Seeking Statistics On Educational Attainment In Thailand

[chiangmaibruce]

Good morning teacher-folk & happy new year to be

I am posting this query here as I thought that those working in the industry might have the best idea about where to get hold of statistics concerning that field.

I did have quite a good search online for this before posting, as was surprised not to be able to find what I was looking for. I want to know what percentage of the Thai population have tertiary qualifications, incl, what %age have Bachelor degrees, masters degrees, etc.

I did find statistics on how many are currently undertaking study in each of the various levels of education ... but I am interested in qualifications already obtained.

The one source I did find (in the web site of the National Statistical Office of Thailand) gives a figure that seems a little low. It stated that as of Q3 2011, those with general/academic higher qualications numbered 3708.36 (thousands) excluding teacher training and vocational courses. It gave a figure of total employed persons as being 39317.24 (thousands). This would mean that only 9.4% of working Thais have higher qualifications. Given the masses of ppl you see about in uni uniforms I would have thought this figure a little higher - unless there is a huge drop-out rate. The NSO stats did not give a breaakdown into bachelor, masters, etc.

What do others think? Do you have any alternative data sources you can point me towards?

Cheers

- CMB

PS: If anyone is interested, the paper I have written is here: www.burning-bison.com/hr_in_siam.htm (it's mainly about recruitment practices)

[richard10365]

Bruce, are writing academic paper ( www.burning-bison.com/hr_in_siam.htm) or a blog to be posted on the internet somewhere? It looks more like the latter. While there is nothing wrong with a blog, some academics might not consider it the right stye of writing for a paper. Also, it seems a bit ethnocentric.

Edited January 1, 2012 by richard10365

[chiangmaibruce]

Good morning Richard and thanks for the feedback. My main purpose for posting here was to confirm (or otherwise) the statistic on educational attainment that I quoted in the paper, and to identify other perhaps better sources for relevant stats. One of the benefits of Thaivisa for me has been to discover sources of info that I would never have otherwise encountered. If anyone cares to offer feedback on the paper itself, as you have done, then that is certainly also most welcome.

Yes the paper is based on a western perspective - hence the title and disclaimer within it. I am keen to obtain a Thai perspective and with this in mind I have, for example, forwarded a copy to the Personnel Management Association of Thailand (PMAT), the HR Committee of AmCham, and others. If and when I receive that feedback then I will re-visit the paper and adjust accordingly. The paper is intended to be informational rather than "academic" and to forewarn/forearm inexperienced foreign job-seekers. If it also alerts Thai HR personnel to the differing expectations of foreign job-seekers and causes them to re-consider current practices, then so much the better.

Edited January 2, 2012 by chiangmaibruce