Report Thai Schools Struggle with New Literacy-Based Curriculum Shake-Up

[webfact]

Picture courtesy of Thai PBS

 

Thailand's Education Ministry is stirring the educational pot with the introduction of a new literacy-based curriculum across 4,400 state schools. Debuting this upcoming semester, the policy has ruffled some feathers as educators and experts voice concerns about the abrupt curriculum change.

 

Lecturer Athapol Anunthavorasakul from Chulalongkorn University has highlighted that teachers only learned of this major shift a couple of months ago, sparking confusion and frustration among the academic community.

 

The revamped curriculum will debut at the preschool and Prathom 1-3 levels, focusing on reading, writing, and maths skills as part of a lifelong learning strategy.

 

The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) claims the new courses are thoroughly researched and devised in consideration of the Thai context, supported by online resources and AI tools for teachers.

 

Despite these assurances, some educators feel overwhelmed by the short notice and additional training required to implement the new system.

 

Under the new plan, traditional GPA evaluations are replaced with skill-level assessments, categorised as beginner, developing, proficient, and expert. This significant shift away from core subject focus to skill-based learning is viewed as a bold step to lift the nation's educational standards.

 

However, many teachers are apprehensive, fearing an increased workload and complications in handling multiple teaching curriculums, particularly amidst transitioning students between old and new curriculum frameworks.

 

Critics, like Athapol, argue the rollout is premature, likening it to a "hot potato" scenario where schools are left to adjust with minimal support. Educators also question why the Competency-Based Curriculum, already being trialled in some regions, was not chosen instead.

 

Obec's Secretary-General, Thanu Wongchinda, remains optimistic, hoping the new educational approach will prepare Thai children for future challenges.

 

If successful, the new framework could extend to senior primary and secondary school levels. Despite the challenges, Obec pledges smooth transitions for students switching between different curricular systems.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Thai PBS 2025-05-13

 

 

[DrPhibes]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Picture courtesy of Thai PBS

 

Thailand's Education Ministry is stirring the educational pot with the introduction of a new literacy-based curriculum across 4,400 state schools. Debuting this upcoming semester, the policy has ruffled some feathers as educators and experts voice concerns about the abrupt curriculum change.

 

Lecturer Athapol Anunthavorasakul from Chulalongkorn University has highlighted that teachers only learned of this major shift a couple of months ago, sparking confusion and frustration among the academic community.

 

The revamped curriculum will debut at the preschool and Prathom 1-3 levels, focusing on reading, writing, and maths skills as part of a lifelong learning strategy.

 

The Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) claims the new courses are thoroughly researched and devised in consideration of the Thai context, supported by online resources and AI tools for teachers.

 

Despite these assurances, some educators feel overwhelmed by the short notice and additional training required to implement the new system.

 

Under the new plan, traditional GPA evaluations are replaced with skill-level assessments, categorised as beginner, developing, proficient, and expert. This significant shift away from core subject focus to skill-based learning is viewed as a bold step to lift the nation's educational standards.

 

However, many teachers are apprehensive, fearing an increased workload and complications in handling multiple teaching curriculums, particularly amidst transitioning students between old and new curriculum frameworks.

 

Critics, like Athapol, argue the rollout is premature, likening it to a "hot potato" scenario where schools are left to adjust with minimal support. Educators also question why the Competency-Based Curriculum, already being trialled in some regions, was not chosen instead.

 

Obec's Secretary-General, Thanu Wongchinda, remains optimistic, hoping the new educational approach will prepare Thai children for future challenges.

 

If successful, the new framework could extend to senior primary and secondary school levels. Despite the challenges, Obec pledges smooth transitions for students switching between different curricular systems.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Thai PBS 2025-05-13

 

 

"Under the new plan, traditional GPA evaluations are replaced with skill-level assessments, categorised as beginner, developing, proficient, and expert."  Love it, my wife was going on to be a teacher before she met me, had her college degree and everything.  She looks at teachers now and says they act like HiSoc's.  

[SAFETY FIRST]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

teachers are apprehensive, fearing an increased workload

I bet they are, most of them go to school for the free food and to socialise. 

[Pouatchee]

only one way to do  it and that is cold turkey. delaying means it will never be implemented. only problem is, who rewrote the curriculum? I doubt these people were competent...

[Quentin Zen]

Seeing lots and lots of "teachers" hired without degrees and some leaving after only a day or week.......well, this system is broken.  Non-native speakers getting jealous, Thai teachers enforcing crazy rules to de-motivate the farang who gets about $1000 a month in a world where T-shirts are now selling for over $500.  Good luck.  

[2long]

Kids in P1-P3 are still very young. They all develop at different speeds and in different directions.

School for kids this age should be for socialising, learning their place in peer groups, learning to follow some fair rules, learning that they're not the centre of the universe, and a wee bit of academic subjects, but mostly practical stuff.

[BangkokReady]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Under the new plan, traditional GPA evaluations are replaced with skill-level assessments, categorised as beginner, developing, proficient, and expert. This significant shift away from core subject focus to skill-based learning is viewed as a bold step to lift the nation's educational standards.

 

However, many teachers are apprehensive, fearing an increased workload and complications in handling multiple teaching curriculums, particularly amidst transitioning students between old and new curriculum frameworks.

 

Sounds like it's going to become harder to fudge the numbers and they might have to do real teaching.

[KireB]

5 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I bet they are, most of them go to school for the free food and to socialise. 

I guess you never went to school.

[KireB]

2 hours ago, Quentin Zen said:

Seeing lots and lots of "teachers" hired without degrees and some leaving after only a day or week.......well, this system is broken.  Non-native speakers getting jealous, Thai teachers enforcing crazy rules to de-motivate the farang who gets about $1000 a month in a world where T-shirts are now selling for over $500.  Good luck.  

My t-shirts cost around 800 baht,

[Emdog]

"...focusing on reading, writing, and maths skills..." AKA "the 3 R's" What were they teaching before, or maybe were they teaching before? Vital skills like never asking questions (those students seen as "trouble makers". Seriously. How to assemble and stand in formation for no good reason (future police officers?). Learning that competency has no relationship to life outcomes (It's who you know, not what you know)

This radical view that students might learn something useful is bound to upset apple cart of Thai culture

[connda]

Presenting mind-numbing rote-learning in a new and improved package guaranteed to confuse teacher and students alike. 

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

The revamped curriculum will debut at the preschool and Prathom 1-3 levels, focusing on reading, writing, and maths skills as part of a lifelong learning strategy

That's novel, some real education instead of playtime and sleeping.

[digger70]

9 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I bet they are, most of them go to school for the free food and to socialise. 

Some of them are only Wannabe teachers for a start.🙏

[jcmj]

They need to also add more English classes when they are this age as they are like a sponge. Maybe then they will be able to communicate better in English rather than just know the structure of a sentence. Unfortunately the teachers will not like this because most of them can barely get by speaking English. Sad for the children. 

[TigerandDog]

Not a bad idea, and long overdue. However, like all things Thai when it comes to planning & implementing, who is going to teach the teachers first, because most teachers would fail this new literacy based curriculum.

[Surasak]

4 hours ago, KireB said:

My t-shirts cost around 800 baht,

Someone sees you coming!  Mine are only 450 Baht and that is for triple XL.

[kingstonkid]

8 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

only one way to do  it and that is cold turkey. delaying means it will never be implemented. only problem is, who rewrote the curriculum? I doubt these people were competent...

 

The challenge is going to be how many teachers know the subject and have the literacy in Tai and math lol

 

They should give an english literacy test to Thai teachers who are supposed teaching English

[Cabradelmar]

the failure of thai edu sys falls squarely on teachers and their methods (and the inability to use modern textbooks and curriculum)... heaven forbid they actual get asked to do real work. of course none of this matters if they continue with the "no fail" policy. 

[Snackbar]

TIT not the rotten West.

 

This is social democracy, Monarchy, family and religion.

[kingstonkid]

19 minutes ago, Cabradelmar said:

the failure of thai edu sys falls squarely on teachers and their methods (and the inability to use modern textbooks and curriculum)... heaven forbid they actual get asked to do real work. of course none of this matters if they continue with the "no fail" policy. 

 

The failure is not so much in the young 20-30 age teachers as it is in the system and what the teachers are taught and their training once they get to the schools.

 

The idea that they are starting this system in the anuban to P3 is good in that they are usually young, new teachers.

 

All the best to them and I also like the idea that it is skill-based.  I just hope that there is an overseeing group that is going to test the validity of scores from the schools 

 

If the government schools can get a grip on this it will be a great help.

[trainman34014]

''Sparking Confusion and Frustration among the Academic Community''       Doesn't take much to do that; just take away one of their many Sweet Water Drink runs every day and watch them collapse !

 

 

[scorecard]

11 hours ago, DrPhibes said:

"Under the new plan, traditional GPA evaluations are replaced with skill-level assessments, categorised as beginner, developing, proficient, and expert."  Love it, my wife was going on to be a teacher before she met me, had her college degree and everything.  She looks at teachers now and says they act like HiSoc's.  

Well the experience of my family id that teachers have little to zero focus on skills development.

 

Kids learning math from other kids appears to be very common and I'm aware of many math teachers who can explain 'teach' the textbook basics of various math items but they can't explain it / can't answer questions from kids who are obviously lost.

 

They remain lost, and skill development doesn't happen. 

[wensiensheng]

“The revamped curriculum will debut at the preschool and Prathom 1-3 levels, focusing on reading, writing, and maths skills as part of a lifelong learning strategy.”

 

NOW they are going to focus on reading, writing and maths? What were they doing before? Teaching superstitious nonsense and ridiculously outdated notions of Thailand ruling the world? Surely not?

[Dogmatix]

1 hour ago, Cabradelmar said:

the failure of thai edu sys falls squarely on teachers and their methods (and the inability to use modern textbooks and curriculum)... heaven forbid they actual get asked to do real work. of course none of this matters if they continue with the "no fail" policy. 

 

More to blame is the corrupt, centralised education ministry.  Local autonomy and accountability would work wonders.  Get rid of the fat cats in Bangkok dictating to folk in the provinces.  The ministry has  the largest budget of all the ministries but achieves pitiful results compared to neighbouring countries

 

[GreasyFingers]

39 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

 

More to blame is the corrupt, centralised education ministry.  Local autonomy and accountability would work wonders.  Get rid of the fat cats in Bangkok dictating to folk in the provinces.  The ministry has  the largest budget of all the ministries but achieves pitiful results compared to neighbouring countries

 

You forgot to mention that the newbies have to pay to get a teaching position.

[JJ-Thailand]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

focusing on reading, writing, and maths skills as part of a lifelong learning strategy.

 

Finally, only English is missing.

[SABloke]

On 5/13/2025 at 4:28 AM, webfact said:

thoroughly researched and devised in consideration of the Thai context

 

Ah, yes, because maths is different in "the Thai context" 🤔

[JAG]

20 hours ago, KireB said:

My t-shirts cost around 800 baht,

Does the shop have big windows, so they can see you coming a long way off?

[Barnet1900]

23 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

Sounds like it's going to become harder to fudge the numbers and they might have to do real teaching.

Thought the same.

 

My money's on it all dribbling away with the other progressive plans. The "traditional" members of society will never allow their crappy system to be challenged.

 

Back to whacking kids, falsified grades and one of the worst educational upbringings in the world. The hub of....