The 2015 Education For All Report was released on April 9 by Unesco. The world is making progress. Compared to 1999, nearly two-thirds more children were enrolled in early childhood education. But, the programme has missed the goal of primary education for all, meaning almost 100 million children worldwide or 48% are not completing primary education.
How does Thailand fare compared to its competitors for inwards investment, especially Malaysia and Vietnam? To begin with, it is necessary to underline the link between quality of education and economic development. According to the World Bank, Thailand's GDP per capita in US dollars was 5,779 in 2013, with Vietnam's being 1,911 and Malaysia's being 10,358. In a decade, Malaysia's productivity has overtaken that of Thailand.
According to these measures, Thailand's productivity has stalled, even though it spends 7.6% of GDP on education, higher than Malaysia's 5.9% and Vietnam's 6.3%. All are already at the top end of the Unesco EFA target, again underlining the problem that quantity does not equal quality. This is evident in the 2012 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, where Thailand is well behind Asean's emerging giant, Vietnam.
Furthermore, the under-five child survival rate is low for Thailand, at 89%, though Vietnam is worse at 81%, and Malaysia presents a reasonable goal of 95%. Unfortunately, too many Thai children are dying young and never make it into education. According to Unicef, one way to address this is for the state to provide meals at early childhood care centres, which can help nurture the child and offset poor socio-economic backgrounds and low levels of maternal educational attainment, common among Thailand's ethnic minorities.
Many Thai children under five also suffer from moderate or severe stunting — 16%, compared to a very worrying 23% in Vietnam but similar to Malaysia's 17%. Previous research by Unicef suggests children in the South (mainly ethnic Malay Muslims) and Northeast (mainly ethnic Lao and Khmer communities) from poorer homes with less-educated mothers are more likely to suffer from this stunting. This is tragic considering the fact that a child's brain develops rapidly in the first five years and is therefore a factor in academic achievement.
Turning to early childhood care and education, 70% of Malaysia's four- to five-year-olds are in some form of early childhood care or education, 77% of Vietnam's three- to five-year-olds are in pre-primary, while Thailand has nearly 100% of three- to five-year-olds in such education. Thailand excels in this area, with many early childhood centres opened on temple grounds in rural areas.
However, standards can vary and more training and resources are required to improve quality. Unicef points out that of some 20,000 early childhood development centres nationwide, only 67% passed quality assessment in 2013. Moreover, the EFA report states that few Thai children aged three and under are in childcare.
Primary school enrolment is another problem. According to the report, 96% of Vietnamese children are enrolled in primary school. However, Thai National Statistical Office data from 2012 shows only 75% of children in Thailand of primary school entry age (age six) are entering Grade 1 — this means approximately half a million children, mainly from poorer, minority backgrounds, enter late, mostly at the age of seven.
Regrettably, the same NSO data shows there are clear inter-regional differences and differences between municipal and non-municipal areas. For example, in Bangkok, 83% enter Grade 1 of primary school, while in the Northeast only 70% do, a serious problem for the Thai Lao and Thai Northern Khmer minorities. Furthermore, of the poorest 20% of Thai children, again mainly ethnic minorities, 65% of primary school entry age enter Grade 1 compared to 82% for the richest 20%. This suggests clear class-based disparities and social inequity.
Also disappointing is that Thailand no longer has better gender parity than Vietnam in its primary school enrolment. In 2000, Thailand only had three fewer girls enrolled per 100 boys versus five for Vietnam, while in 2012 Thailand had five fewer girls enrolled and Vietnam actually had one fewer boy enrolled for every 100 girls. Education of future mothers is key to improving their families' socio-economic status.
Another issue alluded to in the Education For All report is the low level of educational attainment by ethnic minorities. From the 2012 Pisa regional breakdowns, we know that ethnic disparities in quality of education in Thailand are severe. The quality of education in Bangkok is significantly higher than in the Lower North, home to over 10 million Khon Mueang northerners and hilltribes peoples, the Northeast, home to over 20 million Thai Lao, Northern Khmer, and other indigenous minorities, and the South, home to nine million Pak Tai southerners and Thai Malay. While Bangkok's education has been modernised, the development potential of Thailand's ethnic minorities has not yet been realised.
Thailand must tackle the child survival rate, the high stunting rate, the quality of early childhood education, and the socio-economic inequalities in primary school enrolment to reduce the ethnic disparities. What additional steps should Thailand be taking to maximise its minorities' potential? One idea is promotion of community child care activities where indigenous cultures and languages are under threat.
In Thailand, some 70 indigenous cultures are under threat because they are not listed in the constitution or protected by pro-active legislation and concomitant funding. Hopefully, the military interim government will address this in the coming constitution and bring Thailand more into line with other Asean countries, most of which have some provision for minority rights, including Malaysia and Vietnam.
The Education For All report notes indigenous care models are accepted by communities and effective. It cites the "language nest" model pioneered in Maori communities in New Zealand, where young children are looked after by older community members and taught in their heritage language. This method has also been successfully applied in the Americas. This approach can build on existing early childhood care centres and can provide a grassroots "values-based" first stage in education quality for all.
Dr Peerasit Kamnuansilpa is founding dean, College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University. John Draper is project officer, Isan Culture Maintenance and Revitalisation Programme, College of Local Administration.