Since Term 2, Prem Senior School students have been participating in the Global Issues Network Exploria, which is being implemented at Prem for the first time. 

Global Issues Network (GIN) is a worldwide organisation comprised of students who are interested in taking action to benefit their local communities. Students design and implement a project with the goal of presenting their results and experiences to other students at an international conference.

After researching about and interacting with various local NGOs and charitable organisations, Grade 8 students chose access to education as the area in which they wished to effect change. 

When investigating local schools and educational opportunities, especially those serving disadvantaged children, Prem students noted the lack of opportunities for local students to learn and practice conversational English. The GIN group decided an appropriate goal would be to teach English to interested students.

After deciding on the goal, the students then had to find an organisation that was interested in studying English with us. After contacting and visiting various schools and educational institutions, we formed an alliance with the Huay Nam Rin Foundation. 

Located a few kilometres from our school, this organisation houses mainly ethnic minority children from remote areas, providing food and board while the students study in various nearby government schools.

Prem students teach at the foundation after school on Mondays, from 3:15 to 4:30. In Friday Exploria sessions, they reflect on their teaching experiences and plan the next week’s lessons. 

Prem’s Global Issues Network group has invested much time in this project thus far, and the fruits of their labor are evident as the children immensely enjoy their English lessons. 

While we look forward to seeing an improvement in spoken English, we are also interested in seeing how Prem students’ teaching methods and interpersonal skills develop through this process.