1. 1.Project Title: Buddhism Temple School following the Royal Sufficiency Economy,

Wat Pa Sisaengtham

2.  Project Founder

Name:              Phra Khru Wimon Panyakhun

Position:                      Abbot, Wat Pa Sisaengtham and Chair of Wat Pa Sisaengtham Foundation

Site Address:               Ban Dongdib, Huay-Yang Sub-District, Khong Jiam District, Ubon Ratchathani, 34220 Tel. 0862331345

E-mail:                         sisaengtham@hotmail.com

Website:                       http://www.sisaenngtham.ac.th



3. Rationale

Ban Dongdip is located at Mu 5, Huay-Yang Sub-District, Khong Jiam District, Ubon Ratchathani. There are 225 households. The population size of 1,400 people is divided into approximately 650 males and 750 females, with 200 being at school. The distance from the village to the district of Khong Jiam is 23 kilometers. Public buses run between the two destinations. Concurrently, people also travel by private cars and motorcycles.

Ban Dongdip and its surrounding community are located in a rural area. The majority of the people are farmers who grow rice and cultivate orchards. Children of school age generally help their parents in the farm after school. When they complete their mandatory education, they return to farming with their families.

The villagers here are Buddhists. They regularly participate in all Buddhism activities and practice all the merit traditions. They also follow the cultures and traditions strictly and behave themselves as good Buddhists. Most villagers finished the compulsory education at primary level four or six. Average annual household income is roughly 10,000 baht, a meager amount that likely affects their ability to support the further education of their children.

Because of this, the community has a great expectation for the temple to set up free education for the people. It is believed that besides saving expenses and safety in travelling to school, the students will also receive ethical and moral education. The school is required to teach the students in necessary life skills, such as training them to reduce farming costs while increasing farm productivity, to produce household consumption goods for their own use and for selling, or to produce green or toxic-free farm products. All of these increase potentiality among the villagers, and the productivity is in turn value-added.

According to the third National Education Act of 2009, amended from the Act of 1999, Section 2, Clause 12; apart from the government and local administrative organizations; individuals, families, community organizations, private organizations, professional organizations, religious institutions, entrepreneurial premises and other social institutions have full rights to organize fundamental education that follows the Ministerial regulations. Clause 29 of the Act states that academic institutions cooperate with individuals, families, community organizations, private organizations, professional organizations, religious institutions, entrepreneurial premises and other social institutions to strengthen the community by organizing community learning processes, teaching and learning in which knowledge and information is acquired. People should be able to select knowledge and technologies in order to develop their own community according to the problems and needs. In addition, exchange of developmental experiences should be encouraged.

Educational Concept

Phra Khru Wimon Panyakhun and Ban Dongdip community saw the needs for the temple to be the educational center in order to reduice expenses and enhance morality and ethics among the children, to teach the children necessary life and work skills, such as low-cost agriculture, increasing productivity, manufacturing of household consumption goods, green farm products, all of which will lead to value-added productivity and people’s potentiality.

The temple administrative committee and the village committee therefore agreed to establish this charity school to provide free education under the government’s 15-year free and quality community school project, in which students receive free textbooks, stationery and uniforms. The temple school adds free lunches and free transport to school with assistance from many sectors that see the importance of community children development so that they will become a person with good intellectual and ethical qualities. The educational philosophy on top of the concept is “Ethics leads knowledge towards excellence” which is based on Buddhist approaches. That is to say, thamma in Buddhism is applied in the administration and development of students and the school, emphasizing the three integrative doctrines.

Pattern of a Buddhism School

Principle: A Buddhism school develops the students from the basis of the three doctrines, namely, precepts, concentration, and intellect, integratively.  Students learn through “eating, living, watching, listening, and being”. In other words, they acquire intellect to understand true values, apply cultural process to acquire intellect, and possess kindhearted culture as a basis for the living. The school administrators and the teachers act concurrently to achieve this.

A Buddhist school emphasizes organization of all aspects that support integrative development, according to Buddhism and thamma, which in turn enhance growth according to the four thamma prosperity intellects:

1. “Sappuris sangsewa”: to be close to good and knowledgeable persons, to have good teachers, good information and good teaching media

2. “Satthammassawana”: attention to learn and have a good curriculum

3. “Yonisomanasikarn”: to have good critical thinking process of reasoning and correct approach

4. “Thammanu Thammapatipatti”: the ability to apply knowledge appropriately in life

The composition of a Buddhist school comprises the following: 1) The physical aspect or the buildings, classrooms, learning resources, and the environment, 2) The basic lifestyle activities: daily routines, important day activities, and student activities, 3) The teaching and learning: beginning from establishing curriculum, crediting, learning plans, and teaching and learning processes, 4) The atmosphere  and interactions between teachers and students, students and students, or teachers and teachers, and 5) The administration and management: from the establishment of vision, important principles, implementation plans, support, follow-up, evaluation, and continuous development. Each aspect aims to effectively develop students under the three precepts.  For instance, the physical aspect should be composed of nature and the surrounding that enhances calmness, which promotes intellect, develops faith and moral values. The lifestyle activities should encourage consciousness and values in eating, living, watching and listening. The teaching and learning should clearly integrate thamma and Buddhsim. The atmosphere and interaction should encourage consideration and alliances, supporting both kindhearted culture and intellect seeking culture.

4.  Objectives

4.1   To establish a charity school of a Buddhism temple.

4.2   To arrange education that is in line with local society and culture.

4.3   To support the education of community people.

5. Project Aims


5.1 To open secondary education (Grade 7-12), enrolling both boys and girls to 12 classes with 35 students in each class.


5.2 To build a charity school in which the teaching approach is based on self-dependence under the Royal sufficiency economy and the use of Buddha and thamma to lead one’s life.

5.3 To arrange teaching and learning that integrates and relates the ways of life of the students and the context of the community and locality.

5.4 To increase a foreign language competence to the remote rural children.

6.   Method of implementation

6.1   Ask permission to establish Wat Pa Sisaengtham Education Foundation

6.2   Ask permission to establish a charity school in a Buddhism temple

6.3   Ask permission to construct and use school buildings

6.4   Announce the enrollment of students

6.5   Construct the school buildings

6.6   Recruit staff

6.7  Continuously collaborate with governmental agencies, governmental enterprises, private organizations, local administrative organizations, Buddhist organizations, charity foundations and communities to mobilize funds and resources for the project

6.8  Open the account for donation under the name  “Wat Pa Sisaengtham Education Foundation”  at Bangkok Bank, Tesco Lotus Sub-Branch, Pibun Mangsahan District, Account number 786-0-06333-3. E-mail: sisaengtham@hotmail.com

All donations are entitled to an appreciation card by showing the transfer document.

7.   Expected budget for the first year             6,163,090    baht

1. Government’s subsidiary   1,368,829 baht


  • Grades 7-9:   12,649 baht/student/year (55 students = 695,585 baht)
  • Grades 10-12: 12,949 baht/student/year (52 students = 673,244 baht)

2. Total amount of donation: 3,220,000   baht


  1. Founding Wat Pa Sisaengtham Foundation                            200,000           baht
  2. First year lunches for 107 students 321,000 baht
    1. Renting three school buses/year                                              120,000                       baht
    2. Electricity and Internet 10,000/month                                     120,000                       baht
    3. Maintenance and contingency                                                 240,000                       baht

Total 714,000 baht


  1. Remuneration for ten teachers, officers and staff during the first year

1,422,000        baht /ปี

Materials and Durables

  1. Durables such as tables, chairs, computers                              1,302,090        baht
  2. Books                                                                                           60,000        baht

( Total                1,362,090 baht

Investment (Construction)

  1. Construction cost of one one-storey six-classroom building    1,600,000        baht

10.  Construction cost of one 4-room supplementary building         740,000         baht

11.  Construction cost of one one-storey canteen                             300,000         baht

12.  Construction cost of two 6-toilet buildings                                640,000         baht

13.  Three sport fields                                                                                   500,000         baht

14.  School fences                                                                          200,000          baht

Total         3,780,000 baht

Note: All items are transferrable.

8.  Implementation period: from February, 2009 to February, 2011

Implementation Plan 2009-2011

Month Activities Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May
1  Establishing the educational foundation
2   Founding the temple’s charity school
3  Asking permission to build the school from relevant organizations
4 Organizing Pha Pa merit making to obtain money for the construction
5   Constructing the school
6   Mobilizing funds and resources for the teaching and learning from relevant organizations
7 Asking permission to use buildings from  relevant organizations
8 Recruiting personnel
9 Announcing the enrollment of students/testing
10  Starting the first semester
11 Mobilizing funds/constructing an 18-classroom, 4-storey building

9.  Expected Outcomes

9.1   The temple is the educational center and the center for teaching moral to the community, parents and the youths so that they are able to learn, meditate and be close to Buddhsim.

9.2   Parental expenses are reduced, and the parents are persuaded to become aware and see the importance of education for their children.

9.3   The students apply thamma in their daily life and become good citizens of the country.

10. Indicators

1. Ninety five percent of the first batch of the students will graduate in 2016.

2. Ninety percent of the students who have graduated and work in the community can earn a living for their families.

3. Ninety percent of the students who have graduated use the knowledge in their life.

Attachment 1

The 12 x 38 m six-classroom building

Attachment 2

The 4-room supplementary building

Size: ….

Attachment 3


Size: ….

Opening Ceremony: May 2, 2010

Ethical Camp Activity

Signature …………………………………………….. Project requester

(Phra Khru Wimon Panyakhun)

Abbot, Wat Pa Sisaengtham and Founder of  Sisaengtham School