Citibank IT Classroom Official Opening Ceremony

Bangkok--Nov 18--Aziam Burson-Marsteller H.R.H. Princess Soamsawali Graciously Presides Over The Official Opening Ceremony Of The First Citibank IT Classroom At Yannawate Wittayakom School Bangkok- Friday 15 November 2002 - Citibank Thailand, in collaboration with the National Council on Social Welfare of Thailand (NCSWT) under Royal Patronage, the United Way International and the General Education Department of the Ministry of Education, today officially held the opening ceremony of the Citibank IT Classroom at Yannawate Wittayakom School, which is the first project of its kind in Thailand. On this auspicious occasion, Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali graciously presided over the opening ceremony and visited the academic exhibitions prepared by the students. Mr. B.T. Lau, Country Business Manager for Consumer Banking, Citibank N.A. said, "Citibank Thailand and all of the involved institutions would like to extend our deep and sincere appreciation to H.R.H. Princess Soamsawali for her kindness to be the chairperson of the official opening ceremony for the Citibank IT Classroom" The Citibank IT Classroom concept is based on Citibank's strong commitment to supporting educational activities, which is in line with its goal of fostering long term self-sustaining education according to the slogan "Banking on Education". Citibank initiated the Citibank IT Classroom project in Thailand in September 2001 with 5,523,587 Baht provided by Citigroup Foundation as well as co-operation from the United Way and NCSWT. The concept of the program - "The Modern World of IT Education for Thai Students" is a reflection of Citibank, N.A.'s determination to promote IT educational initiatives for Thai teachers and students. The contribution of advanced technologies and infrastructure to the schools will allow teachers to develop innovative school curricula and demonstrate how to apply IT to other subjects. The Citibank IT Classroom will also act as a means of delivering education on IT to parents, communities and the public. Citibank IT Classroom, with a functional area of 180 square meters, is fully equipped with 52 state-of-the-art PCs, scalable computer stations, printers and servers. The various hardware is integrated into a specially designed infrastructure including a Local Access Network for Internet use, reliable electricity supplies, air-conditioning systems as well as a LCD projector. The details of the classroom's configuration are: Hardware : - 52 robust Compaq DeskPro Evo D380M P4 personal computers, each of which is equipped with 1.7 GHz Pentium 4 microprocessor, 40GB hard disk and 52X CD ROM as standard. To ensure optimum learning, a Local Area Network is provided together with Internet access via the Ministry of Education's integrated information network. Software: - Microsoft Windows Advance Server 2000 for the server; - Microsoft Windows 98 Thai, 52 licenses; - standard application software and Microsoft Office XP Thai, 52 licenses for the PCs; - McAfee Total Virus Defense Suite is also installed on all units to provide virus protection. Professor Prapasna Auychai, President of the National Council on Social Welfare of Thailand said, "Today, technology plays an important role as a driving mechanism encouraging the growth of the country. It also enables us to rapidly keep up with the pace of a changing world. The support of IT education for Thai students will build a strong foundation for the bright future of the country. However, developing IT education requires a high investment, which is a big obstacle to the curriculum development efforts in many schools. We have participated in the Citibank IT Classroom Program initiated by Citibank by serving to align the resources of the donor with the needs of the receiver through our nationwide network. As a charitable organization, we hope that the Citibank IT Classroom will be a pilot IT project that ensures a higher quality of life for youngsters. We also anticipate the program can be extended to other schools in the future." Manop Nopsirikul, Director of the Yannawate Wittayakom School said, "The Citibank IT Classroom can enhance our teaching capabilities. Our teachers have designed IT-aided courses in diverse subjects. These include web-based math lessons on "integers, fractions, decimals and calculations", designed by the Mathematics Department, a website on "Wat Pho" developed by the Thai Language Department, websites on "Thai Desserts" and "Passive Voice" developed by the English Language Department as well as the "Paperless Project" initiated by and involving teachers from several subjects. "We are running a supplementary computer class for students on Saturdays and a community computer program. The school faculty and staff have been developed in response to the school policy on the development of teaching and learning technologies. Recently, the school has developed online lessons and a computer training program for teachers. On behalf of the school's faculty and students, we are very grateful to NCSWT and for Citibank's contribution to the Citibank IT Classroom," added Khun Manop. In the 2002 academic year, the Yannawate Wittayakom School has launched diverse computer-aided courses for all levels of students together with non-formal computer education for students, teachers, parents and the public. Student courses include Macromedia Dreamweaver-aided web page design and web graphics & PhotoShop. Community programs are Microsoft Word, Internet and e-mail. For more information, please contact www.yn.ac.th or Tel: 0-2211-3518, 0-2211-0942 and 0-2672-6026. For more information, please contact: Aziam Burson Marsteller Citibank, N.A. Thailand Porntip Lertvechakul/ Corporate Affair Department Satida Sritunyathon Cleopatra Chittalarn Tel: 0 2252 9871 Tel: 0 2232 2904 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] End. -NM-

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