New books bring smiles.
Since the Books For Thailand Foundation (BFT) began donating English books by American publishers to Triamudom Suksa School in Muang, Phitsanulok, two years ago, school librarian Sujittra Rachawong has seen a spike in the number of students using her facilities.
“The books are new. Just the fact that our students have such a diversity of topics to choose from makes them appreciate having the opportunity to read them,” said Sujittra. “Our children come from diverse backgrounds, so there’s a portion of the student body that’s not financially well off, making it difficult for them to afford expensive books from abroad. BFT has enabled all our
students to share in the same reading experience.”
Books for Thailand was set up in 1996 by a group of businessmen, led by Dr Maruey Phadoongsiddhi, who foresaw the importance of reading at an early age. The stalwart supporter of the cause Books for Asia, which is a Thai Asia Foundation programme in over 20 countries, has been supplying BFT with new English books by American publishers since its inception. These books, which schools can request, are on a wide range of topics covering everything from history to popular fairytales.
Schools can request the types of books they want. The donated books are then given to government schools around the country in the hope of developing a love for reading that will help them broaden their horizons. Transporting the books to remote areas can become complicated, he said, so where there are no roads, people take them on foot to the schools.
Burin Kantabutra, vice-chairman of BFT, said the foundation has served thousands of schools, receiving a number of accolades for their dedication. Late last month, they were awarded the highest rating of five stars by the Giving Back Association, which rates NGOs on their overall performance.
Burin added that the books were not just for leisure but could also be used as teaching materials. The objective of the books is for children to participate in the education process.
“A classic example would be of a teacher with a book on animals explaining to her students about their natural habitats. The aim is to initiate an interactive process whereby the student gets actively involved, rather than merely follow the traditional memorisation-and-repetition procedure,” said the foundation’s vice-chairman.
He said they would probably not have come this far if it wasn’t for the support of their sponsors, one of the most consistent of these being Thai Beverage. He said Khunying Wanna Sirivadhanabhakdi, its vice-chairman, has backed their endeavours through thick and thin.
“Without them, we’d have closed a long ago,” said Burin. “They have been longtime financial supporters of schools where they have a presence — eg, near their factories. Those schools use our books, and one of our partners, the Happy Community Foundation, trains their teachers in how to use our books.” He added that Kasem Bundit University, AirAsia and Rotary International in Thailand are also among those who have made it possible for them to distribute books all over the country.
Homeroom teacher Kattiya Wongnongtoey — from the Tripat Waldorf School in Lamlukka, Pathum Thani — had a delightful story to share. Her students had begun developing a special interest in American history after the school began receiving books from BFT. She is picky about the material her kids read. So at first, she picked a limited number of topics for her students. After realising the quality of the reading material, she has become more open to requesting a wider range of books.
Kattiya explained that a crucial principle of the Waldorf curriculum lies in the co-ordination of the content and methods to support the child’s learning process and the stages of human development in childhood and adolescence. The type of reading material they have is pivotal to future development.
As the books are designed for American students, she said the selection of books most applicable to her students was literature.
“It’s not only the students that are benefiting from it but the teachers,” remarked Kattiya. “As the English is of a high standard, our kids get to learn new vocabulary. Also it’s American English, so they can determine for themselves how it differs from British English. These books have helped build a passion in our students for reading.”
BFT’s general manager, Thamonpat Cooperider, said that if books are to make an impact on youngsters, they have to be packaged attractively, must be entertaining, and must arouse interest and wonder.
“Introducing children to reading at an early age has been proven to develop their literacy level and strengthen their self-confidence. English is a universal language — the faster our children get to master this language, the better. Cultivating a reading habit is a must for this to happen,” she noted. “Despite the fact that Thailand has never had a reading culture, things are slowly changing with the introduction of social media. For example, in order to use Facebook, it’s necessary for Thais to have a minimum literacy level both in one’s own language and also in English, as most international media platforms are in English.”
Thamonpat admits that one of their biggest struggles is in training instructors on how to maximise the books they receive.
“It’s a serious challenge to train teachers on how to effectively use our books in their classrooms — how to use the books to arouse and develop the full potential of their charges. Where possible, we provide teachers’ guides, which help them with ideas and activities. We constantly seek out partners who are trained to use our text books, so they in turn can assist in training others,” she said.
Thamonpat believes the only time the cause of BFT is compromised is when recipients become hesitant to use their books because of fear of wear and tear. Sharing one such encounter, she said: “We had a science teacher from Satun province tell us how her school director ordered her to keep our books under lock and key because they were in mint condition.
“This was rather unfortunate because the purpose of giving out books is that they be used time and again — with proper care, of course. With more people using them, I accept that they will wear out eventually. When this happens, the school can always return to us for more up-to-date, intriguing books, which we continue to believe serve their purpose.”
There are many titles to choose from.
Students give their full attention to a teacher reading from a story book.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.