Since I became a mom, my goal has been to give my daughter a well-rounded education so that when she sets off on her own adventures, she’s equipped to make the best choices. Over the past 7 years, I’ve nurtured her creativity, and emotional intelligence, encouraged independence and exploration, anything that contributes to her growth and lifelong learning.

I’ve always believed that no matter our circumstances or resources, we can enhance our children’s education with the tools we have. That means providing them with resources, activities, and experiences that let them unleash their creativity and maximize their potential.

To understand a bit of the social context of this island, it’s important to clarify that the main source of income for this population is tourism, whether in hotels, gastronomy, water sports, among others. The majority of the island is populated by hotels, with only a very small sector consisting of houses for the locals. So much so that many adults only come to Koh Lipe to work, and at the end of their workday, they travel by boat (taxis) to nearby islands where their homes are located.

During my stay in Koh Lipe, I visited one of the few schools on the island, and one of my first impressions or surprises was that there were no doors delimiting the school; literally, both students and anyone else could enter and exit without a problem. This made me reflect a bit on the purpose of schools, which should be to provide a physical space for play and learning, and not a place to carry out activities with strict schedules. It should be the students’ decision to be there to learn and have fun.

In contrast, in Southeast Asian countries, it is common for students to be proficient in multiple languages within the same school due to the different languages spoken in neighboring countries. In the case of Wat Chana Songkhram School, many students did not speak Thai as they were native to Vietnam, Cambodia, among others. For this reason, the school made efforts to provide the necessary support and adjustments to teach the language and enable equal learning opportunities.

On the other hand, I identified a similarity between education in Thailand and countries like Colombia, which is the high degree of religious influence in education. In Bangkok, approximately 87% of the population is Buddhist, which means that children participate in religious activities from an early age. Additionally, in some cases, schools are located within Buddhist temples. During my visit, while conversing with the school administrators, they informed me that temples frequently donated money to cover the additional expenses of students since the state only provided basic school supplies.