April 2 is "Reading Day"

Published: 5/08/2009 at 04:41 PM The cabinet on Wednesday approved the Education Ministry's proposal to declare reading a national agenda, make April 2 of every year "Reading Day", and the years 2009-2018 the "Decade of Reading", Education Minister Jurin Laksanavisit said.

Mr Jurin said the cabinet resolution provides for a reading promotion committee to be set up to carry out programmes to promote reading and create a society of life-time learning by 2012.

The minister said the committee is tasked with increasing the percentage of literate people in the labour force from 97.21 to 99 per cent, and rasie the literacy rate of all Thais aged 15 and above from 92.64 to 95 per cent and increase the average number of books read by Thais from five to 10 per year.

97.21 percent of the labour force is literate? Must lead the world in that category then.

The math seems funny to me. Only 92.64 percent over 14 can read, yet of those 97% are employed? Tricky stuff.

Do comic or school text books count?

You keep different Thai circles.

The labour force is composed of those who have left school.

The school would lose face if it admitted to illiterate school leavers.

That leaves those who failed to attend school.