PANDORA’s My school project
Pandora Production Co., Ltd
For over a decade, this project has created strong sense of pride and engagement among PANDORA employees and empowered them to play an active role in improving schools they once attended in their childhood with the contribution of the company and all colleagues and involvement of rural villagers. The positive spirit of the project widely permeated in the company and the community, because it transforms learning opportunities for children in a way that is truly personal and tangible.
INTRODUCTION
In rural areas of Thailand, the quality of education is fairly under-standard, with run-down school buildings, old equipment and the lack of essential facilities that restrict child development or learning activities. To pay back to Thailand which is the second home of PANDORA, the company has initiated a unique “My School” project to contribute to Thai education which is a foundation for sustainable development.For over a decade, this project has created strong sense of pride and engagement among PANDORA employees and empowered them to play an active role in improving schools they once attended in their childhood with the contribution of the company and all colleagues and involvement of rural villagers. The positive spirit of the project widely permeated in the company and the community, because it transforms learning opportunities for children in a way that is truly personal and tangible.
FRAMEWORK AND STRATEGY
As one of company values is teamwork, participation is paramount in PANDORA’s approach.Starting from employees nominating schools they once attended, staff representatives handle field survey and the committee votes for a final school to receive THB 1,000,000 for a new academic building.
Once a school is selected for the year, the money is paid to head of the community to recruit local people, mostly alumni, to do the construction work. This creates additional income in local community as well as encourage active participation and engagement of the community members.
Not only the grant from PANDORA, its employees led by elected staff representatives donate money from their own pockets as additional support. The construction is jointly managed by both white and blue collars who hold meetings with the school and community leaders.
It is a truly unique project that is participated by company, employees, school alumni and community.
ACHIEVEMENT AND IMPACT
Over a decade, PANDORA has granted buildings and equipment to 12 schools across the country which directly benefited thousands of students and villagers who do not need to travel far from the village for good facilities.More than 13,000 PANDORA employees in Thailand has been participating in the project each year. Opinion survey in 2017 indicated that 99.6% of employees feel proud and is willing to participate again in the future.
Last year, PANDORA granted an academic building worth THB 1,000,000 to Bannonkokchan School in Loei province. The employees donated THB 563,852 additionally for playground, water-filter system and sport & learning equipment. Alumni from 3 villages took turn in the construction work, earning extra income and pride of constructing a building for their kids with their own hands. The local children were delighted that a proper playground was built for the first time since school’s establishment, thanks to this project.
FUTURE DIRECTION
Thailand holds a special place in PANDORA’s heart for being the sole production base since the company’s first step until it is recognised as the world’s largest of its kind. The support for Thai education will continue as corporate CSR activity in the long run.Moreover, the company has realised the positive impact of employee and community involvement and engagement in this project and the touching part of targeting on employees’ beloved hometown schools. This inclusive approach is hence proven to be effective and impactful and the direction is to be sustainably maintained and cover many more hometowns in the future.
PANDORA Production is the world’s only crafting facilities of the Danish jewellery brand ‘PANDORA’. With over 13,200 employees in Bangkok and Lamphun, the company manufactures hand-finished and high-quality jewellery for PANDORA to sell in 100 countries across 6 continents.
