Language classes begin for AEC

Students at selected schools, some |near border areas, learning Burmese, Vietnamese, Malay in preparation for Asean community taking off in 2015

A Myanmar teacher was greeted "Mingalaba Sayama" - "Good afternoon, teacher" - and a Burmese-language class started for Thai students.

Yesterday, Grade 9 or Matthayom 3/3 students at Samut Sakhon Burana School, in the province of the same name just south of Bangkok, studied Burmese words from passages about Myanmar journalists who called for an end to censorship last week.

Burmese for general communication is a non-degree subject provided for 400 Matthayom 2 and 3 students at this school in an attempt to get them to know Myanmar in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which is due to start in 2015.

This is one of dozens of schools in Thailand that are studying neighbouring countries' languages - languages that seven or eight years ago nobody thought Thai people would pay attention to.

Many universities are also promoting learning of neighbouring countries' languages among their students. Kasetsart University, for example, is teaching Malay, while Nation University teaches Vietnamese and Burmese, and Chulalong-korn teaches Vietnamese and Malay.

Asean Day falls on August 8 every year after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - the regional body - was set up on that day in 1967. At present, "Asean" seems more meaningful to Thais thanks to rising awareness about the AEC.

The Education Ministry has created a plan to prepare for the start of the AEC in 2015. Permanent secretary for Education Sasithara Pichaichannarong said five measures were being implemented to ready Thais, especially students, for the AEC.

"About four million Thais are unable to read and write. So the ministry will be focusing on increasing Thais' literacy. It will work with nine other ASEAN countries to create basic education curricula with the same standard," she said.

"More higher education institutions will be encouraged to join the ASEAN University Network so they can transfer credits to help students be mobile within the region. We will exchange vocational and technical students for internships and jobs. We will be using information technology to provide online or cross-border learning among ASEAN countries," Sasithara said.

"All ASEAN countries also agree that we will have to get our students to study science and mathematics more."

To learn more about other ASEAN nations, the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) has run its Spirit of ASEAN project, which has been led by 52 schools in different parts of Thailand. These schools, including Samut Sakhon Burana, have been appointed ASEAN Study Centres that disseminate knowledge about the region to other schools and local agencies in their provinces, Jarrug Payapanang, the director at Samut Sakhon Burana, said.

The school is also among 30 "Sister Schools" that focus on English plus one of nine other ASEAN languages.

"We chose Burmese language because our province, Samut Sakhon has a lot of Myanmar migrants. We focus on [pupils getting] speaking skills," the director said.

Myanmar teacher Zun War said she taught her students to say greetings and thanks, how to apologise, express sympathy, as well as talking about shopping, time and dates, the weather, colours, buying medicine, and words used in hospitals, etc. "I want them to understand Burmese language so they can speak to Myanmar people here," she said.

Worakarn Soonthonprasert, 14, a Matthayom 3/3 student, said she liked learning Burmese words about animals, as she loves them. Her parents were happy that she is studying Burmese as they thought she would probably use the language some day.

Phakaphon Putta, 15, from the same class, said knowing a neighbouring country's language helped him understand its people. "It will help me when communicating with them after the AEC comes into effect."

Apart from the Sister Schools, Obec has also named 24 "Buffer Schools" that are near Thailand's borders with neighbouring countries. They have to emphasise English and a language of the countries near their areas. It has initiated partnership program between secondary schools in Thailand and Indonesia.