Poor
students - mainly hill tribes’ kids – not only from the local Samoeng
district want to join the school. Therefore a strict selection has to be made.
The school will only accept children from really poor families, orphans or
abandoned kids from villages without a school.
Today
the school hosts children from Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Chiang Rai
provinces.
At the time of writing (February 2006) the school accommodates 222 children (Karen 184, Lisu 8, Hmong 119, Thai Lanna 12, plus 2 Musu) and is attended by 325 students.
There are 17 teachers. They teach from 8:00am to
3:30pm, just like in any other school, but there is a lot of additional work for
the teachers at Ban Mae Toh. They are required to monitor and contribute to the
community life of the 222 staying students, 24 hours a day.
Guest students must be carefully watched and counseled in all their
activities and duties.
The
atmosphere of the school is like the one of a small village in far away woods,
far away from civilization, where all members contribute to everybody’s
safeness.
The teachers share their duties from 5:00am to 10:00pm everyday, including weekends and public holidays. Teachers’ meetings are very frequent because there are a lot of students’ personal situations to be taken care of. It is really a hard work that requires a lot of dedication.