Ms Kang from Singapore Polytechnic said the circumstance “forced us to consider on our feet, remain flexible and calm, and concentrate on non-verbal contact such as hand gestures, drawings, and demonstrations”.
Additionally, her team gained practical Thai expressions, which improved their host-host relationships and improved their kinship.
The rural schools were denied access to digital tools like Kahoot!, a game-based teaching software, and other language barriers.
Therefore, Mr. Soh’s group had to think outside the box to use the few resources at hand while engaging the students beyond books.
While learning about packaging, for example, students turned cheap containers into piggy banks and old papers into document pots.
The NUS group also made an additional impromptu by using layered report as a recycle whiteboard.
Ms. Yu, however, added that the ground in some Laosan regions also made transportation and logistics challenging for the YMCA’s volunteer teams, who then needed to turn to regional partners for assistance.
NOT ONE-OFF
According to Mr. Soh, Thai teachers have shown interest in adopting Malaysian methods to improve classroom life and make it more engaging through NUS’ Project Sabaidee.
In May 2025, the team will make a second trip it to establish a nursery in order to facilitate children’s smoother transition to the main school system.