TK park Announces the 2nd Read Thailand Awards
TK park announces the “Second Read Thailand Award” to distinguish schools with excellent reading promotion records and innovations that boost young readers' interest in rural areas.
Following the success of the first “Read Thailand: Read for Chao Fa” inspirational program in 2014, TK park and the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) have pursued their collaboration to hold a second edition of the contest this year.
The “Second Read Thailand: Read for Chao Fah” award was held to honour HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s 60th anniversary. On this occasion, over 100 schools and their young students participated in the contest to win trophies awarded by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn as well as certificates and rewards worth a total of 100,000 baht.
This year, 60 primary schools and 57 middle schools nationwide have taken part in the programme. TK park has set itself to find ways and activities, which are in relation with students' local environment, to effectively boost young Thais' interest in reading.
The following schools have been awarded prizes:
The excellence award for small-sized primary schools was attributed to the Wat Talay Pang School in Nakhon Sri Thammarat province, for its “Read for Chao Fa” creativity activity.
The excellence award for mid-sized primary schools was attributed to the Baan Bor Pradu community School, in Songkhla province, for its “1 C 4 R reading development” programme.
The excellence award for large-sized primary schools was attributed to the Sri Thaksin School, in Narathiwat province, for its “Three poetry lines to develop reading” innovation.
The excellence award for small-sized middle-schools was attributed to the Wang Muang Piyakhom School, for its “Knowledge staircase, 4 S integration towards sustainable reading development” innovation.
The excellence award for middle-sized middle schools was attributed to the Khun Yuam Witthaya School, for its “Reader princess weaves dreams of hills children” innovation.
The excellence award for large-sized middle schools was attributed to the Boonwattana School for its “Boonwattana Reading For Fun” activity.
The “Read Thailand: Read for Chao Fa” award, held two years in a row, has been met with positive response from schools across the country, said Rames Promyen, Vice President of the Office of Knowledge Management and Development (OKMD) and Acting Director-General of Thailand Knowledge Park. For its second edition, the program has widened its target group to include both primary schools and middle-schools.
The thirty finalist schools' projects and innovations all have unique qualities, Mr Rames said.
“Schools located near the borders aim to develop their students' knowledge of Thai and perfect their reading and writing skills.”
“For instance, most students from a school in Mae Hong Son, who come from different hills tribes, such as Mong, Tai Yai or Karen tribes have benefited from their supervisors's vision to boost their interest in reading and their proficiency in Thai. These will eventually benefit them in class and in their future, as they will pursue various careers,” he said.
“The Narathiwat School has a majority of Muslim students, who communicate for the most part in Malay. As their reading and writing skills in Thai are rather weak, many pupils do not have proper understanding of what they are taught in class and therefore lack interest. The school has therefore created new activities to boost students' skills,” Mr Rames added.
Most schools that entered the competition used a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDCA) method as their framework in efficiently developing activities that will boost students' interest in reading. The resulting activities and innovations are diverse, applied to students' age and related to their school curriculum. The activities must also include ties to HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirinthorn's series of books; the princess is a good example of a good reader.
Some schools used new communication technologies in their programmes, including e-books, AR books or QR codes as part of their activities. Most activities took place within the school as well as outside classrooms.
The activities are designed to promote a good understanding and healthy relationships between the students and their families and communities by allowing students to bring these books home, to read with their parents, or through the creation of spaces dedicated to reading in villages.
Ties with other organisations and networks working with the same goal were also developed, as to further spread these activities and ideas.
The thirty finalist schools' projects and innovations all have unique qualities, Mr Rames said.
“Schools located near the borders aim to develop their students' knowledge of Thai and perfect their reading and writing skills.”
“For instance, most students from a school in Mae Hong Son, who come from different hills tribes, such as Mong, Tai Yai or Karen tribes have benefited from their supervisors's vision to boost their interest in reading and their proficiency in Thai. These will eventually benefit them in class and in their future, as they will pursue various careers,” he said.
“The Narathiwat School has a majority of Muslim students, who communicate for the most part in Malay. As their reading and writing skills in Thai are rather weak, many pupils do not have proper understanding of what they are taught in class and therefore lack interest. The school has therefore created new activities to boost students' skills,” Mr Rames added.
Most schools that entered the competition used a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDCA) method as their framework in efficiently developing activities that will boost students' interest in reading. The resulting activities and innovations are diverse, applied to students' age and related to their school curriculum. The activities must also include ties to HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirinthorn's series of books; the princess is a good example of a good reader.
Some schools used new communication technologies in their programmes, including e-books, AR books or QR codes as part of their activities. Most activities took place within the school as well as outside classrooms.
The activities are designed to promote a good understanding and healthy relationships between the students and their families and communities by allowing students to bring these books home, to read with their parents, or through the creation of spaces dedicated to reading in villages.
Ties with other organisations and networks working with the same goal were also developed, as to further spread these activities and ideas.
