Thai authorities want to expand the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program nationwide by next year.
Col. Jirasak Meesattham, deputy commander of the general staff division at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, told a D.A.R.E. meeting in Pattaya that the bureau wants to recruit 3,276 more trainers to cover every sixth-grade class in the country by the end of 2015.
Officers would come from Provincial Police regions 1-9, the Southern Border Province Bureau and the Border Patrol Police. The bureau is also discussing the allowance for D.A.R.E teachers and expenses for teaching materials.
Col. Jirasak Meesattham, deputy commander of the general staff division at the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, tells a D.A.R.E. meeting in Pattaya that the bureau wants to recruit 3,276 more trainers by the end of 2015.
The 2014 budget has enabled the bureau to train 1,457 more D.A.R.E teachers, increasing the number to 6,198 nationwide.
D.A.R.E., founded in 1983 in the United States, came to Thailand in 1999 and works to give kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence.
To prepare for teaching the D.A.R.E. program in schools, police officers undergo 80 hours of training in areas such as child development, classroom management, teaching techniques, and communication skills. Another 40 hours of additional training are provided to D.A.R.E. instructors to prepare them to teach the high school curriculum.
Lessons aim to give children the skills needed to recognize and resist the subtle and overt pressures that cause them to experiment with drugs or become involved in gangs or violent activities.
