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Small schools to be closed, merge
THE NATION


Phongthep

Plan will boost standards, minister says

BANGKOK: -- Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana yesterday unveiled a policy in which educational zone directors will be asked to close or merge 14,816 small schools nationwide - especially those with fewer than 60 pupils and those deemed to be geographically unnecessary.

At a meeting at Bangkok's Rama Garden Hotel yesterday, held to discuss educational zone directors' readiness for the start of the upcoming school year, Pongthep told the directors to merge small schools with few pupils and poor standards with higher-quality schools nearby.

He said this would benefit both students and overall education management.

Pongthep added that in order to lessen resistance to the plan, authorities would need to establish good understanding with communities, explaining that the government does not have the funds to develop all existing schools equally.

He said that even in developed countries like the US - for example in Washington - small schools were sometimes closed down after being deemed unnecessary despite the fact that they had as many as 300 students.

SMALL IMPACT ON STUDENTS

Pongthep insisted that the impact on students would be small, because the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) had arranged transport and earmarked funds to buy 1,000 vans.

He said that in some areas the private sector could bid for concessions to manage the vans, which would save the government money, especially on maintenance. In cases where students had to travel to new schools that weren't too far from home, the government might allocate a budget to buy them bicycles, he added.

Small schools that authorities decide should stay open will be run using new management methods and share educational resources and teaching staff to ensure a better quality of education.

Obec chief Chinnapat Bhumirat said the agency would conduct a survey to determine the exact number of schools that should be immediately closed and merged.

Of the 30,000 Obec schools nationwide, 14,816 have fewer than 120 students and 5,962 have fewer than 60 pupils. Among the schools that have less than 60 students, 709 have fewer than 20, 2,090 have about 21 to 40 and 3,163 schools have between 41 and 60 students.

Pongthep also urged that schools undergo a curricular facelift, reducing rote learning and cutting down unnecessary content, while maximising the class period of 50 minutes because students had only about five months to study in each academic year.

He also urged an emphasis on academic subjects along with morality and democracy.

In this school term, Obec will cut down on the amount of homework by having teachers integrate their homework assignments. Obec has already completed a handbook on this method and will introduce it this month to educational supervisors and schools.

Obec will also implement the "Flipped Classroom" concept this year to help boost students' academic achievement, the minister said.


-- The Nation 2013-05-09

[Scott]

Provided students have access to school, it's probably better to consolidate some of these smaller schools and provide some quality education for students.

[Issangeorge]

I have taught in Thailand for over five years and have decided that by far the most important factor in a quality education is class size and the appropriate sized classroom to accommodate the students. I feel that if they combine the schools then more students will be jammed into classrooms that cannot handle that many students. I have taught many classes that had 50 plus students in a room that would be more appropriate for 30 students and it is almost impossible to teach. Of all the suggestions I have seen to improve the education in Thailand I have yet to see one that says the number of students in a class should be reduced. For me there should be no more than 30 in a class. Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Mario2008]

Where I live there are about 4 elementary schools in a radious of 3 to 4 kilometers, each having not more than about 20 students. A waste of resources.

[slapout]

The Education Minister may have forgotten that when you merge/join schools, additional teachers/classrooms need to be hired/provided for the additional students, transport must be arranged (bicycles are not the answer). Support for the end goal (better education) will not be accomplished by making the edict, combine schools.

Maybe they should combine the Minister of Education staff with the Minister of Agriculture staff who oversee transport of livestock across provincial/country borders the latter have some experience in that it takes more than "policy" to protect those who need protection from those who prey on them.

[Scott]

There is always a downside to these plans. In the early years, it is a good idea to have schools close to where the students live. The problem for many small schools is the lack of resources and, as mentioned, the waste of resources when there are so few students.

I remember reading about a small school (a few years back) that had 6 grades and only 1 teacher who taught all the subjects. Some of the classes only had 1 or two students who were studying that level. I have a feeling the education was not up to par.

[Nowhereman60]

I volunteer at a school that has 5, 6th graders, 5, 5th graders, about 110 students total with 60 of them kindergartners

[sirchai]

In this school term, Obec will cut down on the amount of homework by having teachers integrate their homework assignments. Obec has already completed a handbook on this method and will introduce it this month to educational supervisors and schools.

Is it the Tibetan book of the dead?--

[Robby nz]

If the idea is to improve education then fair enough but if it is just to save money for other things like tablets (still don't know if they come under the education budget) then maybe not so good.

There seem to be many questions that come with this which really need to be answered first.

Was wondering what experience this minister actually has in education?

There seems to be a lot of cabinet ministers who are in jobs they know nothing about as some sort of reward for past services rendered.

Suggest if they held their meetings at less expensive places there would be a little more money to spend on the kids.

[DaBloodyMess]

The Education Minister may have forgotten that when you merge/join schools, additional teachers/classrooms need to be hired/provided for the additional students, transport must be arranged (bicycles are not the answer). Support for the end goal (better education) will not be accomplished by making the edict, combine schools.

Maybe they should combine the Minister of Education staff with the Minister of Agriculture staff who oversee transport of livestock across provincial/country borders the latter have some experience in that it takes more than "policy" to protect those who need protection from those who prey on them.

Why wouldnt the staff from the schools being closed not also be merged into other schools? As long as the staff from the closed schools are largely retianed, there wont be a massive need to be hiring any more.

I see this as a positive step. Anything that reduces duplication of bureaucracy and management (by reducing the number of schools and merging them) can only be a good thing. As long as the students can still get to a school without a ridiculous amount of travel it just makes sense.

Edited May 10, 2013 by DaBloodyMess