– GrabSchool is GrabTaxi’s social impact initiative to improve the lives of taxi drivers and their families
– Opens up more career pathways for students in entrepreneurship

Bangkok, 1 December 2015 – GrabTaxi recently launched GrabSchool, an innovation workshop to encourage entrepreneurship as a viable future career for drivers’ children. As a technology startup that is revolutionizing the transportation industry in Southeast Asia, GrabTaxi created GrabSchool as a platform for the taxi drivers’ children to explore new career pathways. GrabSchool is part of GrabTaxi continuous efforts to improve the welfare of taxi drivers and their families in Thailand – by teaching the children new skills and helping to cultivate the Thailand startup scene.

Over 100 children of GrabTaxi drivers, aged between 13 to 18 years old, attended GrabSchool on 28 November. The one-day workshop was facilitated by Asian Leadership Academy coaches, who introduced the students to the process of developing their design and critical thinking skills.

“GrabSchool was designed to provide both opportunities and improve the skills sets of driver’s children, because we believe that everyone should have an equal opportunity in education regardless of their upbringing or financial status,” said Buranit Moskwa, Head of GrabTaxi Thailand.

Bhinyaporn Pattanasethanon, one of the Asian Leadership Academy coaches, said, “we are really very happy to partner with GrabTaxi and take part in this GrabSchool program to help the children plan their future and provide them with the problem solving skills they need. We can see that many of them were never given this kind of opportunity and never shared their dreams with anyone before. We, as an organization, are very proud that we can make them feel confident enough to think, to dream, and to pursue their goals. Before the workshop came to an end, some participants personally came up to me and said thank you. They want us to continue with this program because it is such a big turning point for them.”

Chaowalwit Mongkonsilert, one of GrabTaxi drivers whose child participated in the program, complimented GrabTaxi for the initiative. “I want my child to have an opportunity in education and for her to learn new things. What GrabTaxi gave us will benefit my child a great deal. I don’t have much to give her, but the things she learns here will be an asset that will stay with her forever, and her future would depend on how she could explore further. Education is like a compass in life, and my child’s life is all hers to figure out. Thank you GrabTaxi so much for this opportunity,” said Chaowalit.

Pearploy Udomlarp, 17, who attended the GrabSchool program commented “GrabSchool has taught me about myself, to think and to solve problems in life, and also how to plan for the future which I have never thought of before. We got to play games during the program which urged us to respond intellectually. The coach also gave plenty of advice and made me more confident, hence I want to further develop my skills in the future.” said Pearploy.

The one-day workshop was held at Chulalongkorn University, in partnership with Asian Leadership Academy, an initiative set up by a group of Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni to groom young leaders in Thailand to think innovatively. This is the first GrabSchool to be organized in Thailand.

GrabSchool is a regional program that has been launched in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, and will be rolled out in Indonesia, and Vietnam by end-2015, and is one of the many driver-centric initiatives that GrabTaxi regularly runs. GrabTaxi Thailand also sponsors English education for GrabTaxi drivers for their skills development.

The GrabSchool workshop with GrabTaxi drivers’ children

GrabTaxi’s drivers and their families ready to join GrabSchool workshop

Drivers’ children present their project.

Wanlapa Komkai, Head of Government Affairs, GrabTaxi Thailand, gives certificates to GrabSchool participants.

About GrabTaxi

GrabTaxi is a leading transportation platform with a comprehensive suite of on-demand services across Southeast Asia. GrabTaxi began as a taxi-hailing app in 2012, but has extended its product platform to include private car services (GrabCar), motorcycle taxis (GrabBike), carpooling (GrabHitch) and deliveries (GrabExpress). GrabTaxi is focused on pioneering new commuting alternatives and for drivers and passengers with an emphasis on speed, safety and reliability. The Company currently offers services in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand through its mobile app platform, which has been downloaded more than 9.5 million times. Passengers can download the app to book rides on their smartphones and tablets (iOS: http://bit.ly/grabtaxi-iOS and Android: http://bit.ly/grabtaxi-Android). For more information, please visit: http://www.grabtaxi.com.

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