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PROVISION OF PRIMARY SCHOOLING FOR CHILDREN IN REMOTE VILLAGES Beginning in 1964, accompanied by Border Patrol Police units, the Princess Mother's extensive visits to the rugged, remote areas brought to her attention the lack of schools for children. The law on compulsory primary schooling was at that time not applied to the remote areas. As a part of their civic action, the Border Patrol Police (BPP) had already built and operated a number of village schools since 1956, though these were of a makeshift nature, lacking facilities and below the normal standard. By her grace, all the BPP schools came under the patronage of the Princess Mother. Since then Her Royal Highness had generously given her own personal funds together with the funds presented to her by donors to establish hundreds of schools at BBP stations in the areas that previously had no schools. For each school built, the Princess Mother took the trouble of travelling to the remote village to inaugurate the new school and to give clothing, books, school materials, and toys to children, besides giving necessities and medical treatment to the needy. It was a part of her work to monitor the functioning and the outcome of the schools and to help solve the problems encountered. All of these schools, under the patronage of the Princess Mother, were collectively known as the Border Patrol Police Schools. UNESCO International Literacy Prize Jury, on the occasion of International Literacy Day, has awarded An Honourable Mention of the International Reading Association Literacy Award for 1989 to the Border Patrol Police Schools. The recognition given, among other things, was the significant role of "providing basic education to equip deprived groups, particularly highland minorities and people in remote areas, with the literacy, communication and vocational skills needed to improve quality of life, self-reliance and participation in the community." There were altogether 670 BPP Schools in 1996, out of which 436 schools have already been transferred to the Ministry of Education. CRASH PROGRAMME OF FUNCTIONAL LITERACY FOR HILL TRIBE YOUTH While the basic learning needs of school-age children were being satisfied by the main delivery system of primary schooling, the Princess Mother perceived the necessity of providing a short-term supplementary programme to take care of youth beyond the school age. They had not had access to the school system and had no skills, nor work experience to realise their individual and community improvement. The logical and feasible solution conceived by Her Royal Highness was to launch a programme with special attention given to fostering intensive skill training for illiterate youth. Hence a crash functional literacy programme of eight-month period was set up in 1973. This was undertaken by the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation, which was established in 1972 under the patronage of the Princess Mother. For each training period, a group of 20 of hill tribe youth between the age of 12 to 20 were admitted with board and lodging at the headquarters of the Foundation in the Provincial town of Chiang Rai. Besides reading and writing, the training programme focused on attitudes towards work, which include co-operation, work performance, and self-reliance, as well as skill training in numeracy, accounting, trading, home economics, sanitation, and family planning. The project served the purpose of empowering this group of young people to be self-reliant, to have capacity to work better, to continue learning, and to be able to live within the broader society. Funding support came from the Princess Mother herself, CIDA and New Zealand Women Club in Thailand. HILL TRIBE YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROJECT In 1979, the crash functional literacy programme was adjusted and renamed the "Hill Tribe Youth Leadership" to take care of bright young people between the age of 15 to 20 who had finished their primary schooling. The project was funded by the Princess Mother as well as by USAID. Housed in the compound of the Foundation, a group of 20 were selected each year to further the studies of their choice in general education, and technical or vocational training in various colleges. In addition, the Foundation provided informal education to foster the acquisition of human and civic values and attitudes required by human beings to be able to live and work in dignity, to develop their full capacities, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions, and to continue learning. It was the wish of her Royal Highness the Princess Mother that education for children and youth should include the inculcation of moral values as well as civic and work attitudes. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FOR YOUTH IN REMOTE AREAS In 1986, the Hill Tribe Leadership Project was expanded and named "Training and Development Project for Youth in Remote Areas". While the philosophy and the nature of training remained the same, the expanded programme was intended to take care of youth from the hill tribes as well as young people from other remote areas in 8 provinces in the north of Thailand. There have been more than 300 beneficiaries from these training and development projects for youth from hill tribes and non-hill tribe communities, now working in different places in both the public and private sectors. A number of them have returned to their home villages and participated in the development of their communities. ETHICS AND VALUES EDUCATION Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother was an exemplary personality in terms of her righteous conduct and noble character, of morals and ethics, and that was the way in which she had brought up her royal children. The Princess Mother saw the need to integrate ethics and values education as a component in training and education programmes for children and young people; and this, as indicated above, had been done in the training and education projects for children and youth undertaken by her. For the general public too, the Princess Mother, as a devout Buddhist, took up the duty of propagating the teaching of Buddha, by initiating Sunday morning half-hour radio programmes for spiritual refreshment. Her Royal Highness had outlined and published a Thai and English book entitled "What Did the Buddha Teach?" written by a venerated monk, now the Supreme Patriarch. The book was very popular and widely read. What Did the Buddha Teach? - CD-Rom Conservation and Promotion of Arts and Crafts of Hill Tribes
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