Having a great deal of passion for the teaching profession since secondary school, Mr Jirat Jamsawang set his goal to become a teacher after graduation. He has been in the teaching profession for 36 years, 28 at Suankularb Wittayalai Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi Province where he works as an expert level teacher in Career and Technology.

He is a teacher with a broad vision who has pioneered the ICT curriculum since 1985 to expand students’ horizons and help them access the vast knowledge outside textbooks. He introduced robotics technology, whichwill play an important role in the future, in his curriculum. This has enabled students to develop innovations that have won both national and international competitions.

Mr. Jirat was initially trained as a physical education teacher. The transition from teaching physical education to ICT was the result of a study visit to Japan 32 years ago. Observing the widespread use of ICT in everyday life, even by farmers, he was inspired to incorporate ICT into education in Thailand. He turned towards the continuous development of ICT knowledge to open the world of learning to students.

Within the ICT arena, he has developed instructional media and a learning process called “Digital Lessons,” which utilize the internet research. He also created Cyber Lecture software to record images from the computer screen as learning multimedia. Moreover, he developed a Peer Coaching Program for teachers to organize learning activities in class. He also served as a trainer for in-service teachers, as well as planner for school utility management, utilizing solar cells to cut down the school’s energy use by half.

Mr. Jirat is a giver of opportunities who loves and cares for his students. He has turned the attention of students at risk of dropping out towards learning by employing robotics technology to help them practice learning, discipline, patience, and teamwork. He is a devoted teacher who constantly spends his time and personal resources to support students activities off-hours.

“What enabled me to be a teacher until this day was the King Bhumibol’s Scholarship, which was a scholarship without any bond requirements nor obligations. Yet it is the scholarship that inspires the recipients to realize the merit and kindness of our nation. One must repay such kindness unendingly. Therefore, I vowed to be a good teacher and a diligent teacher in learning more to bring new knowledge to support and improve student development in all aspects until my energy runs out.”