ROYAL INITIATIVES IN EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Education and Youth Development Programmes

Illiteracy due to the lack of educational opportunity is the main obstacle in human resource development, which further affects national development.

The Border Patrol Police School Project
In 1964 The Princess Mother started to visit rural people and the Border Patrol Police in remote areas. While taking trips to various regions of the country, she witnessed the shortage of schools for children in isolated and remote places. She learned about the Border Patrol Police project to set up schools for children of the hill tribes and villagers in 1956, and took the programme under her patronage in order to promote the right to education of the underprivileged children.

Her patronage gave impetus to the effort. More schools were built in different regions of the country. The quality of learning and instruction was improved. An important step was taking towards solving the problem of illiteracy among disadvantaged children.

The Border Patrol Police School Project was awarded the International Reading Society Literacy Prize from UNESCO on September 8, 1989. The project has been under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn since 1980. She has initiated many programmes to further improve the quality of these schools.

The Princess Mother knew from her experience that a large number of hill tribe children did not have the opportunity to learn within the school system. They could neither read nor write, and were, therefore, unable to improve their lives and communities. She wanted to help them.

TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR HILL TRIBE CHILDREN
Subsequently, in 1973 she raised funds, partly her own, and partly donated by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the New Zealand Women's group in Thailand, for donation to the foundation to promote Thai hill tribes products for the operation of the Eight-Month Total Training Programme for Hill Tribe Children (also known as the Crash Programme of Functional Literacy for Hill Tribe Youth).

The programme stressed classroom instruction, work training, self-help, learning to live with other people, and effective interaction with lowland people: all these for the improvement of their lives.

• Hill Tribe Youth Leadership Development Programme, 1979
  In 1979 the programme was reorganised and renamed, the Hill Tribe Youth Leadership Development Programme. Funding from the Princess Mother and USAID enabled the youths to further their studies beyond the compulsory stage. They received the opportunity to pursue both higher general and vocational education and to learn about morality, ethics, human values and appropriate attitudes to enrich their lives and enable them to work with human dignity to fulfill their potential.
  
  
• Training and Development Project for Youth in Remote Areas, 1996
  In 1986 Her Royal Highness saw the need to expand the programme to other underprivileged children. The programme was renamed the ‘Training and Development Project for Youth in Remote Areas'. The programme content remained unchanged but the areas receiving assistance expanded. Now young people who completed the project curriculum have entered the work force in both governmental and private sectors. Quite a number have returned home to participate in their communities' development.
  
  
• The Princess Mother also provided educational funds for young people living on isolated islands so that they, in turn, became teachers on their island homes. She met the young people when visiting these islands within Thai territorial waters during the years 1964 - 1987. After 1987 her island trips had to stop due to her advanced age.
  
  
• Sri Sangwan School for Crippled Children
  Underprivileged handicapped youth also benefited from her assistance and concern. In 1956 she accepted the Foundation to Assist the Handicapped under her patronage. She gave financial and material help to the School for Crippled Children established by the Foundation in 1961.
  
  The school was later given the name 'Sri Sangwan', which was Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother's original name, and continued to received her assistance to the end of her life.
  
  
• Another of her invaluable educational activities was the dissemination of Buddhist Dhamma to young people and the public. She chose topics, explanation and presentation, then asked senior monks to compose them in clear, concise and easy to understand formats for broadcast and publication.

ROYAL CULTURAL INITIATIVES
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Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park
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