Mechai pattana School is also known as Bamboo School. It’s a well-known educational institution in Thailand, named after Mechai Viravaidya, a prominent social activist and advocate for education and public health initiatives in Thailand. It was established in 2008, in response to what founder and chairman, Mechai Viravaidya describes as a failure of the “rote learning” memorization model in conventional Thai schools and rampant inequality between the rich and the poor. “I saw a lot of exploitation in society and also mediocrity in the regular school system. I thought, why not create our own school and do it in a better way – a school that would produce good, decent, and honest citizens who are willing to share, who respect other people, who can look for answers, who are quite independent, and who support gender equality – all those things that I like to see in a person.” , Mechai explains. The school opened to provide children in Thailand with free private education. There are Thai, Cambodia, Vietnamese, and ethnic groups’ students. Along with learning through the formal school curriculum, students at Mechai Pattana must also engage in important life and career-orientated skills such as business management, recruitment and financial responsibility. The school applies UN SDGs practice.
In school organic vegetable farms, students learn to plant Chinese choy sum, green onion and mushroom. Chemical-free fertilizer is used in all farming projects. There are more life skills to learn here: jar making, bee wax, or even tissue culture. Responsibility and leadership skills are taught through hands-on experience. When new students or even teachers apply to the school, it is the student board that decides whether they will be offered a place or position. When new equipment – from computers to cars – needs to be purchased, it is students who must gather the quotations to find the best deal and then manage budgets accordingly.
Mechai Pattana School has gained recognition both nationally and internationally for its progressive educational philosophy and its efforts to empower students to become active and engaged citizens who contribute positively to society.
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