2012-09-19 15:28:49

Catholic schools as a model for development in Thailand


(Sept. 19, 2012) Thailand's Catholic schools make an essential contribution to the development of a country, where education levels are still below average. Education also falls within the development plans promoted by ASEAN, the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which Thailand wants to follow. Former Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat said that Thai education has to prepare for the establishment of an ASEAN community by 2015, as part of a strategy based on 'one vision, one identity and one community' to develop "people, resources and the economy." He said “At a time when values are in crisis, the Catholic model can help people and society grow. Development cannot occur without education.” he added. A four-day seminar organised by the Pastoral Education Council was recently held in Cholburi province on the topic. Starting with a paper titled “Catholic schools in the context of the ASEAN community,” Archbishop Louis Chamniern Santisukniran, president of the Bishops' Conference of Thailand and 465 participants from the country's various Catholic schools discussed ways to reform schools, so that they contribute to the country's and the ASEAN community's development from a Christian perspective. The aims of Catholic schools are being developed against a backdrop of a relatively backward educational system and low achievement levels.








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