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The Nation
The Office of the Education Council (OEC) is planning to focus on children's reading skills to boost IQ levels as part of a sample project in six provinces.
The council held a press conference yesterday to promote the advance reading project, which will be organised by OEC, the Mother and Care magazine foundation, TK Park and the Office of Primary Education.
The programme, including seminars and workshops, will initially cover Chiang Mai, followed by Nakhon Sawan, Udon Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Bangkok and Ayutthaya. The project will run until the end of July.
The objective of the programme is to develop young people's thinking process and analytical skills.
Suthasinee Watcharabul, OEC deputy secretarygeneral, said that according to research, children's brains develop the most between the ages of 0 and 5.
"The development of children's brains at the international level is rising every year, but a survey by the Health Department has shown that Thai youngsters have the lowest IQ at 98, which is less than the average IQ of 100 and at least 30 per cent lower than the norm," Suthasinee said.
"Moreover, the number of senior people in Thailand has increased from 700,000 to 1 million, so we have to help improve their skills in raising children as well as looking after themselves."
-- The Nation 2012-05-28
