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ContactDr Alberto P Mendoza, Director IV, Bureau of Secondary Education, 3rd Floor,Bonifacio Building, Department of Education, Culture and Sports Complex,Pasig City, Philippines, Tel: 632-633-7242.THAILAND41. Basic Education and Lifelong Education forEmpowering Disadvantaged Population inRural AreasThe Thailand-United Nations Collaborative Action Plan (Thai-UNCAP)has been developed to address the issues and goals of the Thailand EighthNational Development Plan (1997-2001). The Plan encouragesdecentralization and people’s participation, empowerment and promotionof partnership at the local level. Tambon (Sub-district) administrativeorganizations (TAO) play key roles in a bottom-up strategy to developlocal communities. Village headmen and persons with specialknowledge, skills and understanding - local wisdom - are members ofTAOs, each of which has its own budget for community development.The economic crisis has resulted in many workers returning to theirvillages. They need urgently to develop skills that will enable them toearn a living. APPEAL - UNESCO's Asia-Pacific Programme ofEducation for All - has identified Community Learning Centres (CLCs),and income-generating projects, as means to promote post-literacy andlifelong learning in countries in Asia.Thai-UNCAP began in March 1998 and will end formally in December1999. The project is organizing basic education and lifelong learning forempowering people and improving their quality of life in five ruralprovinces - Payao, Maha, Sarakham, Petchaburi and Pattani - and in theYannawa community in Bangkok. The project is implemented by thePayao Provincial Non-Formal Education Centre and Provincial PrimaryEducation Centre, with funding through UNESCO's Principal RegionalOffice for Asia and the Pacific (PROAP) donated by Osaka University,Japan. A new concept of School for Life was initiated by the project.Schools are no longer solely the responsibility of teachers, but also of thecommunity: the school must serve as a focal point for communitydevelopment.Under the project 70 villages have established Community LearningCentres (CLCs) to serve as a focal point for community activities. Someare set up within the compound of temples, others in community meetingList of Projects by CountryList of Projects by Country © 65