Thailand fifth in Asian children's literacy poll

[webfact]

Thailand fifth in Asian children's literacy poll
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- THAILAND ranks second in Asean and fifth in Asia when it comes to the problem of children missing out on basic education.

Ichiro Miyazawa, a specialist with the literacy and lifelong learning programme at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, said yesterday that 586,000 children of primary-school age in Thailand have had no access to education. Across Asia, Thailand is behind India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

Citing an analysis by Nicholas Burnett, Unesco's former assistant director-general, Miyazawa said Thai children's lack of opportunities to receive a proper schooling could cause Thailand an economic loss of about Bt330 billion a year.

"This is about 3 per cent of the country's gross domestic product," he said.

Globally, 67 million children are estimated to have not been in school at the time they should have been receiving a primary education.

Aware that so many Thai children lack access to education, Unesco is striving to promote innovative financing in some areas where state funds proved inadequate to deliver education to children.

"For example, an initiative may be launched to collect CSR fees from the private sector. The fees can then be used to address big issues in society, including those related to education," he said. The collection of sin taxes for health promotion in Thailand was an example of innovative financing, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thailand-fifth-in-Asian-childrens-literacy-poll-30255666.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-10

[cloudhopper]

Fifth up from the bottom in Asia, if I understand this poorly written article correctly.

[Bkungbank]

It's not Thai children mostly for Myanmar parent living or working here illegal where cannot show 'Ta Bian Bann' As the government start to register those workers where have acces to medication and education too.

[selftaopath]

The entire population of Thailand ought to be ASHAMED of this reality. Corruption runs rampant, families/individuals become rich beyond belief and yet many Thai children can not get a modicum of education. This is appalling. The entire Kingdom ought to hand it's head in deep deep SHAME.

[geriatrickid]

No worries. Thailand's military government will be increasing the military budget. That will take care of the problem.

[davidmann]

do the ones that go to school get education ?

[taff33]

The local village school at the start of the day are normally short of teachers,they like to turn up at a time that suits them,so what happens is the 'older 'pupils take charge of the younger ones,is it a wonder that the children's education is poor.But by the way at the end of the day these same teacher s are not late going home.

[FloridaExport]

Fifth up from the bottom in Asia, if I understand this poorly written article correctly.

I had the same interpretation.

[recycler]

Thailand needs workers not thinkers....

Keep the people poor and stupid and don't disrupt the source of exploitable cheap labor.

[SuwadeeS]

That happens, if a country only takes care and is run by the rich and super rich. If they would have more responsibility, as they do not have at all, it would not happen.

Thailand will never change, because if they would give the people a better education, they would recognize,

how the powerful rich people cheating on the normal people and that would be civil war.

[Oziex1]

In the end what do they do with their education as good or bad as it may be. I have told my wife when her teenage son has completed school he should get a job or trainee ship not just return to Issan to cut sugar why waste money on education if that's all their ambition or direction is.

He would be instructed by those in the community and family to do as they have done for centuries "work until their backs a broken for next to no return" and it would be done with out question.

Time for a change!

[Oziex1]

Thailand needs workers not thinkers....

Keep the people poor and stupid and don't disrupt the source of exploitable cheap labor.

They are going to get a lot poorer as imported labour takes all the menial tasks that suite the uneducated.

[maidee]

as long as they work in the fields and copy daddy, the next generation of poor farmers is secured

[duckmandon]

I asked my stepdaughter the other day a few general knowledge question which I knew when I was younger than her. What is the capitol of Thailand. She shook her head. What is the capitol of United States, again a shake of the head. I asked about a few other countries & she had no idea. She understands English well enough to be 35th in the northern area for her age group. She is 14. So what do they teach them about their own country & the rest of the world that is leaving Thailand so far behind. Is it that the teachers don't care or are just as uneducated as the rest of the population.

[docshock13]

Fifth up from the bottom in Asia, if I understand this poorly written article correctly.

I had the same interpretation.

Same here. Headline makes it sound they are fifth from the top in Asia (as things are ranked in most other places in the world--top down not bottom up).

Agree, poorly written.

[harryfrompattaya]

Thailand needs workers not thinkers....

Keep the people poor and stupid and don't disrupt the source of exploitable cheap labor.

Yes If they Think to much or get to smart.

They maybe become like the Israelis

[arrowsdawdle]

No worries. Thailand's military government will be increasing the military budget. That will take care of the problem.

What problem? Pesky foreigners must mind their own business because they don't understand that Thai education is different, just like Thai electricity. No need school. If need diploma we just buy one.

[arrowsdawdle]

I asked my stepdaughter the other day a few general knowledge question which I knew when I was younger than her. What is the capitol of Thailand. She shook her head. What is the capitol of United States, again a shake of the head. I asked about a few other countries & she had no idea. She understands English well enough to be 35th in the northern area for her age group. She is 14. So what do they teach them about their own country & the rest of the world that is leaving Thailand so far behind. Is it that the teachers don't care or are just as uneducated as the rest of the population.

Should have asked her to sing xenophobic songs so she could have been proud of her knowledge memory.

Edited March 10, 2015 by arrowsdawdle

[diehard60]

If Thailand ever got serious about education at the primary level they would fire all the primary teacher for being lazy to even come to school on time. The rural areas are even worse, I have lived here and seen it for the last 24 years.

[arrowsdawdle]

do the ones that go to school get education ?

Sure, didn't you read on TV some time back where an expat's daughter came home from school one day and was proud to have learned from her teacher that tigers are male and lions are female.

[reptile91602]

""That happens, if a country only takes care and is run by the rich and super rich. If they would have more responsibility, as they do not have at all, it would not happen.

Thailand will never change, because if they would give the people a better education, they would recognize,

how the powerful rich people cheating on the normal people and that would be civil war."""

Sounds like the good old U.S. of A. Except even when Americans get an education they don't know what to do but continue loosing their middle class. Anotherwords it is the same everywhere. education or no education people are sheep going to slaughter. It is only a few that are fortunate enough to get out.

[NeverSure]

-snip-

Sounds like the good old U.S. of A. Except even when Americans get an education they don't know what to do but continue loosing their middle class. Anotherwords it is the same everywhere. education or no education people are sheep going to slaughter. It is only a few that are fortunate enough to get out.

You're kidding right? The richest man in the world never finished college. Some other guys were college students when they started google.

McDonald's was conceived and launched from a single modest restaurant by a restaurant equipment salesman. There is now a business college named after the man who started Walmart. Michael Dell started Dell Computer from his college dorm room. Mark Zukerberg started Facebook in his college dorm room. WordPress was started by a college freshman. Fred Smith got a "C" on a paper he wrote in college about starting "his" future FedEx.

The richest man I know personally made it himself.

Not everyone can succeed but sitting on the old butt and complaining won't get it done.

[ExPratt]

Forget billions on High speed railways , Build some schools and train new teachers

Edited March 10, 2015 by ExPratt

[jdinasia]

Forget billions on High speed railways , Build some schools and train new teachers

The schools are built and the education budget is huge. Dual track high speed trains are for infrastructure and gdp / economic growth.

[DLock]

Lot's of whiners...but no doers.

A good friend of mine, John Woods, was struck by the lack of books and education on a trip to Nepal, he quit his multimillion dollar job at Microsoft and started "Room to Read" focussing on education and children's literacy with the goal of lifting people out of poverty. He is one of my heroes.

http://www.roomtoread.org

To date, he has helped over 9million children by establish libraries and schools in remote and impoverished places.

My wife and I provide scholarships for kids in her village so they can afford to stay in school and their families can afford them to go. It's not expensive, but these kids who truly want an education need financial help. We have 18 kids under scholarship, and last year the first kid graduated as a Doctor from University in Phitsanulok. Nothing can make me prouder than seeing her graduate and helping break the cycle of poverty in that village. My only hope is that she pays it forward and helps others.

It's easy to blame governments. It's easy to do nothing. It's easy to think that it's not your problem...and maybe it isn't.

But you can make a difference, even if it is only one kid that you can help stay in school and make something of themselves.

Take a look at RoomtoRead. Maybe it inspires you to help and do something.

[smotherb]

Fifth up from the bottom in Asia, if I understand this poorly written article correctly.

Yes, the byline says, "THAILAND ranks second in Asean and fifth in Asia when it comes to the problem of children missing out on basic education."

So, the Southern Asia cesspools of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the ASEAN lagger, Philippines, are the only countries in Asia with worse illiteracy in children--makes you want to have kids in Thailand and send them to local schools, doesn't it?

[smotherb]

as long as they work in the fields and copy daddy, the next generation of poor farmers is secured

What about the half-farang children who go to the local schools? What future do they have? Can any of them even get into a decent university in the farang parent's homeland?

[zyphodb]

Lot's of whiners...but no doers.

A good friend of mine, John Woods, was struck by the lack of books and education on a trip to Nepal, he quit his multimillion dollar job at Microsoft and started "Room to Read" focussing on education and children's literacy with the goal of lifting people out of poverty. He is one of my heroes.

http://www.roomtoread.org

To date, he has helped over 9million children by establish libraries and schools in remote and impoverished places.

My wife and I provide scholarships for kids in her village so they can afford to stay in school and their families can afford them to go. It's not expensive, but these kids who truly want an education need financial help. We have 18 kids under scholarship, and last year the first kid graduated as a Doctor from University in Phitsanulok. Nothing can make me prouder than seeing her graduate and helping break the cycle of poverty in that village. My only hope is that she pays it forward and helps others.

It's easy to blame governments. It's easy to do nothing. It's easy to think that it's not your problem...and maybe it isn't.

But you can make a difference, even if it is only one kid that you can help stay in school and make something of themselves.

Take a look at RoomtoRead. Maybe it inspires you to help and do something.

While roomtoread is very commendable, its a drop in the ocean in Thailand, where huge sums are given in education budgets just to line the pockets of the utterly corrupt education establishment, instead of being spent on actually educating the children. Until this changes there will be no real improvement which is just what the powers that be want... Cant have educated peasants threatening our power base can we....

[DLock]

Lot's of whiners...but no doers.

A good friend of mine, John Woods, was struck by the lack of books and education on a trip to Nepal, he quit his multimillion dollar job at Microsoft and started "Room to Read" focussing on education and children's literacy with the goal of lifting people out of poverty. He is one of my heroes.

http://www.roomtoread.org

To date, he has helped over 9million children by establish libraries and schools in remote and impoverished places.

My wife and I provide scholarships for kids in her village so they can afford to stay in school and their families can afford them to go. It's not expensive, but these kids who truly want an education need financial help. We have 18 kids under scholarship, and last year the first kid graduated as a Doctor from University in Phitsanulok. Nothing can make me prouder than seeing her graduate and helping break the cycle of poverty in that village. My only hope is that she pays it forward and helps others.

It's easy to blame governments. It's easy to do nothing. It's easy to think that it's not your problem...and maybe it isn't.

But you can make a difference, even if it is only one kid that you can help stay in school and make something of themselves.

Take a look at RoomtoRead. Maybe it inspires you to help and do something.

While roomtoread is very commendable, its a drop in the ocean in Thailand, where huge sums are given in education budgets just to line the pockets of the utterly corrupt education establishment, instead of being spent on actually educating the children. Until this changes there will be no real improvement which is just what the powers that be want... Cant have educated peasants threatening our power base can we....

Pretty much what I expected.

Carry on.

[harryfrompattaya]

as long as they work in the fields and copy daddy, the next generation of poor farmers is secured

What about the half-farang children who go to the local schools? What future do they have? Can any of them even get into a decent university in the farang parent's homeland?

The Half Farang children get into the best schools and get the best job in Thailand.

Also the usually get huge amount of money when their rich old father dies

The farangs I meet who have children are all very very rich