The Asia Foundation Launches Thailandlearning.org for Millions of Students and Educators Affected by Covid-19
May 8, 2020 — The Asia Foundation, in collaboration with the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Embassy in Thailand, has launched Thailandlearning.org, a new online learning portal for 13 million Thai students and educators impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. With school closure through July 1, 2020, the pandemic is disrupting learning opportunities for Thai students and revealing the educational digital divide in Thailand. Through increased public and private partnership, this can be a moment to transform Thailand’s educational landscape and expand on digital learning access and opportunity for all.
“This crisis has swept over the Thai education system like a tsunami and caught everyone by surprise,” said Thomas Parks, country representative for The Asia Foundation in Thailand. “Over the next two weeks, urgent interventions are needed to help teachers, students, and parents connect with learning materials that are already available. Access will be uneven and new creative solutions are needed to ensure kids in smaller and more remote schools do not fall further behind.”
Available in Thai and English and accessed via desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, Thailandlearning.org presents educational TV programs, videos on demand, websites, and applications. Millions of Thai students can now access quality educational tools and resources from across Thailand and around the world in a single site.
“Not going to school means their educational trajectory is halted, their learning is stopped, and their development is impeded. Not going to school means students become more isolated from social settings and prone to suffer mental trauma caused by isolation–something that affects younger children more than grown-up adolescents,” said Dr. Rattana Lao, senior program officer and education expert at The Asia Foundation in Thailand.
The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Informed by six decades of experience and deep local expertise, our work across the region addresses five overarching goals—strengthen governance, empower women, expand economic opportunity, increase environmental resilience, and promote regional cooperation.
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