Dignity of TUFEC

Dignity of TUFEC: 66-Year Journey In 1954, the Thailand-UNESCO Fundamental Education Centre or TUFEC was established in Ubon Ratchathani. The center was a cooperative program between the Royal Thai Government and UNESCO that aimed to build capacities for fundamental education supervisors to work with people in rural areas and move towards the success of the improvement of people’s quality of life through the fundamental education concept. In that period of time, UNESCO planned to establish a series of regional and national centers in various parts of the world in order to make a widespread attack on poor living conditions and living standards in member countries. TUFEC was the third after two such fundamental education centers had been established in Mexico and Egypt. Fundamental education was a concept of the holistic approach to education for life. Seven batches of fundamental education supervisors, totaling 451 people, were equipped with six areas of specialization: health, agriculture, rural construction, home making, social welfare, and education by a number of experts from various UN agencies (WHO, ILO, FAO, UNTAA, UNESCO) and Thai staff. The graduates were deployed to selected villages across the Kingdom to encourage the local people to realize their own situations, explore appropriate solutions and uplift their socio-economic living conditions. Afterwards, the pilot project on fundamental education- oriented studies was fully developed and it evolved into a community development principle and functional education for adults. The pioneering of TUFEC and its results have in fact paved the way for the integrated community development programs as well as adult and non-formal education programs as provided at present. King bhumibol rama ix and Queen sirikit Visited TUFEC on November 18, 1953 (2498) The roles and functions of TUFEC have been modified in accordance with a national development direction, and socio- economic and human resource development. Since 2008, the center has been upgraded to become a regional institute, namely the Northeastern Regional Institute for Non-Formal and Informal Education (NERINIE), under the supervision of the Office of the Non-Formal and Informal Education (ONIE). The institute has been assigned to provide continuing education to several target groups, conduct education research and development, and provide technical support to non-formal and informal establishments and network organisations in the region. Since 2005, the institute has implemented several projects in collaboration with the APPEAL Unit, UNESCO Bangkok, to empower rural communities through a life-long learning strategy.

NERINIE has continuously developed the education and training programmes as well as learning facilities to provide learning opportunities for learners and general public, and to strengthen the capacities of ONIE staff. A number of training and learning courses have been initiated and re-designed for delivery through onsite, online and on-air channels. With the collaboration of network parties, various learning sources for different target groups have been created and renovated, based on the concept of the PARK Model, such as the \"Chalerm Raj Kumari\" Public Library, Ubon Ratchathani Candle Museum, online learning centers, natural learning environments and learning spaces, meeting rooms, dormitories and guesthouses. The 66-Year (In 2020 or 2563 B.E.) Journey and evolution from TUFEC in the past to NERINIE at present and from Fundamental Education to Lifelong Learning for All, TUFEC or NERINIE and its networks, both inside and outside of the country, still play a crucial role in the capacity building of ONIE staff in the region and provide continuing education and learning in order to partake in encouraging Thai people to be able to access high quality life-long learning, which will bring the benefits of a better quality of life for the people and achieve sustainable development. “ Only TUFEC remains operating now ”