The school bell still tolls

IN A BUSTLING city like Bangkok where office blocks jostle for space with high-rise condominiums and old-fashioned shophouses are dwarfed by high-end shopping malls, it’s reassuring to come across a piece of the past that has remained impervious to progress.
One such “piece” is the two-storey wooden Wannawit School on Sukhumvit Soi 8, a mere 300 metres from Nana Skytrain station.
Wedged between sky-scraping condos and surrounded by restaurants, bars and massage parlours, the school made headlines recently when its principal, sprightly nonagenarian MR Rujeesamorn Suksawadi, once again turned down a generous offer to purchase the land. The 2.3-rai plot is said to be worth Bt1.7 billion but MR Rujeesamorn is firm: the school is not for sale.
“Money is paper that flies with the wind. Children are human, the future of the nation. This is impossible to trade. Why I should keep the money if I have no integrity,” she says.
The noble principal, who is now 94, doesn’t let her age prevent her from ensuring overall supervision of her young flock. Despite the upmarket neighbourhood and its status as a private educational establishment, Wannawit caters to children from low-income families whose parents live and work in nearby Khlong Toey. Tuition fees are Bt1,702 for the primary school level and fall to Bt1,318 for secondary level. The school accepts pupils from kindergarten (one-year preparation class) up to grade 9. And for parents with three children who find the fees a little high, Kru Yai, as MR Rujeesamorn is known, allows the third child to study for free.
The school was founded just after World War II by Kru Yai’s mother, Mom Phew Suksawadi Na Ayutthaya, a scholar and well-known author. Considered a visionary of her time, she established Wannawit so that local kids would have a place to study. She financed the school through her literary works, written under her penname “Wannasiri”, including “Wanida” and “Nang Tas” which have been adapted for the screen several times over the years, and funding sources still remain private.
Wannawit School also holds the record for having the oldest teachers in its classrooms. Of the 35 teachers working there full time, three are over 80 and five are in their late 70s.
“Unless they are in heaven, most of our teachers are still here,” says Jumnien Jinjun, 80, a grade 4 teacher. “I love being a teacher. I wanted to teach since I was a child. I’m often asked why I don’t retire. But I would be really lonely at home. Students make me happy. They are innocent. Sometime they can be angry at me if I scold at them, but very soon they will talk to me and enjoy studying with me again.”
“School is a second home to most of our students. We currently have about 500 students, each level has two classrooms and about 20 students in each class. So the teacher/student ratio is relatively small and we can take good care of them,” adds Vilai Poompasuk, 77, who also teaches grade 4. “In the past children were more fortunate than kids today. So many students these days come from broken families; some live with relatives. Many go back to empty homes as their parents have to work, and don’t have the time to care for them. And there are so many temptations out there – just look at our soi! Everyday I tells my students to go straight home.”
Despite the advanced ages of their teachers, students leaving Wannawit are well prepared for further study. Teaching methods are traditional, with classes equipped with black boards and chalk rather than tablet computers, though computer lessons are offered. And an old-fashioned bell instead of a modern buzzer calls students to class.
Ying Vannagowit, 56, who teaches grade 6 and has taught since she was 17, says she and the other teachers are careful to keep up to date.
“I’m really proud when my students do well and are able to go on to higher-level studies. They still have to compete in the O-net test. I believe a teacher is a role model and that if I am diligent, my students will follow my example,” she says.
Many Wannawit alumni also return as teachers and there are 17 former students on the staff. Rattanaporn Boonnak, 62, a grade 1 teacher, says her daughter, Pornchanok is now a teacher there as well. “There’s a close with the school because it is like our family. Love here is given without conditions. Kru Yai is very kind and that’s why most teachers do not leave and former students come back.”
“It means we’ve brought them up well,” says MR Rujeesamorn.
Another former student recalls Kru Yai’s kindness in caring for the youngsters after school hours and how she would instruct her maid to make omelettes for students waiting to be picked up from school. It’s a custom that hasn’t changed and Kru Yai still keeps a healthy stock of eggs in her home to fill empty stomachs.
“We can’t blame children for how advanced technology and the changing environment are messing up world,” Kru Yai says.
“Love and kindness are the two most important virtues a good teacher should acquire. Teachers must be loving and kind towards their students, because the children will love them back and listen and trust them. They will believe what they are taught especially to be a good person and tell the difference between right and wrong. They are the future.”