The training took place from December 7–8, 2024. To support academic and knowledge management for the development of community plans to prevent children at risk of dropping out of the education system in Ratchaburi Province, the Equitable Education Research Institute (EEFI) in partnership with the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (SAC), Silpakorn University, organized a training on the use of “Community Survey Tools and Community Data Collection with ‘Community Ways: 7 Tools'” for 50 representatives of teachers, community leaders, and community members from 10 communities/schools at Wat Huai Mu School (Amornthammaratrat Bamrung) and Ban Na Nong Community, Mueang District, Ratchaburi Province.
Developing a prototype community to lessen educational disparity includes this effort. The Equitable Education Fund (EEF) has guidelines for implementing measures to reduce educational inequality in Ratchaburi Province (Zero Dropout). Since 2022, the EEF has worked with Sansiri Public Company Limited to support children and youth in the target group, which is aged 3 to 24, to have universal access to education, receive support for independent learning, develop life and vocational skills, and develop educational institutions and provincial mechanisms to reduce educational inequality in an efficient and sustainable way.
Based on historical performance, it is evident that efforts to minimize educational disparity, encourage universal access to school for target groups, and address the issue of children leaving the educational system are frequently put into effect under the adolescent’s economic circumstances. By providing subsidies or money through government agency screening processes, depending on teachers’ mission-driven roles, or utilizing sub-district and village-level volunteer mechanisms to find and follow out-of-system kids so they can get back into the system or grow up to their full potential—all of which are reactive measures. As a result, the Equitable Education Research Institute (EEFI) has attempted to address the issue from a wide range of angles, including steps to lessen inequality that are relevant to the specifics of each region and necessitate the integration of collaboration between local communities, educational institutions, and operational units to work more proactively. As part of the “Community Plan Development Project to Prevent Children at Risk of Dropping Out of the Education System in Ratchaburi Province,” which the Equitable Education Research Institute (EEFI) has implemented in collaboration with the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (SAC) and Silpakorn University, led to the study, analysis, and development of a prototype of integrated work between communities, schools, and various sectors at the local level. This project allows community members and members from numerous sectors who have a thorough understanding of the context of children and youth in their community to participate in the planning and execution of activities that correlate with the plan.
To do this, representatives of educators, community leaders, and members of all ten communities studied and tested seven tools: a family tree, a walking map, a community organizational structure, a community health system, a community calendar, community history, and life to explore community data in multiple dimensions to comprehend community issues, challenges, and risk factors that children and youth encounter in various contexts of each community. They also looked for social and cultural capital in order to better improve each community’s “community plan to prevent children at risk of dropping out of the education system.”
