Bromsgrove International School Thailand this year launched their trailblazing Polio Points programme, only the second school in the world to do so. In an initiative startling in its simplicity and far-reaching in its impact, points awarded for positive examples of global citizenship amongst students at the school are converted into cash to fund polio vaccines around the world. Partnered with vivomiles, the UK’s premier student rewards platform, Polio Points looks set to be adopted by a number of the biggest and best international schools in the region, each eager to tread in Bromsgrove’s footsteps, incentivising student achievement through the promise of humanitarian aid.
So far this year, the achievements of our students, from Pre-Nursery to Year 13, have earned them an enormous number of Polio Points, and this week saw our first donation to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Mr. Surachat Chuenchoksan, governor of Rotary International District 3350, received our first payment of 50,000 baht last month, which will fund the equivalent of 1500 vaccines around the world.
Seonwoo (Chloe) Ko (Head Girl), Kevin Techapichetvanich (Head Boy), Matthew Savage (Deputy Headmaster) and Duenpen (Mint) Pawakranond present a cheque of 50,000 baht to Surachat Chuenchoksan (2nd right), Governor of Rotary District 3350.
Funds raised through the programme will go directly both to communities on the ground in Africa, but also to Rotary International’s Polio Plus programme which are double matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That means we have funded 4500 vaccines for children around the world in the first half of this academic year.
Students at Bromsgrove, proudest each week not of their test scores but of the number of lives they have saved, are determined to earn thousands and thousands more points, this year and beyond.
The slogan of the programme is ‘Make the Point’, and that is exactly what they are doing, every single day. With 99% of polio worldwide eradicated, we are so close to seeing the end of this disease forever. For Bromsgrove, this first donation and the Polio Points it represents, is just the beginning.
To find out more about Bromsgrove International School Thailand, please visit www.bromsgrove.ac.th. To learn more about Rotary’s Polio Plus programme, please visit www.endpolio.org. To find out more about Polio Points and how to get involved, please email [email protected].
