There are reports that the non-profit Thai Sikh International School (TSIS) in Bangkok will be sold to a Christian missionary school.
If those rumours are accurate, then the news should cause real dismay to anyone who values good education. The school has produced many outstanding students, many of them going on to become engineers, doctors, businessman and contributing to Thailand in multiple ways. Scores of them have won scholarships for universities both in Thailand and abroad before returning to boost this country with their skills.
Profit has never been the motive of the school, unlike many other international schools in Thailand, which can charge a whopping Bt700,000 for admission into kindergarten. Rather, the focus at TSIS is solely on educating the Thai Sikh community – and by extension Thais and Indians – at a subsidised rate.
Parents of the students are now concerned at signs of a decline in the school. Many of them blame a sudden change in staffing policies after a Singaporean adviser was brought in by the school, with chopping and changing of teachers, who are also being pressured to work at weekends.
The high teacher turnover has prompted parents to take their children out of school.
A second problem stems from young Sikhs’ growing reluctance to wear articles of their faith – uncut hair, comb, bracelet, dagger, etc. Some are reluctant for fear of being stigmatised (Sikhs have been confused for fundamentalist Arabs), others because they follow the trends of their Thai peers. The school, in its wisdom, has stopped admitting those Sikh children who have cut their hair.
It is now imperative that the Sikh community to introspect and come up with a solution to keep the school alive, rather than selling to organisations whose main motivation is profit. The Thai-Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Indian community and the Embassy of India have a big role to play. The Sikhs once defended India with their lives. It is now time for the whole Indian community to rise to the occasion, reach out of the Sikhs and help them when they need it most.
Indian in Thailand
Your efforts must be rewarded. When the Sikhs and the general public of Bagkok learned about the school they will certainly come forward. You the alumni (the students of the school) get together and raise your voice. There are people in our community who can help you with the funds. Good Luck!
Sikh are fighting among them selves on issues like which banis to recite and which not. Just pointing fingers at each other and finding faults.
But very few are looking at the welfare and the Sikh child’s educational aspect.
You can’t run a non profit organization without the help and contributions from the public. On the other hand how long can the person go arround and ask for donations.
You need committed contributors not only in cash but also in other aspects.
Very sad .
It would be a great lost to our Sikh Panth. We should persuade Mr. Jaspal Singh to change his mind. I can still remember he brought me to visit the school in 2010 when si was on a fund raising mission to Thailand. He is very close to Bhajan Singh of Singapore. Great school which started in 1984 after ThaiSikhs stop sending their kids Museri Guru Nanak Centenial school near Dehradun. We must start a petition to request to the Thai Sikhs. Gurfateh ji.
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