project เด็กและเยาวชน

Your scholarship support to save students from dropping out of school (Year 2)

EDF Foundation is collaborating once again with taejai.com to raise funds to help 150 underprivileged lower secondary students (Grade 8 or Grade 9) from dropping out of school in the upcoming academic year 2023. These students from small schools in the northeast region of Thailand applied for scholarships with EDF Foundation for the academic year 2022 but did not get the scholarships due to the shortfall in donations. Each of them just need a scholarship support worth 2,000 baht each, an amount that could well decide their future. Please forward your donation by 30 June 2023.

Duration 1 Macrch - 30 JUne 2023 Area Northeast of Thailand

Current donation amount

95,092 THB

Target

412,500 THB
ดำเนินการไปแล้ว 23%
จำนวนผู้บริจาค 126

สำเร็จแล้ว

Project updates

“ Save Dropout Students ” Project Year 2

3 November 2023

The Education Development Foundation (EDF) launched “ Save Drop Out Students Year2 ” fundraising program through Taejai.com crowdfunding website between March 1st 2023 and June 30th 2023. The goal was to provide scholarships worth 2,000 baht each to 150 Mattayom 2 (Grade 8) and Mattayom 3 (Grade 9) students, who are currently studying in small rural schools in the northeastern region of Thailand. After the project completion, a total donation was raised to provide scholarships to 34-targeted students.

Prior to the transfer of scholarships, EDF worked with each school to help select the needy students to receive scholarships based on the following criteria

  1. Student studying in Mattayom 2 (Grade 8) or Mattayom 3 (Grade 9).
  2. The family is poor with an average annual income of 50,000-70,000 baht.
  3. Not a son or daughter of government officials, state enterprise employees, local government employees or regular employees.
  4. Be able to maintain good grades. Is responsible, well-behaved and helpful.

Needy students are also required to provide cover letters introducing themselves, documentations of their families’ income and photographs of themselves with their houses on the background.

After verification of the provided information, EDF scholarship department will check each student's bank account details before transferring the scholarship funds (In some cases, scholarship funds are transferred to the schools’ bank accounts first) Once the scholarship funds are deposited into the students’ bank accounts, the teacher in charge of the scholarship program will scan the bank account page where the transferred funds are indicated and send it to EDF.

In addition, the teachers in charge of the scholarship work will keep the bankbooks of all scholarship students to ensure that the scholarship funds are spent wisely for educational purposes.

List of 34 scholarship students from the project “ Save Dropout Students Year 2 ”. All are from Mattayom 3 (Grade 9).

Sample of scholarship students

 " I live with my grandparents, mother, aunt and twin siblings. My father and mother have divorced and live separately. My grandfather is a farmer and my grandmother is a general worker. Currently I am studying in Mattayom 3 (Grade 9). At school, I am the vice president of the student council as well as a member of the school's Pong Lang (Northeastern traditional music) band. In the band, I also take care of the younger members who are both musicians and dancers.
After graduating from Mattayom 3 (Grade 9), I would like to further my education in Folk Music at Kalasin College of Dramatic Arts. I am passionate with this kind of music and would like to pass it on to the next generation as well. I am extremely grateful to the donors who gave me this scholarship. It made my educational life better because I will spend scholarship fund for school supplies and daily life education. I also hope that I could receive scholarships to complete higher education. Lastly, I wish the donors happiness and good health. " Mr. Suphawat Mathayom 3 (Grade 9), Sumsao Witthaya School, Udon Thani Province

 " My parents separated and have their own families now. I currently live with my grandparents and a stepsister. Our family income relies on my grandparents who work as general workers. I help them with all housework as much as possible. I really like studying the Thai language and it is the subject that I always get the highest grade. In addition, I am good at singing and had represented my school to district-level country-singing competitions.
I promise to spend the scholarship fund to the best benefit of my education. After graduating from Mattayom 3 (Grade 9), I would like to continue my education in the field of marketing. It will allow me to participate in paid-internship programs, which could help support my family. More importantly, I will be able to save some money for my education. " Ms. Witchayada Mathayom 3 (Grade 9), Wangyaw Charoenwit School, Roi-et Province

 " I live with my grandparents. My parents live in another house. My grandmother has a chronic disease and is unable to work hard. I help my grandparents with housework. My parents are rubber tappers and also do other farming work. Recently, the rubber price went down so that our family income had decreased a lot. Despite the hardship, they want me to further study to higher education.
However, they are also worried about the money. All they can do is try to find more work to earn more. I feel very sorry for both of them. For this reason, the scholarship is very necessary for me, and I would like to thank would-be donors for their kindness. I will use this opportunity to further improve my study and be a better person. " Mr. Katahwut Mattayom 3 (Grade 9), Ban Tharai Thaicharoen School, Buengkan Province

 " There are three of us in the family: my mother, a younger brother, who study in Mattayom 1 (Grade 7) and myself. My mother sells coffee in front of our rented room. Our family is poor but my mother works hard to earn money to send both of us to school. I help lighten my mother's burden by doing all housework and help set up and clean the coffee stand. During weekends, I work as a cleaner at a beef shop in the Surin fresh market for 200 baht per day.
I am very happy to go to school because I have lovely friends and good school environment. I am very proud to be able to study at my current school and hope to continue my high school here. I would like to study languages and to be an interpreter in the future. In addition, I really like studying home economics because I like sewing and playing Thai alto fiddle (Saw Oo), which is my special ability. Scholarships from the kind donor is very beneficial for me and my family. I will spend it to pay for my education and daily school expenses. I would like to thank you for giving me a scholarship. I promise to study hard and be a good child. Thank you. " Ms. Thunwarat Mattayom 3 (Grade 9), Sirindhorn 360 School, Surin Province

Video of scholarship students

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Problems and solutions

During the 2022 academic year from 1 March-31 July 2022, EDF Foundation was able to raise funds through Taejai.com to provide scholarships to 151 Grade 8 and Grade 9 needy students who have never received scholarships from the foundation. 
EDF Foundation has teamed up again with Taejai.com platform to raise scholarship funds for 150 students at 2,000 baht each. The scholarship covers school supplies expenses and school uniforms. This will help them focus on studying without the risk of dropping out from schools.
In 2021 academic year, the Ministry of Education revealed that there were more than 238,000 students across Thailand who dropped out of educational system. It is likely that the data will increase in the coming academic years due to economic situation and inequality in educational opportunities. 
Although there is a “free education policy” to help support underprivileged students nationwide, the deep level of "poverty" affecting many children living in remote area is just too much to overcome. This is made worse by the "special education fees" that a school charges for some subjects. This happens due to the large disparities of budgets allocated to urban and rural schools, which in effect prompted schools to pass on to parents to make up for the budget shortfall in the form of a “tuition fee”.
For families with enough means the difficulties will be manageable but for many families in the remote rural areas, who are already suffering from extreme lack of income opportunities, any additional burden will be unbearable. This, in a way, will prevent the country from tapping into all potential human resources for nation building simply because the poorest of the poor are getting excluded in the process.
To prevent dropping out, EDF Foundation believes that building the understanding between students and families to realize an importance of the education plus cooperation with local authorities in monitoring risk factors such as gambling and drugs that may lead students to lose educational interest and proper educational institutions’ management system are vital. Providing scholarships to needy students from poor family or whose parents are separated and live with the elderly who have no income is one way to help prevent students from dropping out and make them return to the educational system.　
EDF started the scholarship program for underprivileged children in 1988 in Udon Thani province as a pilot project. Forty-one students received the scholarships in the first year of operation. Currently, EDF has been providing scholarships — with the generous and good-hearted support from Thais and foreigners living in Thailand and abroad — to more than 400,000 underprivileged students in 5,600 schools covering 61 provinces nationwide.

Case studies (summaries) of needy students looking for scholarships

Ms. Jirarat, Ban Nonedoo School, Srisaket province

Applying for scholarship for lower secondary school (Grade 8)


My mother passed away and my father remarried. Our house is located in the rice field far from the main village. I and my two younger brothers live with my grandparents who take care of us. My grandmother is the sole breadwinner who earns money by looking for bamboo shoots and mushrooms and sell them. My school daily allowance is only 10 baht a day and is just enough to buy lunch. After school, I help my grandparents with the household chores. I wish to get a scholarship to pay for my education and to buy food.

Mr. Thanakrit

Applying for scholarship for lower secondary school (Grade 8)


There are four people in the family: my grandfather, grandmother, younger brother and me. My parents work in Bangkok and rarely send us money. My father has many expenses but only receives a monthly salary of 8,000 baht. My grandparents are almost in their 70s could barely work. They get 600 baht each from monthly government pensions. We rarely have money to purchase milk for my younger brother, pay for my education and pay for our daily meals. At home, I help in everything, including taking care of my 4-year old younger brother. I ride a bicycle to school but the bike is too old and almost breaks down. Some villagers give us some rice, of which we are very thankful. I would like to have a scholarship to support my education and buy milk for my younger brother. 

Ms. Rujirat, Buakaew Witthayakhom, Khonkaen province 

Applying for scholarship for lower secondary school (Grade 8)


My family comprises my parents, younger sister and myself. My parents work tapping rubber earning barely enough. The work is hard but they still have to work even harder to pay off debts they had incurred during very bad times. I want my parents to have a bit more rest so I help with household chores on weekends. I am aware of poverty and hardship as I face them every day. I promise to study hard for a better future and take good care of my parents. If I am granted a scholarship, I promise to make the best use of it.

Project Implementation Process

April - May 2023: EDF accepts applications of students, who look for scholarships from schools and evaluate the submission based on photos taken at their houses plus information of their families.

The selection criteria includes:
1) Students must be in the lower secondary school level.
2) From a poor family with an annual income lower than 50,000-70,000 baht.
3) Parents are not government officials, state enterprise employees, local state employees or permanent employees.
4) Students show keen interested in studying, well-behave, responsible in doing their duties and contribute to the society. Academic grade is not considered for scholarships’ approval.

June 2023: End of fundraising period for academic year 2023.
July-August 2023: Scholarship fund is transferred to students. Teachers in charge of EDF scholarship program from all schools submit a copy of the students’ bank account deposit page to the foundation as evidence of the transaction.
September-October 2023: EDF sends students’ scholarship reports to donors.

Project person in charge:

Mr. Anuchat Khongma, EDF Fundraising Department

“ Save Dropout Students ” Project Year 2

3 November 2023

The Education Development Foundation (EDF) launched “ Save Drop Out Students Year2 ” fundraising program through Taejai.com crowdfunding website between March 1st 2023 and June 30th 2023. The goal was to provide scholarships worth 2,000 baht each to 150 Mattayom 2 (Grade 8) and Mattayom 3 (Grade 9) students, who are currently studying in small rural schools in the northeastern region of Thailand. After the project completion, a total donation was raised to provide scholarships to 34-targeted students.

Prior to the transfer of scholarships, EDF worked with each school to help select the needy students to receive scholarships based on the following criteria

  1. Student studying in Mattayom 2 (Grade 8) or Mattayom 3 (Grade 9).
  2. The family is poor with an average annual income of 50,000-70,000 baht.
  3. Not a son or daughter of government officials, state enterprise employees, local government employees or regular employees.
  4. Be able to maintain good grades. Is responsible, well-behaved and helpful.

Needy students are also required to provide cover letters introducing themselves, documentations of their families’ income and photographs of themselves with their houses on the background.

After verification of the provided information, EDF scholarship department will check each student's bank account details before transferring the scholarship funds (In some cases, scholarship funds are transferred to the schools’ bank accounts first) Once the scholarship funds are deposited into the students’ bank accounts, the teacher in charge of the scholarship program will scan the bank account page where the transferred funds are indicated and send it to EDF.

In addition, the teachers in charge of the scholarship work will keep the bankbooks of all scholarship students to ensure that the scholarship funds are spent wisely for educational purposes.

List of 34 scholarship students from the project “ Save Dropout Students Year 2 ”. All are from Mattayom 3 (Grade 9).

Sample of scholarship students

 " I live with my grandparents, mother, aunt and twin siblings. My father and mother have divorced and live separately. My grandfather is a farmer and my grandmother is a general worker. Currently I am studying in Mattayom 3 (Grade 9). At school, I am the vice president of the student council as well as a member of the school's Pong Lang (Northeastern traditional music) band. In the band, I also take care of the younger members who are both musicians and dancers.
After graduating from Mattayom 3 (Grade 9), I would like to further my education in Folk Music at Kalasin College of Dramatic Arts. I am passionate with this kind of music and would like to pass it on to the next generation as well. I am extremely grateful to the donors who gave me this scholarship. It made my educational life better because I will spend scholarship fund for school supplies and daily life education. I also hope that I could receive scholarships to complete higher education. Lastly, I wish the donors happiness and good health. " Mr. Suphawat Mathayom 3 (Grade 9), Sumsao Witthaya School, Udon Thani Province

 " My parents separated and have their own families now. I currently live with my grandparents and a stepsister. Our family income relies on my grandparents who work as general workers. I help them with all housework as much as possible. I really like studying the Thai language and it is the subject that I always get the highest grade. In addition, I am good at singing and had represented my school to district-level country-singing competitions.
I promise to spend the scholarship fund to the best benefit of my education. After graduating from Mattayom 3 (Grade 9), I would like to continue my education in the field of marketing. It will allow me to participate in paid-internship programs, which could help support my family. More importantly, I will be able to save some money for my education. " Ms. Witchayada Mathayom 3 (Grade 9), Wangyaw Charoenwit School, Roi-et Province

 " I live with my grandparents. My parents live in another house. My grandmother has a chronic disease and is unable to work hard. I help my grandparents with housework. My parents are rubber tappers and also do other farming work. Recently, the rubber price went down so that our family income had decreased a lot. Despite the hardship, they want me to further study to higher education.
However, they are also worried about the money. All they can do is try to find more work to earn more. I feel very sorry for both of them. For this reason, the scholarship is very necessary for me, and I would like to thank would-be donors for their kindness. I will use this opportunity to further improve my study and be a better person. " Mr. Katahwut Mattayom 3 (Grade 9), Ban Tharai Thaicharoen School, Buengkan Province

 " There are three of us in the family: my mother, a younger brother, who study in Mattayom 1 (Grade 7) and myself. My mother sells coffee in front of our rented room. Our family is poor but my mother works hard to earn money to send both of us to school. I help lighten my mother's burden by doing all housework and help set up and clean the coffee stand. During weekends, I work as a cleaner at a beef shop in the Surin fresh market for 200 baht per day.
I am very happy to go to school because I have lovely friends and good school environment. I am very proud to be able to study at my current school and hope to continue my high school here. I would like to study languages and to be an interpreter in the future. In addition, I really like studying home economics because I like sewing and playing Thai alto fiddle (Saw Oo), which is my special ability. Scholarships from the kind donor is very beneficial for me and my family. I will spend it to pay for my education and daily school expenses. I would like to thank you for giving me a scholarship. I promise to study hard and be a good child. Thank you. " Ms. Thunwarat Mattayom 3 (Grade 9), Sirindhorn 360 School, Surin Province

Video of scholarship students

Budget plan


Details amount Total (Baht)
1 Scholarship to student  (2,000 baht per head) 150  300,000.00
2 Administration cost (500 baht per head)
Random survey to check, follow up and evaluate qualifications of students who submitted the applications including accommodation and travel expenses. 
Communication expenses (documentaries, phone calls and postal mail).
Working personnel to manage the project and other related supplies such as bank service fees for transferring scholarship funds to students' accounts.

 150 75,000.00
total
375,000.00
taejai's fee (10%)
37,500.00
TOTAL
412,500.00