By Dowon Yi and Aarav Chaturvedi
You might wonder what Pass the Page is? Pass the Page is an initiative started by the authors, with the hope of helping children across South East Asia. How? Through the necessary knowledge and education that books can provide. At more economically advantaged international schools like the Canadian International School, we often don’t appreciate the agency and empowerment that can be provided by books. Therefore, we at Pass the Page aim to take used and unwanted (but gently used) textbooks and storybooks from CIS, our school, and deliver them to children who need it across South East Asia, as far as we can – under the umbrella of our school excursions, our own initiative, and the help of our ever-loyal volunteers.
5 May 2025 – In February 2025, Pass the Page delivered its first donation of over 75 books to a rural village school in Chiang Mai, Thailand! With the help of Canadian International School Singapore, Pass the Page delivered much-needed literacy supplies to primary students, helping fill the literacy gap for over 40 children at the village school.Â
Chiang Mai is a picturesque town in northern Thailand, with beautiful mountain scenery and wildlife. However, it faces serious gaps in literacy and reading engagement. Only 36% of primary school children in Chiang Mai have access to three or more books at school, according to UNICEF Data. In rural communities, this figure drops to 19%. Limited access is understandable considering 2.8 million Thai children live in “extremely poor” households, according to a 2019 World Bank report. Therefore, not only are books scarce in the region, they are viewed as of secondary importance in children’s growth.
Pass the Page decided to help in a small way. We collected almost 100 gently used and unwanted text and storybooks with the help of the teaching department and Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) at the Canadian International School Singapore. Then, with the help of our hardworking volunteers, we delivered the books by flight to Chiang Mai. When we reached the school, almost 40 children and their teachers came to receive the books. The smiles on their faces made the initiative worth the effort that all parties involved put in.Â
By completing this initiative, we hope we have made a small step in improving accessibility to reading resources for the children we met. Beyond this, we hope we have sparked a joy for reading within them – providing them with resources that could change their life.
However, this is only the first step in a long process. Literacy gaps continue to be a large problem not only in Thailand but across the wider South East Asian region. With future policy changes and hands-on intervention, we hope Pass the Page can play a part in improving literacy engagement for everyone!
At the Canadian International School (CIS), service learning is a crucial part of our life. Initiatives like Pass the Page reflect the larger culture of community engagement at CIS. From global citizenship projects to environmental sustainability campaigns, CIS offers its students countless opportunities to serve communities both locally and internationally. These projects not only empower us to make a tangible difference but also help us develop as global citizens. Pass the Page is just one example of how CIS nurtures socially conscious students who use their skills and resources to bring about positive change in society.To connect our volunteer with Pass the Page, view their website at: https://passthepagecis.wixstudio.com/booksforgood