HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn supports measures for linguistic minorities and the preservation of heritage and in the Asia-Pacific region
01-09-2006 9:00 am From 22 August to 1 September 2006, a teacher-training workshop on heritage management concepts for teachers from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam was held in Sakhon Nakhon Province, Thailand, under the auspices of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Empowerment of Minority Children through Education and through the Preservation of their Intangible Cultural Heritage. On the final day of the workshop the participants and representatives from the project were granted an audience with HRH at Chitralada Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, to report on the achievements of the workshop and future plans. The workshop marked the launching of the project “Improving the Quality of Life of Children and Youth in the Asia and Pacific”, a joint effort between the Office of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Projects (OPSP), UNESCO and the UNESCO National Commissions of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. This two-year project seeks to empower minority children and youth through best practices developed by ongoing programmes conducted by HRH and UNESCO.
Furthermore, HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn received Mr Hammed A. Hakeem, Coordinator of APPEAL (Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All), who also represented the Director of UNESCO Bangkok, for a discussion on language and education for linguistic minorities. Joining the audience were Mr Chaturon Chaisaeng, Minister of Education of Thailand, Khunying Kasama Varavarn, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education of Thailand, the Director-General and two directors of the Office for the Non Formal Education Commission (ONFEC) and the President and linguists from SIL International and Mahidol University.
During the meeting the participants discussed the lessons learned from pilot projects in initial learning in the mother tongue in Thailand and other countries in the region. The meeting with Her Royal Highness and the subsequent discussions with the Minister of Education of Thailand reaffirmed the urgency for an advocacy toolkit on multilingual education (MLE) for policy makers and practitioners.
