Analysis New school year, same old story: Thailand’s education system ‘stuck in the past’

[webfact]

 

Students returned to school for the new academic year last week – but most found that little had changed in Thailand’s subpar education system.

 

“Thailand’s education is still stuck in the 2.0 era instead of stepping into the 5.0 era,” prominent educator Assoc Prof Dr Sompong Jitradub commented at the start of the 2024 academic year.

 

He said the country’s much-hyped educational reforms were mostly physical and focused on things like buildings, cleaner toilets, the hiring of school janitors and administrative staff, as well as higher pay for teachers.

 

But reforms tackling the essence of education have simply not materialized, he added.

 

That view is backed by the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), in which Thai children’s academic performance was the lowest since the country joined the program in the early 2000s.

 

Thai kids scored an average of less than 50% in all subjects assessed by PISA, which is run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

 

‘No progress’ under current government

 

Sompong said the current government has made no real progress since announcing its policy statement eight months ago.

 

There has neither been real educational reform nor a significant reduction of longstanding educational inequality, he said.

 

For decades, the performance of rural schools in Thailand has significantly lagged behind their urban counterparts.

“From what I’ve observed, the government has merely been repairing the current education system.

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2024-05-22

 

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[2baht]

6 minutes ago, webfact said:

No progress’ under current government

......or previous governments!!! Likely, nor future governments!!!

[ikke1959]

The policy is easy, don't educate the people properly as they start to think and see what is going on in the country. That will become a threat to the rich and wealthy , the army and the Government and they will loose their power and grip on the people...No the people have to stay ignorant and those who stand up are putting in jail to prevent that their example will be followed. Talking about updating education will keep the people calm, but it will never happen. Living in Thailand for a long time already I haven't seen nothing new in schools..Only less foreign teachers, as they are being seen to as a threat, because they have Western ideas and could influence the kids.

[brianthainess]

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

“Thailand’s education is still stuck in the 2.0 era instead of stepping into the 5.0

Sounds just like immigration init............

[brianthainess]

So my understanding is they went back to school on Monday, and today Wednesday, is a public holiday, so are the kids not at school again today ?  

[Galong]

I live very close to an elementary school.  Most of the time it sounds like a prison riot. At other times, there are events going on whereby the teachers or other adults are singing (very poorly) to the students over very loud speakers... like it's karaoke or something. 🤦‍♂️

When school lets out, the parking lot is full of vendors selling nothing but candy, ungodly sweet drinks, and junk food. 

Occasionally, the students are in class. Most often, you can hear them chanting rote rehearsal style. That's not the way forward. These poor kids haven't got a chance for a proper education and it's the adults in charge who have set it up like this. 

[BritManToo]

23 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

So my understanding is they went back to school on Monday, and today Wednesday, is a public holiday, so are the kids not at school again today ?  

My kids been at school for 2 weeks! Off today, off 1 day last week.

Edited May 22 by BritManToo

[brianthainess]

24 minutes ago, Galong said:

, ungodly sweet drinks, and junk food. 

My missus makes money from this, great init. Her shop is Just 2 doors away from the School, Chicken Nuggets and Chips, sweet drinks...

[happysoul]

We were living in the country side up North, son went up to P5 in the local school, daughter in P2, so 8 years for the boy and 5 for the girl (counting anuban too). They hardly learned anything, military education, don't ask questions, just learn by heart what the teacher says and NEVER contradict him/her. The teachers in rural places are still considered, as it was 50 years ago, as the knowledge (that they don't have) and considered just under the boss (puyaibaan or kamnan). There is a Thai writer that wrote a book about a young teacher coming to teach in some rural village in the 1970's - 80's (can't remember the name of either book or writer). Well, nothing has changed. And probably not the salaries too. You cannot get a good education system if you don't pay correctly the teachers AND educate them too. But all this needs founding and won't bring back money profits. So probably not a priority (and as said above, keep people ignorant so the gig can continue). My daughter had some hard times going to school (only 2 half Thai kids in the school probably didn't help) and it was a heartbreak to force her put on her uniform (wife and I had to hold her very strong to force it on).

 

We now moved and they go to a private school. Tution budget has gone through the roof (from almost zero to much more ;)) but they love it. Also over with the times we get notified of 1 month holiday the day before it starts, the multiple absence of teachers for "patchoum" (meetings or so called) and have finally educated teachers that know where is thailand on a world map. They now have to forget the teaching style they know, get to ask questions and participate in class. Hopefully they'll get some logic, analytic and critic mindset. For now thinking is not prohibited yet 😉

 

What's quite sad is that 80% of the population cannot afford that kind of education.

 

Today is a day off, daughter is sad as she wanted to go to school, things change 🙂

 

 

 

[HappyExpat57]

A school I worked at had a teachers' weekend "retreat" (it was actually just having us hand out pamphlets on the sidewalk for one of their new schools opening in the neighborhood). On Saturday night we were required to provide a teaching lesson. One particular lesson I actually liked was one on critical thinking.

 

The following Monday I tried applying that lesson in one of my classes. A supervisor walked by and shut me down quick, fast, and in a hurry.

[freeworld]

Seems the ambitious Assoc Professor has put forward some ideas which have not been taken up and so is a bit peeved.

[bamnutsak]

Functions as designed.

 

Beat discipline into students.

 

Teach prostration.

 

Haircuts.

 

Uniforms.

 

Bad food.

 

Rote learning.

 

Poor results.

 

 

The last thing the power-that-be wants is an educated populace.

 

 

 

 

[freeworld]

1 hour ago, Galong said:

That's not the way forward. These poor kids haven't got a chance for a proper education and it's the adults in charge who have set it up like this. 

Well, people are in employment in business, banking, govt and the military and are attending and graduating from colleges and universities.

 

So many when they apply  themselves must be receiving an education.

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s education is still stuck in the 2.0 era instead of stepping into the 5.0 era

Did this guy think they would take 3 step in 1 year? He better look at history. 1 step in 40 years 🙂 

[Chris Daley]

Yes it has been a total disaster.  Almost 2 months into the new semester (counting summer classes) and the rooms are unfinished.  37 students in one room.  Many students are in the wrong rooms.  They get taken out half way though a class then brought back again.  Students sitting on the floor because not enough desks.  4 girls sitting on two chairs.

 

Then they had the bright idea to move classes to finish at 5 pm.  This has added 2 hours on to my journey (it used to take 20 minutes for me to get home). 

 

The school that I work at has 4000 students.  There are 10 other school in the area.  Now they finish at 5 and the work traffic is mixed in.

 

Early start, early finish.  late start, late finish.  This is a better system because it staggers the traffic.  But now everyone is there for 8 for the flag and song.  And everyone leaves around 5.

 

As for the rooms.  They just knocked down entire walls and put them back again.  Took out the windows and replaced them again.  Nothing works in the classrooms.  Projectors have no power to them.  The ones that do are broken and they forgot the projector screen so no it is reflecting off a whiteboard.  Entire buildings not even finished.  So students are moved to the library.  But the original rooms were less then a year old.

 

The list goes on.  Definitely worse than last year.

[Peabody]

23 minutes ago, freeworld said:

Well, people are in employment in business, banking, govt and the military and are attending and graduating from colleges and universities.

 

So many when they apply  themselves must be receiving an education.

Private schools, plagiarized work, and fake degrees.

[dinsdale]

Nothing will ever happen as long as the 200+ billion baht budget gets syphoned off into pockets all the way down the line to directors and sub-directors. Of course there are other issues. Too many students per class, not enough teachers, complete lack of effective discipline, anachronistic cultural norms, lack of or complete absence of technology, teacher attitudes, student attitudes, way too much useless paperwork for teachers to do, too many stupid out of class activities etc, etc, etc.

Not a bad article and interestingly attributed to Thai PBS. I wonder if TheThaigerChatGPT/AN have had their hands slapped for direct, unattributed lifts from other sites?

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

The policy is easy, don't educate the people properly as they start to think and see what is going on in the country. That will become a threat to the rich and wealthy , the army and the Government and they will loose their power and grip on the people...No the people have to stay ignorant and those who stand up are putting in jail to prevent that their example will be followed. Talking about updating education will keep the people calm, but it will never happen. Living in Thailand for a long time already I haven't seen nothing new in schools..Only less foreign teachers, as they are being seen to as a threat, because they have Western ideas and could influence the kids.

and you apparently think education is better in western countries .

As usual one has to pay large to get good education and the kids I see ( if they even bother going to school, are a bunch of numpties that probably can't subtract 3 from 5. They are, however, really good at bullying on social media, looking at porn and taking days off to protest about things they don't understand like climate change.

 

[Chris Daley]

One girl was sitting under the desk and using her books to lean on.  Never seen that before.  Maybe one of the chief liaison executive head of officers could use their paycheck to buy some desks.

 

I swear you could loose 50 percent of the staff and no one would notice.

 

Making the school day end later has also added to accidents on the roads.  I saw two yesterday.  The day before someone drove up a lamppost and flipped their car.  20 minutes drive has become 2 hours.

Edited May 22 by Chris Daley

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

The policy is easy, don't educate the people properly as they start to think and see what is going on in the country. That will become a threat to the rich and wealthy , the army and the Government and they will loose their power and grip on the people...No the people have to stay ignorant and those who stand up are putting in jail to prevent that their example will be followed. Talking about updating education will keep the people calm, but it will never happen. Living in Thailand for a long time already I haven't seen nothing new in schools..Only less foreign teachers, as they are being seen to as a threat, because they have Western ideas and could influence the kids.

 

Oh my goodness! Such seditious thoughts.

 

As for keeping calm and in lieu of education, I much prefer lao-khao.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, HappyExpat57 said:

The following Monday I tried applying that lesson in one of my classes.

 

How were you doing that?

 

1 hour ago, HappyExpat57 said:

A supervisor walked by and shut me down quick, fast, and in a hurry.

 

How quickly was this assessment made?

[KhunLA]

Not sure stuck in the past is a bad thing now.  

[cjinchiangrai]

The teachers had limited education too.

 

The no fail to save face policy needs to change. At the same time, the curriculum needs to be expanded to offer context for their basic jobs training.

[mran66]

Education system is exactly as it is designed to be by those in power. About same as in 19th century Europe. 

[newbee2022]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Students returned to school for the new academic year last week – but most found that little had changed in Thailand’s subpar education system.

 

“Thailand’s education is still stuck in the 2.0 era instead of stepping into the 5.0 era,” prominent educator Assoc Prof Dr Sompong Jitradub commented at the start of the 2024 academic year.

 

He said the country’s much-hyped educational reforms were mostly physical and focused on things like buildings, cleaner toilets, the hiring of school janitors and administrative staff, as well as higher pay for teachers.

 

But reforms tackling the essence of education have simply not materialized, he added.

 

That view is backed by the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), in which Thai children’s academic performance was the lowest since the country joined the program in the early 2000s.

 

Thai kids scored an average of less than 50% in all subjects assessed by PISA, which is run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

 

‘No progress’ under current government

 

Sompong said the current government has made no real progress since announcing its policy statement eight months ago.

 

There has neither been real educational reform nor a significant reduction of longstanding educational inequality, he said.

 

For decades, the performance of rural schools in Thailand has significantly lagged behind their urban counterparts.

“From what I’ve observed, the government has merely been repairing the current education system.

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2024-05-22

 

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Everything runs perfect for Thailand's political Elite.

Keep the IQ as low as possible. No or low education. Keep them stupid, keep them uniformed, keep them playing with Facebook, TikTok, Line also.

I wonder when students go to the streets and demand better education? 🙏

[DPKANKAN]

2 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

Functions as designed.

 

Beat discipline into students.

 

Teach prostration.

 

Haircuts.

 

Uniforms.

 

Bad food.

 

Rote learning.

 

Poor results.

 

 

The last thing the power-that-be wants is an educated populace.

 

 

 

 

And don't forget, during exam tests as long as they spell their name right at the top of the page they have passed!!!! Hooray!!!😏😏😏😏

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

Functions as designed.

 

Beat discipline into students.

 

Teach prostration.

 

Haircuts.

 

Uniforms.

 

Bad food.

 

Rote learning.

 

Poor results.

 

 

The last thing the power-that-be wants is an educated populace.

 

 

 

 

You missed days and days of playing, football, volleyball, cricket.

When I went to school it was one afternoon a week.  

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Chris Daley said:

l swear you could loose 50 percent of the staff and no one would notice.

English teacher?

[Maitdjai]

1 hour ago, freeworld said:

Well, people are in employment in business, banking, govt and the military and are attending and graduating from colleges and universities.

 

So many when they apply  themselves must be receiving an education.

 

59 minutes ago, Peabody said:

Private schools, plagiarized work, and fake degrees.

Exactly. If Pop has enough money, he can even “buy” the entry to one of those many, so-called Universities. And, if it's necessary, even a 3rd class degree. This might open the door to an admin-, or behind the counter job, in a “5-star ghetto”, and other “tourism” business.
Or as a “supervising” photo-copy shoveler in a 7/11 branch.
Due to the lack of English, even at “University” level, a low paid government job (“ the best to rest”),
in a nice, and “respected” uniform is mostly preferred.
The rest can be happy, to get a job as an “unskilled” laborer, or maybe checkout girl/man, in 7/11-kind enterprise branches, for the minimum wage.
All other carriers, are basing on a decent, expensive education, or the individual's will to self-educate.
The System aims, and provides the needed all round education only in very small margins.
To change that, it needs a large part of the above-mentioned, 3rd class, “academic”, work-force to be replaced.
 

[Chongalulu]

"Nobody is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."

Assata Shakur