Literacy
Let’s Read Launches Nationwide #ReadEveryday Campaign in Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 9, 2020
News Post
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in collaboration with The Asia Foundation and other partners, launched a nationwide reading campaign called #ReadEveryDay. This unique campaign encourages families, teachers, and librarians to create fun and positive reading experiences with at least 100,000 children every day between March 6-15. The launc… Read more
Nikkei News Cites Let’s Read in Op-Ed on Indonesia’s Fight Against Illiteracy
February 7, 2020
Media Coverage Post
The Nikkei Asian Review highlights The Asia Foundation’s Let’s Read initiative in an op-ed assessing how Indonesia is improving literacy across the country through local technology-driven solutions. Impactful reading programs, such as the Asia Foundation’s Let’s Read initiative, which brings together communities and technology to build early readin… Read more
Khmer Times Highlights Crucial Roles of Libraries in Cambodia
November 13, 2019
Media Coverage Post
The Khmer Times publishes an opinion piece written by Foundation’s senior digital program officer in Cambodia Sorn Nimul Khut on the crucial role of libraries for instilling knowledge and skills in young students. The young learners of today, are our communities future leaders. The Asia Foundation has remarked, “books give free rein to young people… Read more
The High-Tech Jobs of Tomorrow Depend on Children’s Books Today
June 19, 2019
Blog Post
The most valuable skills children can gain in school are not specific to jobs or technology, but rather skills associated with creative problem-solving and curiosity. Words like “fun” and “children’s storybooks” are not often used when discussing how to prepare today’s youth for the high-tech jobs of tomorrow, but they need to be. The most valuable… Read more
The Asia Foundation Signs MOU to Enhance School Libraries with Cambodia’s Government
Phnom Penh, October 26, 2018
News Post
Today, The Asia Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), and Kampuchean Action for Primary Education (KAPE) to implement the Books for Cambodia program. Over the next five years, the program will distribute high-quality English storybooks and educational resource books to 1,000… Read more
Building Critical Thinking in ASEAN Classrooms
July 18, 2018
Blog Post
Traditional classrooms in ASEAN countries are exceptional for turning out high-performing students, well-skilled in memorization, recitation, and deference to seniority, an approach some say doesn’t equip students for a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and rapidly changing world. According to the World Economic Forum, young people will best succeed in the… Read more
Photo Blog: Building a Children’s Digital Library in Indonesia
September 20, 2017
Blog Post
Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands, with around 700 languages spoken across the archipelago. For all of its rich and diverse cultural history, Indonesia does not have a long and deeply embedded tradition of children’s literature. Access to quality children’s books is difficult, especially in remote and underserved areas. On Sept. 16, 2017,… Read more
Inclusive Education for Thailand’s Minorities: Snapshots from the North
September 6, 2016
Slideshow
A cornerstone of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is achieving quality, inclusive education for all. Yet, a recent UNESCO report indicates that 40 percent of the global population does not have access to education in a language they can speak or understand. This is a long-running challenge in Thailand, home to a diversity of languages co… Read more
5 Lessons on How to Build a Digital Library Program
September 6, 2016
Blog Post
Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day and a half century later there’s much to celebrate. However, one of the persistent problems faced by schools in developing countries still today is a lack of one of the most essential ingredients to encourage reading: engaging children’s books to build literacy from an early age. In… Read more
To Realize SDGs, Thailand’s Minority Communities Need More Mother Tongue Books
September 6, 2016
Blog Post
Northern Thailand, a region famous for its natural beauty, hill tribe communities, and trekking routes through lush jungle terrain, is home to a diversity of languages and cultures comprising approximately 59 unique ethnolinguistic groups. Standard Thai is currently the country’s only official language and the primary language of instruction in pub… Read more
Economic Struggles and Expectations for Education in a Changing Mongolia
September 6, 2016
Blog Post
Mongolia is currently a land in economic flux. Fallen revenues from the mining sector and potential bracing measures from the newly elected government point to economic uncertainty ahead. While investment in various sectors may inevitably be delayed, one area that should continue to be a priority is education. The nearly two-thirds of Ulaanbaatar’s… Read more
Giving a Voice to India’s Indigenous (Adivasi) Community
September 6, 2016
Blog Post
Ruby Hembrom (left) at the World Delhi Book Fair. Five years ago, Ruby Hembrom gave up a high-paying career in the IT sector to start her own publishing company to preserve the culture and historical heritage of India’s indigenous (Adivasi) community. Hembrom, who spent the first four years of her life in rural Jharkhand learning Santali as her nat… Read more
The Dawn of a New Day for Reading in Cambodia
March 23, 2016
Blog Post
Cambodia marked its first National Reading Day on March 11 – a public event that calls on Cambodians to embrace a love of reading. The event was one of the many recent steps taken by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MoEYS) to improve the quality of education in Cambodia.
Photo Blog: Building Digital Libraries in Mongolia
February 10, 2016
Blog Post
Since the end of the socialist regime in the early 1990s, urban migration in Mongolia has continued to play an outsized role in the country’s evolving economic and social identity. With 45 percent of Mongolia’s traditionally nomadic population now living in Ulaanbaatar, public resources, especially those for schools and education, have been stretch… Read more
Int’l Day of the Girl Child: Celebrating the Power of Girls in Vietnam and Across Asia
October 7, 2015
Blog Post
On October 11, global communities will mark the International Day of the Girl Child to celebrate girls’ rights and to recognize the achievements and shortcomings since the launch of the Millennium Development Goals…
A Village of E-books
September 9, 2015
Blog Post
The village of Tanou lies in a quiet corner of Cambodia, about 13 kilometers down a dusty road off National Highway 1 as you head towards the Mekong Delta from Phnom Penh. Trees provide a canopy of shade for most of the way to the village, beating back the blazing sun and screening the vast, partially flooded rice paddies that stretch to the horizon on either side.
Post-2015 Development Agenda Needs Standalone Goal on Gender Equality
March 4, 2015
Blog Post
It has been more than a century since the world first celebrated March 8 as International Women’s Day. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women when representatives from 189 governments signed the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action…
Conversation with Burmese Publisher, Library Advocate U Thant Thaw Kaung
July 9, 2014
Blog Post
Publisher U Thant Thaw Kaung, head of the Myanmar Book Aid and Preservation Foundation and the mobile library project under the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, recently visited The Asia Foundation’s headquarters in San Francisco as part of a three-week study tour…
Bangladesh’s Development Surprise: A Model for Developing Countries
June 25, 2014
Blog Post
By many metrics, Bangladesh’s development trajectory is a unique success story, especially since the 1990s when democratic rule was reinstated and extensive economic reforms were made. Poverty incidence has fallen from 60 percent to around 30 percent.
Picturing: The Promise of Libraries in Myanmar
April 2, 2014
Blog Post
Libraries and reading have a special place in Myanmar society. Yangon, the country’s largest city, is teeming with book vendors and libraries. The American Center and British Council libraries were venerated sources of up-to-date publications…