Thai students performed slightly better in mathematics and natural science last year, but remained below global median scores, according to an international survey.
Thailand scored 431 points in mathematics tests and 456 points in science tests, a slight improvement from 2011, when it was 427 points and 451 points respectively, according to a report from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), an American organisation studying maths and science achievement among students. The median result was 500.
Tested Thai secondary school students were ranked 26th in mathematics and also in science among students from 39 countries and seven states in the survey last year.
The report was released this week by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), an international cooperative of national research institutions and governmental research agencies. About 600,000 students around the world took part in the survey, conducted every four years.
From the first assessment in 1995 to the most recent in 2015, Thailand's score has decreased from 482 points to 456 points in science, and from 467 points to 431 points in mathematics.
The problem over the quality of teachers was a major cause of the country's drop in performance before the latest result was announced, according to the Education Ministry.
"Thai students are now again improving at mathematics and science. This is a positive sign, but we still have a long way to go," Education Minister Dapong Ratanasuwan said on Friday.
In maths, the top performing country was Singapore (621 points), followed by South Korea (606 points), Taiwan (599 points), Hong Kong (594 points) and Japan (586 points).
In the natural science area, students from Singapore were also the best with 597 points, followed by Japan (571 points), Taiwan (569 points), South Korea (556 points) and Slovenia (551 points).
Source: TIMSS