THE KAREN CHILDREN and Schools..
UPDATED MAY 2002
The Karen are one of the larger groups of hilltribe people, and can be found mainly in the North and West of Thailand. Along with other hilltribe people they are slowly being integrated into the Thai population, as Thai citizens. More details on the Karen can be found in the following site:
http://karenhilltribes.org.uk/ ( external link )
ENGLISH in SCHOOLS
English is now taught in most Thai schools and even the very small children of the Maekanard infant school, near Lamphun to the south of Chiang Mai, are starting to learn English mainly by singing and dancing to nursery rhymes.
Activity at the Maekanard school
Learning is continued at the Doikum school, about two kilometres away, where they also use pictures and start reading simple junior books.
At the age of 7, they start to learn to write English. At the age of 12 they move on to Secondary school, where they will learn English more formally ... along with all their other subjects.
One of the teachers,,Napasnun Junjoy, is very keen to help the Karen children. She teaches several subjects, including English. As part of a reorganisation of the schools, she has recently moved from the Maekanard infant school to teach mainly at the Doikum school, but she still keeps contact with the infant school.
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The Doikum school, which has about 130 children, now caters for grades 1 to 6. The Maekanard school is now a nursery school.
The staff and some of the children of the Doikum School. ( Photo Mr Tone )
Napasnun Junjoy in her classroom
Recently, Napasnun Junjoy has visited the Rothley Primary School, near Leicester, where some of the pupils have been writing to children at the Doikum school. She has also visited the Tanglewood Nursery School, Chelmsford, which raised money to help the children of the Maekanard school. A further visit was made to the St Mary's Primary School in Byfleet.
At the schools she had the opportunity to see how children are taught in England, both at Nursery and Primary level.
At the Rothley Primary School .............. At the Tanglewood Nursery School
At the St. Mary's Primary School
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