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United Kingdom Thailand Shooting Latest Updates: More Than 30 Killed at Day-Care Center
Oct. Oct.
Oct. Oct.The government day-care center where the gunman shot and killed more than 30 people, including more than 20 children on Thursday, is located in a poor area of Thailand, where most preschool-age children attend such facilities.
Thecenter, the Child Development Center Uthaisawan in the northeastern province of Nong Bua Lamphu, is one of nearly 20,000 early childhood development centers that are operated by local authorities across the country, according to Unicef, the United Nations children’s agency. According to Unicef, the centers are free and serve around 860,000 children aged 3-5 years.
According to Unicef, 84 percent of children of this age attended one of these centers in 2012 across the country, up from 60 per cent in 2005. The figure had risen to 86 percent by 2019.
Attendance is not mandatory and it varies from region to region. For example, in the northeast, attendance was 92 per cent in 2019. It was 71% in Bangkok, the capital.
Napat Phisanbut, an early childhood development specialist at Unicef’s Thailand office, said that the high rate in the northeast may be linked to another statistic: The same area also has the highest rate of children living separately from their parents, many of whom migrate to work in cities.
“The children live with their grandparents,” she said. “So E.C.D. centers can help take care of these young children, and provide the appropriate development that they need.”
Kyungsun Kim (Unicef representative for Thailand) condemned the attack in a statement issued on Thursday night.
“Early childhood development centers, schools and all learning spaces must be safe havens for young children to learn, play and grow during their most critical years,” she said.
