AboutMeuang Phiang Primary School

Meuang Phiang Primary School was established in 1941 with a current enrolment of 249 students (129 boys, 120 girls) and has 13 teachers (3 male and 10 female), two of whom are volunteers. All the students come from two surrounding villages within one kilometer of the school. The school grounds consisted of three buildings, with a total of 10 classrooms. One of the buildings, built in 2008 and supported by an organization called Room to Read, was in decent condition and still able to be used safely. However, the other two buildings were in bad condition and desperately needed replacing. Both buildings were made of wood with dirt floors. The wood had become infested with termites and the deterioration was compromising the structural integrity of the buildings. Zinc sheet metal roofs did not provide proper ventilation and the classrooms became unbearably hot, especially in the summer. With holes in the walls and roofs, the rainy season meant the dirt floors would become muddy. The buildings were structurally unsound and at risk of collapse. The teachers and students lacked a safe and motivating environment to teach and learn, and the buildings desperately needed to be replaced.

To alleviate this problem, we constructed one new school building with six fully-furnished classrooms. The new classrooms offer a safe and conducive learning and teaching environment for the students and teachers. The construction of the new building emphasises the importance of education to the whole community and provides an incentive for the children to continue and complete their education. We also built four new toilets to help improve the sanitation standards at the school, and to prevent hygiene-related illnesses.