The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), on Saturday, opened the doors to its “Big Day” exhibition to showcase skills that students have picked up at Saturday School.
The exhibition, which was launched on Saturday, is being held at the Keelaves 2 Gymnasium at the Thai-Japanese Stadium in Bangkok.
Apart from showcasing the youths’ potential, the project also sheds light on the development of education in the capital, Bangkok deputy governor Sanon Wangsrangboon said.
“Most people see Bangkok as a city of business and design, but nobody considers it a learning city,” he said. “I think Saturday School Bangkok [SSBKK] is key to turning the capital into a learning city.”

He explained that SSBKK was initiated by BMA’s Education Department and the Saturday School Foundation to encourage learning activities and life skills based on students’ interests.
He said the SSBKK project has been a huge hit, with the number of students and volunteer teachers continues rising.
“Let us imagine that students are spending every weekend or after-school hours studying and learning new things,” he said. “We want this image to become part of Bangkok as much as possible.”
Thanking the foundation and volunteer teachers for helping the project flourish, Sanon said education was one of Bangkok governor Chadchad Sittipunt’s key election policies.
“One of his plans was to change education into learning,” he said. “It may sound simple, but the key is teaching students to pick up new skills anywhere and at any time.”
Learning, he said, is different from education, as education requires teachers to prepare lessons.
“However, learning gives children a chance to think, initiate projects and learn from anything they are interested in,” he said.
Sanon said the exhibition shows that students have a vast range of interests as evidenced by the topic of community garbage tackled by one group of students. This group created special garbage cans for waste separation.
“Some students are interested in language, robotics and arts,” he said, adding that this exhibition also helps the Bangkok Education Department to incorporate children’s projects and interests in lessons.
He went on to say that a variety of activities are available for students through online classes conducted by volunteer teachers. The activities include learning through action, exploring communities, improving society, practising spoken English, etc.
He added that this project also helps students undergoing teacher training to get hands-on experience in education.
“The Saturday School Foundation is giving people opportunities to participate in education and learning, and expanding the project,” he said, adding that more than 50 classrooms have been set up and more than 1,000 students have shown up.