Chapter 5 page 24 back chapter 1 back chapter 2 back chapter 3 back chapter 4	........Because the printing press was undeveloped, most books were handwritten and texts were inscribed on plam leaves or Samud Koi. They were well kept in the Dhama box at the cloister. In those days, Education depended much on copying and reciting. ........As there was no notebook or paper available as nowadays, the youngster used a slate with a stone pencil or a white pencil made from kaolin. This was economical, since the pupil could write, erase, and rewrite on the same slate. It obliged him to memorize the erased texts. Moreover, the slate was perdurable; it could be used from the eldest to the youngest of the family. ........To instruct the children, sticks of incense, easily obtainable in the temple, were required. The monk would have the child hold the stick and point to each letter or word he was reading aloud. This was because the monk was well aware that a smart child sometimes could effortlessly recite the whole page without understanding a single word of it.
	Schooling in the Hall ........Occasionally, when tete-a-tete tuition became impossible because of a large number of children, the monk would use the temple hall as a classroom. Children sat in a circle around the instructor, noisily practicing their reading and writing. Now that the instructor himself was Buddhist monk, the subjects of teaching were automatically about parables and allegories. Sometimes the children had the opportunity to study Pali or Behar (Thai=Makoth) from the monk. Some children might later enter monkhood, study, and become very knowledgeable. By the time they went back to the world, they were already well-educated and was able to serve the country.	Chapter 5 page 24 back chapter 1 back chapter 2 back chapter 3 back chapter 4
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