen students in the hall. As a result, it is difficult for the school to manage the safety and security of those students.
In response to a request from Wat Sa Moeng Witdhaya School, the Government of Japan will bear the construction cost of a new two-storied dormitory for 80 students. It is expected that the construction will enhance the chances of needy hill tribe children to receive a secondary education.
