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WAN Takes Young Reader
Programme to Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand,
31 March 2006--Newspaper journalists and teachers met in Bangkok
this week to develop Thailand¹s newspapers in education program,
as organizers of the meeting, including the World Association
of Newspapers, investigate how to extend the program nationally.
The workshop
re-united teachers and journalists who had first met at a similar
workshop held in November 2004 to introduce the concept of using
the newspaper as a teaching tool in classrooms.
³Those
who were at the first workshop, many of them have taken some action,²
says Jan Vincens Steen, manager of Norway¹s Newspapers in
Education programme and a member of the Young Reader Committee
of the World Association of Newspapers. He, along with the Press
Development Institute of Thailand, helped organize the events
under WAN¹s NIE Development Project, which is supported by
the Norwegian paper manufacturer Norske Skog.
³The
idea the first time was to bring teachers and journalist together
from the same area even if it they did not know each other²
so they might go back and start something together, Steen says.
³It was the main idea then and it is now.²
The formula
seems to have paid off. Some teachers presented newspapers they
helped students create, while at least one newspaper has started
offering a monthly youth supplement.
³It¹s
exciting to see newspaper people and teachers mixing together,²
says Lynne Cahill, NIE manager of The West Australian newspaper
who led workshops and provided practical tips for the 30 participants.
³It¹s a bonus for teachers to network instead of working
in isolation.²
The Press
Development Institute of Thailand has been discussing NIE's potential
with the Thai Education Minister and local education authorities.
Executive Director Chavarong Limpattamapanee says the next steps
include completing an NIE manual and introducing a pilot project
in Bangkok schools. In September 2006, Thailand is expected to
host the second NIE regional roundtable, bringing together participants
from around Asia.
The WAN Newspapers
in Education project has developed a wide range of new programmes
for using newspapers in education all over the world. Full information
on the project, which has activities in more than 60 countries,
can be found at http://www.wan-press.org/nie/home.php .
The Paris-based
WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents
18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 73 national newspaper
associations, newspapers and newspaper executives in 102 countries,
11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.
Inquiries
to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy
St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33
1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
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