Abhisit Vows To Eliminate Illiteracy Among Thai Children By 2012

[george]

PM vows to eliminate illiteracy among Thai children by 2012

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday that his government would eliminate illiteracy among Thai children by 2012.

Abhisit said his government would make literacy as a national agenda because the National Statistics Bureau had found that Thailand has very low literacy rate.

-- The Nation 2009-09-07

[Chang_paarp]

A fine and noble goal. I wish him luck.

I suspect he will as successful as the folk getting rid of the touts from the airport.

[animatic]

Any improvement is a step forward. Chokdee.

[madmitch]

A bit more realistic than making Thailand a hub of education.

But why do they like to set these target dates?

[LawnGnome]

A bit more realistic than making Thailand a hub of education.

But why do they like to set these target dates?

Because 2012 is the date for the next 4 year term in office? Just guessing.

[KevinBloodyWilson]

I suspect he would get a lot more credibility if he had some kind of a plan and not just sound-bites. But of course he doesn't have a plan, Thais never do. They are experts in winging it and the ubiquitous sound-bite.

The other thing he is doing is a rather clumsy attempt at suggestion. In this case, the suggestion that he will still be there in 2012 will be unconsciously received by many people, and the suggestion will certainly influence the thinking and assumptions of some.

Not enough to save his ass I suspect. There seems to be a gathering momentum for change in Thailand, judging by the content of the newspapers and editorials in recent months and I suspect Thailand is already past the tipping point. It is long overdue and I think it is may just be awaiting a trigger event of some kind.

Edited September 7, 2009 by KevinBloodyWilson

[Thai at Heart]

Seems he won't have far to go then. What a great soundbite.

http://www.searo.who.int/EN/Section313/Section1525_10862.htm

2.3 Social trends

The adult literacy rate among Thailand population too has gone up from 78.6 in 1970 to 95 percent in 1997. The trend, however, reversed after the economic crises, as the literacy rate went down to 93.1 in 2000. It is estimated that literate population of 15 years and above will reach to 97 percent in the year 2010 (Thailand Health Profile 1999-2000)

In the year 2000, the government has taken effective measures to support and promote the country’s education, both within the school system as well as off campus education to cover all segments of society in each region. As a result of these efforts education has improved. It can be seen that the average number of schooling years of general Thai population of ages 15 and above, which was 6.8 in 1997 increased to 7.8 in 2003; and also the proportion of in-school students within the population of ages 3 to 21, which was 65.1 percent in 1997 rose to 74.9 percent in 2003.

[TAWP]

Would probably help if they over-hauled the language a bit.

Spending so much time of the schooldays to learn their own language over so many years should be a sign that something isn't right.

[hammered]

Seems he won't have far to go then. What a great soundbite.

http://www.searo.who.int/EN/Section313/Section1525_10862.htm

2.3 Social trends

The adult literacy rate among Thailand population too has gone up from 78.6 in 1970 to 95 percent in 1997. The trend, however, reversed after the economic crises, as the literacy rate went down to 93.1 in 2000. It is estimated that literate population of 15 years and above will reach to 97 percent in the year 2010 (Thailand Health Profile 1999-2000)

In the year 2000, the government has taken effective measures to support and promote the country’s education, both within the school system as well as off campus education to cover all segments of society in each region. As a result of these efforts education has improved. It can be seen that the average number of schooling years of general Thai population of ages 15 and above, which was 6.8 in 1997 increased to 7.8 in 2003; and also the proportion of in-school students within the population of ages 3 to 21, which was 65.1 percent in 1997 rose to 74.9 percent in 2003.

Indeed it should be very achievable or at least 99% (as per USA). In the upcountyr areas I go all the illiterate are over 40 and mostly well well over that and all the kids can read and write. As the illiterate pass away and the kids beocme 15 and enter the stats it should be alomost fait accomplii as long as they keep kids going to school and the government policy on education is just about the most popular thing they have done.

[G54]

Pie in the sky statement. He will never do it. Even Western countries cannot manage that, so how he expects to do so is beyond me.

[007]

PM vows to eliminate illiteracy among Thai children by 2012

Good luck. My g/f has a daughter, who dropped out of school recently, together with more than 50% of her grade 10 classmates. Many of these kids hardly can read or write their own language (Thai). Seems, that the Thai teachers at her school, esp. her former classroom teacher are not only incompetent, but also charge the students for things that are supposed to be free, e.g. textbooks, school uniforms, etc. Rather than providing these things for free, as they are supposed to, they arrange non-sensical, but expensive trips from Issan to the coast, and pocket money from students, which were supposed to be given to the students for free. Well, I guess someone has to finance the Thai teachers' new BMW and Benz cars.

[webfact]

There will always remain a percentage of illiterate people. Even in the so called "western world" despite high-standard eduction systems. (depending on a country)

I am not doing nitpicking and rely too much on the date 2012 as the date every Thai is able to write or read Thai.

Abhisit is going in the right direction and I trust by this date we will have less illiteracy amongst Thais than these days.

[hammered]

Pie in the sky statement. He will never do it. Even Western countries cannot manage that, so how he expects to do so is beyond me.

The US manages 99%. Nobody is saying 100% is totally achievable. There are always going to be exceptions. At least it is a statemen tthat is almost totally achievable unlike most idiotic statements that policians make about ridding us of terror, drugs etc etc

Literacy is basically the ability to read and write and understand simple sentences and the ability to communicate in a language. It isnt about writing poetry or being able to read a treatise. It is easily achievable if students stay in school to M3 (grade 9). There are even lots of kids who left school around P6 (grade 6) who are literate.

[Thailand]

Admirable and not a snowballs chance in hel_l of achieving it, certainly not in that timescale- more Thai huff & puff.

Edited September 7, 2009 by Thailand

[animatic]

They also have budgeted 45 billion towards education.

Computers, libraries etc. Regardless of how much gets syphoned off,

by schools management there will be some gains seen.

Now if that education was more towards actual learning, and not obedient citizen building,

and then learning fobbed off via after school tutoring, then we might get somewhere.

Now if there was some sort of VIABLE testing system to SHOW gains,

rather than it be swept under the carpet so face isn't lost....

[faranginbkk]

It is not enough to eradicate illiteracy among children. You also have to eradicate illiteracy among adults. This is especially important since a literate adult is more likely to support the education of his/her offspring. And, the adult has a right to literacy himself/herself.

Also, basic literacy (able to read, write, calculate) is not enough. Functional literacy is needed where individuals (children and adults) learn skills so as to function adequately in the society.

[johnnort]

Another great idea ruined by the fact that the National Statistics Bureau has just found out about Thailands literacy!!!!!

Although hoping otherwise, it will fail at the starting blocks. Come on The Government prove me wrong. The Thais need this one.

[hammered]

It is not enough to eradicate illiteracy among children. You also have to eradicate illiteracy among adults. This is especially important since a literate adult is more likely to support the education of his/her offspring. And, the adult has a right to literacy himself/herself.

Also, basic literacy (able to read, write, calculate) is not enough. Functional literacy is needed where individuals (children and adults) learn skills so as to function adequately in the society.

Having spent quite a bit of time talking to illiterate farmers about life, I can assure you that they agree without exception on one thing. They want their kids to have a better life than them. To them that means making sure their kids get an education. Basic literacy is by dint of death going to be pretty much universal in the next few years.

Taking a UNESCO defintion of functional literacy I doubt that is too far away either although I do think there will for a while be a group of aging lowly educated poor people who will be overlooked in educational terms but remain in statistics. There is work to be done in non-formal areas of Thai education. Another aspect is the desire or will to perform on a functional level within group or community which may not be due to ability as other social factors.

all imho

[tonbridgebrit]

I suspect he would get a lot more credibility if he had some kind of a plan and not just sound-bites. But of course he doesn't have a plan, Thais never do. They are experts in winging it and the ubiquitous sound-bite.

The other thing he is doing is a rather clumsy attempt at suggestion. In this case, the suggestion that he will still be there in 2012 will be unconsciously received by many people, and the suggestion will certainly influence the thinking and assumptions of some.

Not enough to save his ass I suspect. There seems to be a gathering momentum for change in Thailand, judging by the content of the newspapers and editorials in recent months and I suspect Thailand is already past the tipping point. It is long overdue and I think it is may just be awaiting a trigger event of some kind.

I agree with this post !!!

[LawnGnome]

Would probably help if they over-hauled the language a bit.

Spending so much time of the schooldays to learn their own language over so many years should be a sign that something isn't right.

Yes, that is brilliant. We'll tell the entire country that their language is to difficult and they have to change it. Coming from a native english (itself a tremendously difficult language taking countless years to master, if ever) speaker, that is positively breathtaking...

[Scott]

The problem is all the children that don't go to school for one reason or another--things like not being Thai (they supposedly can, but often in reality can't). All the children of transients who don't go to school as well. The cracks in the system are fairly big.

Not far from where I live there is a small shanty town of temporary shelters. Many of the people are temporary construction workers. Lots of kids, but no one going to school in the morning.

These are the ones I worry a lot about.

[hammered]

The problem is all the children that don't go to school for one reason or another--things like not being Thai (they supposedly can, but often in reality can't). All the children of transients who don't go to school as well. The cracks in the system are fairly big.

Not far from where I live there is a small shanty town of temporary shelters. Many of the people are temporary construction workers. Lots of kids, but no one going to school in the morning.

These are the ones I worry a lot about.

You may be on your own worrying about a lot of them as lots if not most of construction workers are burmese (or Khmer in very East parts) and nobody in any poltical party gives a toss about them. Then again they dont turn up in stats.

The transient Thais round here (Chonburi) get their kids in school as long as they want to although it can be a little difficult if the Tabien Bahn has a named father or mother who is not present and cannot be contacted. What amazes me is that the transient Thais I know try to send their kids to a school one or two up the rung from the lowest temple school and yet I know expats who send their kids to the lowest schools of all! Point being that whatever government does it still relies on parents doing something too.

It would be nice if education was something that all the poltical parties could find consensus around while they are busy trying to make sure they get to have and eat the cake. Still dream on ther are too many politicians who rely on the statuis quo in their fiefdoms.

[Rumfoord]

Seems he won't have far to go then. What a great soundbite.

http://www.searo.who.int/EN/Section313/Section1525_10862.htm

it's not just a 'soundbite', but almost a 'gesamtkunstwerk' with a great visual impact. a cool show, with all the bells and whistles including, theatrical moments, special F/X and artificial fog!

below a few 'frozen moments', photos, of the event where the vow to eliminate illiteracy was made.

more photos from the show here.

it wasn't one of the bigger events, more in a small scale, but i am really really impressed by the stage fog. AMAZING! amazing moments, or how would you call it?

[Rumfoord]

They also have budgeted 45 billion towards education.

Computers, libraries etc. Regardless of how much gets syphoned off,

by schools management there will be some gains seen.

Now if that education was more towards actual learning, and not obedient citizen building,

WHO have budgeted 45 billion WHEN?

and where you get your numbers from?

In may 2009 the Abhisit cabinet announced a 4.8 billion baht budget cutback for the coming year 2010.

anyway, "obedient citizen building" is a good description of the democrats education program.

[Scott]

In reference to a previous post about children of Burmese. I, of course, worry about them, but in the area where I live, I am referring to the children of Thais--the Burmese workers live in a nearby area, but not with the Thais. I am afraid there are plenty of Thai nationals not attending school or not attending regularly.

I lived in an apartment building where there was a nice kid whose mother had worked in Patpong. The kid had a farang father. She sent him back to the village to live with her mother and attend school. The school said no. He returned to Bangkok and as of some years back he was 11 years old and had never set foot in a school.

The cracks in this country are pretty big and little ones fall through easily. Money talks and if you don't have it, and if you don't have much motivation, it's the kids who suffer.

[TAWP]

Would probably help if they over-hauled the language a bit.

Spending so much time of the schooldays to learn their own language over so many years should be a sign that something isn't right.

Yes, that is brilliant. We'll tell the entire country that their language is to difficult and they have to change it. Coming from a native english (itself a tremendously difficult language taking countless years to master, if ever) speaker, that is positively breathtaking...

I am not a native English speaker.

China did it (not PRC), Cambodia did it, Norway did it, Germany is trying it...

[BSJ]

I felt that the real learning started after I finished school for the day. As kids in the 1960's we had to be creative in our play and after dark, once home and feed, we read widely. Both books and magazines. A lot of my knowledge came from Popular Mechanics and Popular Science which dad subscribed too.

For many years my parents where financially challenged, something many families in LOS are familiar with. My parents became comfortably well off. That situation maybe less frequently visited by Thai's.

If money is tight, despite the hardship, the kids need to continue to learn. The parents and the state must Persevere.

Edited September 7, 2009 by BSJ

[PeaceBlondie]

No need to wait until end of 2010. Literacy by decree, not degrees: POOF. Thailand is totally literate; the government tells me so.

[geriatrickid]

Estimates of literacy are just that: Estimates. They are almost always fudged for political reasons with the grades inflated. I believe that the actual rates have to be adjusted by deducting 10-25% depending upon the region. Functional literacy is still estimated using the parameters of 25 years ago, yet the world has become more complex than ever before.

Although I expect this new "crackdown" to fail, it is laudable. It is no secret that in the west a large number of prison inmates are illiterate. They turn to crime because that's all they can do. Once they are given a basic education, they are more likely to be rehabilitated. I would expect that Thailand would be no different.

Perhaps a trip to Barbados is in order as it is recognized as the one country that has achieved true national literacy. Barbados does have the advantage of not having to integrate immigrants so it doesn't have the pockets of resistance as some might call it.

edited for tautology

Edited September 7, 2009 by geriatrickid

[SHYTALK]

Soundbite, although the kids deserve it.

No , probably just a sneaky attempt to airbrush the hat trick hero from recent thai history.