Frequently Asked Questions

Please check out our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) about applying for Wide Horizons. If you still have unanswered questions, feel free to contact via email

Download the FAQ’s as Pdf 

1. How many students will be chosen?

24 (12 women and 12 men) from many ethnic groups

2. How many teachers are there? Are they all foreign or are some local?

1 English teacher and 1 Community Development Teacher. Both are usually foreigners, and they teach Monday-Friday. There is 1 Computer Teacher who is usually local. But all classes are taught in English only.

3. What supplies does the school provide (meals, hygiene, school supplies, etc.)?

WH provides accommodations in the WH school. There are 2 separate dormitories for males and females. WH also provides mats, mosquito nets, blankets, and fans. If you live in the Mae Sot area, you may want to bring your bed and pillow from your own organization. WH also provides budget for 3 meals a day that the students cook. WH provides all school materials needed, such as pencils, pens, notebooks, and 1 computer for every 2 students. Students are encouraged to arrange their own transportation to and from Mae Sot at the beginning and at the end of the year. WH will reimburse the travelling costs for these two trips. If students take personal travel during the year, such as for ration check-ins or visits to family, they have to pay for this themselves.

4. Do we get pocket money?

No. WH cannot provide pocket money. However, we provide all the essential things you need for their studies (see above). Many students ask their organization or a sponsor to give them a little pocket money while they study.

5. Do we have to pay school fees?

No. WH covers all of the necessities for study. You will need to have enough money to pay for a school T-shirt, hygiene materials, snacks, clothes, phone credit and other personal expenses.

6. Can we attend if we are married?

Yes, however, you should check that your spouse is supportive of you living at the WH compound away from him/her during the year. Because of the large quantity of work and social activities at WH, there is limited time to visit family members during the school year. Thus, students who are married or have children may find it difficult to balance their schoolwork and personal life.

7. Can Post-10 students with no experience join if they pass the entrance exam?

No. You need to have at least 1 year of work experience in an organization or school. If you have no work experience, but are motivated to learn and work in an organization, and are interested in Community Development, then EIP is a better program for you.

8. Will we have a chance for scholarships/further study?

No. WH aims to take students from Community Based Organizations and build their skills so they can return to work in their organizations. If you want to apply for further studies after your work placement, you can. However, we prefer that students remain in their organizations for longer so they can gain more valuable work experience and help their organizations develop more. If you are more interested in further study than community work, MHEP is a better program for you.

9. Will the certificate be recognized by the international community?

Wide Horizons is a program with an excellent reputation in the Thai-Burma border community. The program is recognized bythe Windham Institute (USA) and WH staff have furthermore submitted the WH curriculum to Tak Community College, Naresuan University (Thailand), for approval to get recognized certificates for WH students.

10. Do I have to live on the compound?

Yes. All students live on the English-speaking compound together. Group work is also a very important part of the curriculum inside and outside of class, so living on the compound ensures participation. Therefore, it is important that all students are on the compound during the week.

11. What kind of rules and regulations does the school have?

All of the rules have been chosen for good reasons, based on previous years’ experiences. Some of the rules include: No alcohol, beer, or drugs. No dating other WH students or HsaHtoo Lei students. You must carry your WH Student ID card with you everywhere you go. You must inform the WH coordinator and student leaders if you are leaving the compound for personal business.

12. How many subjects are there?

There are 3 main subjects: Community Development, English, and Advanced Computers. Within English, you learn skills for reading, writing, listening, and speaking, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary acquisition. For Community Development, you go through the project cycle in depth, learn report and proposal writing, leadership, and facilitation skills, and do practical community work in the Mae Sot migrant community. For computers, you learn Excel, InDesign, Photoshop, Video Editing, and Basic Website building, and some computer maintenance. The computer skills learned in WH are more advanced, so it’s important that you have some basic computer knowledge before attending WH. If you don’t have any computer knowledge yet, start working on it now!

13. How much homework do you have? Do you always have a lot of homework?

Homework can vary from night to night depending on the projects you are working on. Usually students spend about 2-4 hours on homework per night. If students feel like they are receiving too much homework, they always have the ability to give feedback to their teachers and teachers are usually willing to reduce homework if needed. Teachers also make sure to communicate with each other so that if one teacher needs to assign a lot of homework, the other teachers will try to reduce theirs.

14. Is it all academic, or is there a practical component?

WH uses a curriculum that focuses on experiential learning, which means that all academic learning is coupled with practical experiences. Students complete many projects in their English, Community Development, and computer classes, and do community development projects on the school compound and in the Mae Sot community.

15. What are the responsibilities outside of school?

Students have daily cooking and cleaning duties on the school compound. WH students are also expected to participate in community projects, trainings, and meetings with donors.

16. Will we have a chance to use Internet 24 hours a day?

WH has internet installed on the compound and students are regularly using it in their studies. WH also has a computer lab at nearby HsaHtoo Lei School where there are 12 computers in total (1 for 2 students to share). If you have your own laptop, we recommend that you bring it with you since we have a limited number of computers and the quality can vary. The computer room at HsaHtoo Lei also has internet. Students are required to follow the established guidelines and rules for internet and computer use.

17. How many holidays will we get?

There are 3 trimesters with a holiday at the end of each trimester. Usually there is a one-week holiday around the end of August, and a 1.5 week holiday at the end of December/beginning of January. The school year finishes at the end of March. At that point, WH, you and your CBO supervisor all discuss together to determine when you will begin your internship work.

18. When we have holidays, will we have a chance to go back and visit our families?

Students may visit their organizations and family if they are in the Mae Sot area, as long as they ask permission from the WH school coordinator. If families are farther away, students will need to discuss with the WH school coordinator and your organization, and the decision will be made on a case-by-case basis. If you leave the school for personal reasons, you will need to make your own arrangements for transport and travel documents. WH will not be responsible for your security if you are leaving Mae Sot for personal reasons.

19. Can I do my work placement in any organization I want?

The goal of WH is to develop the capacity of the organizations that students have already been working in. Therefore, students must go back to their host (or “mother”) organization for their work placement. If the host organization closes while the student is studying at WH, or if the organization is unable to give the student a job when they finish WH, then the student can look for another suitable organization to do the work placementat. Before a student leaves their host organization during a work placement, they must get a letter of permission from their supervisor explaining why the intern cannot work at their organization. The student must give this letter to WH staff. When the intern starts work at a new organization, WH staff will discuss with the student and new organization about the arrangement of the work placement, to make sure the student still follows the WH work placement policy.

20. What happens if my work placement organization moves to Burma?

WH encourages students to work with their organization in Burma, as it will provide valuable work experience for the studentduring the work placement and help to develop the capacity of organizations in Burma. However, WH staff understand that for personal or safety reasons, it may not be possible for students to move to Burma at this point. If the student wishes to stay in Thailand, they must discuss with WH staff and follow the directions noted in #19.

21. Can I get a part-time job or study while I do my work placement?

During your work placement, your first priority should be contributing meaningful work to your mother organization. If you do choose to do part-time work or study, you need to discuss with your supervisor, WH staff, and follow your organization’s policies accordingly so that you are still providing valuable work to your host organization. Students are encouraged to seek learning opportunities that are connected to their position at their host organization (ex. attending a fundraising training if you are the donor communications focal point, taking weekend Thai classes to improve communication skills with Thai colleagues, etc.).

23. What support does WH give us during our work placement?

During the work placement, students must submit a quarterly report to a WH staff member. The reports are read and the student is given feedback for how to overcome challenges. There are 3 workshops for work placementstudents per year in Mae Sot to support them with challenges they are facing. Additionally, WH staff try to visit students and their supervisors during their work placement.

24. How can WH help us in the future?

WH provides you with leadership and management skills that can be carried into many high-level job positions in the future. Many former students have later gone on to become directors or high-level managers of projects, or start their own programs.