Srettha Pledges Education System Overhaul

[webfact]

    
BANGKOK (NNT) - Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has held past governments accountable for the nation’s poor performance in recent international educational assessments, as reflected in the latest OECD PISA test results. His newly formed government, in office for three months, is committed to revamping the Thai education system.

 

The downturn in Thai students’ scores, hitting a 20-year low, is part of a broader trend seen in several countries. Srettha stressed the need for systemic changes in education, particularly to reintegrate students displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic and to secure support from corporations.

 

Siripong Angkasakulkiat, vice minister of education, pointed out the pandemic’s influence on student learning, mainly due to the constraints of online education. He observed a significant disparity in performance between students in provincial schools and those in specialized science schools, indicating a need to adopt successful teaching methods across the country.

 

Education scholar Prof Sompong Jitradab urged immediate action in reforming education, especially in critical subjects such as English, mathematics, and science. He criticized the current curriculum’s focus and called for improvements in provincial schools to prevent student dropout due to issues like drug use and other illegal activities.

 

by Krajangwit Johjit

 

Source: NNT 2023-12-11

 

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[nausea]

If wishes were fishes we'd all cast nets.

[2baht]

58 minutes ago, nausea said:

If wishes were fishes we'd all cast nets.

If BS was music, he'd be a symphony orchestra!!!  Students have been systematically dumbed down for generations!

[2baht]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

He criticized the current curriculum’s focus and called for improvements in provincial schools to prevent student dropout due to issues like drug use and other illegal activities.

Where are the role models??? The country's leaders??? 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by 2baht

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has held past governments accountable for the nation’s poor performance in recent international educational assessments, as reflected in the latest OECD PISA test results. His newly formed government, in office for three months, is committed to revamping the Thai education system

Change the whole curriculum, cut-out the indoctrination and check all staff accounts for corruption.

Then think about educating the teachers so they can educate the students.

[ikke1959]

stop with 40/50 students in a class, stop with all kind of activities as Wai Kru, marching, practicing for every event.,and more of all stop with all extra classes after school...Students have to go home and relax instead of studying after school and in the weekends

[spidermike007]

There is no limit to the insincerity that this man possesses. He comes from one of the most powerful families in Thailand, who have spent decades keeping the educational system poor, so that they can continue can continue to pay low wages, and now he wants to reform the system?

 

This is one of those "PR only proclamations", that will be forgotten in two weeks. 

[OneMoreFarang]

I don't remember where I read it. But it seems Thailand has a relative high education budget and spending over decades.

And it seems they always have politicians an officials which are unusually rich.

 

I don't think it is too difficult to figure out how to do better education - if that is what they really want. Competent teachers would be a good start.

But do they really want better educated people? I don't think so. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by OneMoreFarang

[daveAustin]

16 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

stop with 40/50 students in a class, stop with all kind of activities as Wai Kru, marching, practicing for every event.,and more of all stop with all extra classes after school...Students have to go home and relax instead of studying after school and in the weekends

Agree with all that. Unfortunately it’ll have to be done slowly. One of the biggies for the reason behind poor grades here is the kids get bored easily and classes need to be about fun; learning anything is secondary.  
 

But, yeah, Srettha is a complete numpty and certainly no role model. If they are serious about lifting education standards, start at the top. Successive Thai governments have been an utter joke. Bunch of kids. Alright, politicians in general are not the ideal benchmark, but…

[ChrisY1]

Another totally worthless rant again...or as usual. They refuse to change!

In fact, some units here are having to abolish some faculties due to no students....they're finding new students all want easy work after their studies. Mom and Dad don't care!

[2baht]

52 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Change the whole curriculum, cut-out the indoctrination and check all staff accounts for corruption.

Then think about educating the teachers so they can educate the students.

No, it just dosn't work that way, get with the program, hc! 

[2baht]

3 minutes ago, ChrisY1 said:

Another totally worthless rant again...or as usual. They refuse to change!

In fact, some units here are having to abolish some faculties due to no students....they're finding new students all want easy work after their studies. Mom and Dad don't care!

They are more than content to maintain the staus quo, a dumbed down majority is easy to exploit!

[Pouatchee]

as long as their is a no fail policy in place the thai education system is sure to reep what it sows. back home, if i failed, i would have to take the year over again. here, the teachers give the missing points to ensure the kids get at least 50%.

 

by now, the parents of the kids in the system today know that the kids cannot be failed because the very system that passed them is passing their kids.

moreover, seeing how schools here are run like a business, the "i want my child to be happy" is what rules the roost. somchai's feelings cannot be hurt by him failing. 

 

the kids dont want to earn their grades, for the most part, and the teachers are underpaid and have no other choice than pass the kids on to the next year

 

 

 

[kingstonkid]

12 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't remember where I read it. But it seems Thailand has a relative high education budget and spending over decades.

And it seems they always have politicians an officials which are unusually rich.

 

I don't think it is too difficult to figure out how to do better education - if that is what they really want. Competent teachers would be a good start.

But do they really want better educated people? I don't think 

There's so many issues you need to blow the whole thing up.  

 

Change the rules in one school.  Have tests that matter

Get rid of social pass.

Create a test that's mandatory for students to pass.  Give it to the teacher to see who is capable.

[OneMoreFarang]

4 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

There's so many issues you need to blow the whole thing up.  

 

Change the rules in one school.  Have tests that matter

Get rid of social pass.

Create a test that's mandatory for students to pass.  Give it to the teacher to see who is capable.

And don't let anybody pass who fails the tests.

Edit: And make sure people officially fail the test if they fail the test.

Edited December 11, 2023 by OneMoreFarang

[ezzra]

Could it be that this guy want to enter the annals of history as the one who made a different? good luck to you sir, but you're in the wrong country to attempt to do all those things...

[stoner]

how much school time is actually spent on learning here. i remember it was almost every single day school started late. as pointed out there are dozens of reasons why but the mirror needs to be turned in...

 

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The downturn in Thai students’ scores, hitting a 20-year low, is part of a broader trend seen in several countries.

 

shut up and take responsibility. not a thai trait i'm afraid. and back to square one. 

[FruitPudding]

7 minutes ago, stoner said:

how much school time is actually spent on learning here. i remember it was almost every single day school started late. as pointed out there are dozens of reasons why but the mirror needs to be turned in...

 

Too much.

 

7 periods (50 mins) a day. They literally couldn't fit any more study time in a day.

 

They should copy Finland and study less, but focus on quality, not quality. 

 

And for students to be high achievers here, they end up losing most of their free time in the evenings and weekends for extra tuition. The top students have no free time.

 

Too much quantity over quality during school hours.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by FruitPudding

[stoner]

Just now, FruitPudding said:

 

Too much.

 

7-8 periods (50 mins) a day. They literally couldn't fit any more study time in a day.

 

They should copy Finland and study less, but focus on quality, not quality. 

 

 

 

this comment is sarcasm right ? yes i absolutely agree they should focus on quality not quality. 

[FruitPudding]

3 minutes ago, stoner said:

 

this comment is sarcasm right ? yes i absolutely agree they should focus on quality not quality. 

 

Not at all.

 

How could they possibly study more in a day?

[stoner]

Just now, FruitPudding said:

 

Not at all.

 

How could they possibly study more in a day?

 

ok.

[DavisH]

28 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

as long as their is a no fail policy in place the thai education system is sure to reep what it sows. back home, if i failed, i would have to take the year over again. here, the teachers give the missing points to ensure the kids get at least 50%.

 

by now, the parents of the kids in the system today know that the kids cannot be failed because the very system that passed them is passing their kids.

moreover, seeing how schools here are run like a business, the "i want my child to be happy" is what rules the roost. somchai's feelings cannot be hurt by him failing. 

 

the kids dont want to earn their grades, for the most part, and the teachers are underpaid and have no other choice than pass the kids on to the next year

 

 

 

Everyone (Parents/Teachers/Employers...) knows what a 50% (or GPA 1 actually means). It means they failed and were bumped up to 50%. 

As a teacher it's not a huge issue for me. I focus more on the students who want to work and want to achieve - those will be the doctors, engineers, scientists, business people for society. The rest can make tiktok videos and live off their families income for all I care. They can still pay their way into a low spec university...and graduate. I've seen this already. The better students go to better universities who actually have high(er) entrance standards. 

 

As for the no fail poilcy...how many kids are just past through the system in other countries these days? It's only 'back in the day' one was 'promoted' from one grade to the next. Even in Thailand in my wife's era it was like this. Not anymore.

 

We've asked a few students to repeat the year and some did, while others left the school. So while schools can ask the to repeat, they don't have to. 

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Change the whole curriculum, cut-out the indoctrination and check all staff accounts for corruption.

Then think about educating the teachers so they can educate the students.

And include in the teacher education the ability to use and the compulsory use of student centered learning, a compulsory requirement for teachers to prompt kids to ask questions, etc. And reduce class size to a maximum of 30 students. 

 

And cancel the 'everybody passes' policy and ensure teachers know how to give grades and exam papers all have a student exam number ID and not the student's name. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by scorecard

[dinsdale]

59 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't remember where I read it. But it seems Thailand has a relative high education budget and spending over decades.

And it seems they always have politicians an officials which are unusually rich.

 

I don't think it is too difficult to figure out how to do better education - if that is what they really want. Competent teachers would be a good start.

But do they really want better educated people? I don't think so. 

Education budget has many pockets to fill.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125601/thailand-government-spending-education/

[mfd101]

34 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Education budget has many pockets to fill.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125601/thailand-government-spending-education/

Mmmm, an interesting trend line under the previous fascist regime ....

 

A 50-year project. Major cultural change required: feudal hierarchy, democracy/equality, appearances/'face', corruption ...

[Eric Loh]

Not in the education industry but I feel the the root cause of the failing education system is the down to the curriculum which has not change for the last 2 decades. The curriculum need an exhaustive overhaul to made education relevant to current times. Previous government under Prayut made an attempt to change the curriculum but was aborted due to his top down approach. Sreetha administration need to address the curriculum and engaged all stakeholders for their opinions. Education must be his top agenda period. 

[Gottfrid]

That´s what everyone says when they become PM.

[djayz]

Stop talking about it and get the job done! 

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Not in the education industry but I feel the the root cause of the failing education system is the down to the curriculum which has not change for the last 2 decades. The curriculum need an exhaustive overhaul to made education relevant to current times. Previous government under Prayut made an attempt to change the curriculum but was aborted due to his top down approach. Sreetha administration need to address the curriculum and engaged all stakeholders for their opinions. Education must be his top agenda period. 

And he should be aware that previous attempts to make serious changes (e.g. stop the rote learning pedagogy and install student centered learning as the main pedagogy), failed totally because the old / very old teachers put up brick walls and totally refused to make any changes. Why? Because it reduces respect for teachers!

 

If the new PM really wants to make serious fruitful changes to education he must demand change and if needed remove those who refuse to change. 

 

[Confuscious]

The educational system is in a change worldwide.
The old educational system with subjects like history, maths, language, science, etc. is making place for REAL skills like Marketing, Publishing and Economics.

Nobody is interested in History or maths anymore.
That can be done far better by AI and computers.
What counts is "How can I make a successful business"?
Even without business ethics.
We have entered a new and most of the things we had been learning is Stone Age now.
It is not a piece of paper (Grade or Diplome) which is going to pay your bread and rent at the end of the day.
It's finding a good niche (even a scam of FaceSohit or whatever social media and know how to maintain the money flow that pays your wealth.
The way we think about education is not relevant in this century.