Participation in a Community Education Program in the Khoo I Dong holding center for Cambodian refugees in Thailand was formally inaugurated last month by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) it was announced here by JDC president Donald Robinson. “The JDC,” he said, “has received over $250,000 in donations, primarily from American Jews who wished to help the Cambodian refugees.”
Ralph Goldman, JDC executive vice president, noted that the education program in Khoo I Dang and other holding centers for Cambodian refugees was developed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as part of that agency’s overall program of support for the refugee population. “As a participant in the program, JDC is providing the professional and financial resources necessary for the operation of schools, thus serving a population of 9000 children aged six to eleven.”
JDC support, Goldman added, “aids in the training of teachers, provides for educational supplies and materials, contributes to the remuneration of teachers and teachers assistants, encourages the development of secondary and adult education and enhances Cambodian culture.”
Goldman, in making the announcement, said that the JDC had secured the services of a project coordinator based in Thailand who is monitoring the activities in the holding centers, and providing liaison between the UNHCR in Bangkok and JDC’s New York headquarters. “This will help facilitate the operation of the schools, encourage creative development of the program, and maintain accountability,” he said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
