The Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) has proposed a guideline for schools to arrange extracurricular activities designed to sharpen students' learning and other skills after routine in-class study times are shortened in the next semester.
A survey has confirmed Thai students have too much content to study and daily classes last too long when compared to schools in Western countries or even in developed Asian ones such as Singapore and Japan, said Obec's secretary-general Kamol Rodklai yesterday.
Between 3,000 and 3,500 schools at primary level, and Mathayom 1 to 3 levels nationwide will be selected for piloting the policy to end in-class learning and teaching at 2pm every school day, allowing more time for other activities, he said.
The first set of optional activities includes more hands-on, extracurricular tasks designed to enhance the skills which students learned from the morning classes such as doing a study project, drawing and performing historical plays, Mr Kamol said.
The second set includes electives which schools may devise, such as setting up volunteer work clubs or sports clubs, he said.
The third set will be occupational training activities related to local communities or life-skills tasks, he said, adding these activities should be led by parents or community folklore scholars. The fourth set includes academic support designed for students who are performing poorly. The plan to shorten in-class learning hours was now about 80% complete.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who supports shorter classes, yesterday suggested social media should be included in activities, saying students have to know how to deal with the modern world, including information technology.