Poonphol spearheads the First Cassava School in Chaiyaphum, aiming to Promote Sustainability to Communities & Societies in Education

SMS Group, the global leader of modified tapioca starch under Poonphol, has spearheaded the creation of a tapioca-related knowledge base for pupils in rural Chaiyaphum.

The establishment of the country’s first tapioca learning center at Ban Nong Waeng Community School (Kururut Upatham), located in Chaiyaphum Province’s Ban Phet Subdistrict, Bamnet Narong District, culminated in the official handover of the Partnership School on September 7, 2022.

The center houses cultivation demonstration plots for tapioca and medicinal plants. The school aims at creating skills, knowledge, and understanding of cassava-related professions for children, which can be used to develop, create jobs, and build a career in the local crop.

SMS Group has attached great importance to creating sustainability within the company and the public. Mr. Apichart Wanglee, Director of the Thongpoon Wanglee foundation, said the tapioca school was born out of the policy of the governor of Chaiyaphum Province, who visited SMS’s factory in 2019 and advised that pupils are at the core of social responsibility development.

The learning center will work with the community school, by linking child and youth development processes through pupils or children in the community which will lead to sustainable community and social development.

Dr. Werawat Lertwanawatana, CEO of SMS Group, noted that this project is in line with the company’s CSR strategy that aims to create sustainability for the communities around its plants which seeks to fulfill the group’s vision of being a leader in innovation in cassava starch modification. The group is also striving to be a good model of organization for society.

‘We recognize the importance of social and community responsibility and we are ready to provide full support with the belief that going forward with sustainability will be instrumental to driving the organization and strengthening the potential of the food industry in Thailand,” said Dr. Werawat. Mr. Somsak Kaewphet, Director of Ban Nong Waeng Community School (Gururat Uppatham), said that this project is an integration between Siam Quality Starch Co., Ltd. and Thongpoon Wanglee Foundation to turn cassava into a food ingredient, building professional skills in various dimensions for children and people in the community and achieve sustainable development of the quality of life for people in the community in the long run.