Yet another report has appeared that confirms the neglect in the Thai education system. This one, a worldwide survey by the group Education First (EF), laments the country's "very low proficiency" in English. Of the 70 countries that the group tested, Thailand came in at No.62. Within our region, only Cambodia ranked lower. How could this be so?
On the surface, everything seems almost a model of accomplishment. English is a mandatory school subject. Much of popular culture that Thais are exposed to is in that language. Thai cinema, radio and TV broadcasts offer some programmes in the original English. The government, educators and virtually every Thai parent supports the teaching and learning of English. But as the EF poll glaringly shows, most government employees, educators and parents don't speak, read or write English intelligibly, or even at all.
It is ironic that almost the entire country laments this problem. And it is a problem because the lack of a second, universally used language is holding the country back in many ways. It is about to get worse. A development occurs in eight weeks: the new year will see Thailand enter a new era in its history with the launch of the Asean Community. The AC will touch almost every facet of daily life, from phones to finance and from construction to production.
English already is the working language of Asean, a reality not taken seriously by Thai administrators throughout the bloc's 48 years. The country always seemed to have enough English-proficient officials and business people that it seemed not to matter. The AC, though, will not only show the fallacy of this reasoning, it will see it exploited.
The Education Ministry responded to the latest confirmation of the country's poor English skills. It is a depressing read. Education Minister Gen Dapong Ratanasuwan admitted the obvious, that Thai students perform near the bottom of world standards in core subjects like maths, science, engineering and language. But his solution is to tighten control at the very highest level of central government. It is the opposite of what is required.
Time and again, education experts -- Thai and foreign alike -- have called for education to be decentralised. The reason is demonstrated in many advanced countries, and is a concept that is simple to explain and easy to understand -- but unachievable so far in Thailand. The country's highest officials keep operating in the same old ways, and the results never vary. It is time for a radical, even wrenching, change.
Education reform must put classrooms and curricula in local hands. Communities should be able to screen and even recruit teachers best suited to a school and the students. Teachers themselves need to be able to adapt, bringing not only new methods to the classroom, but putting pressure on their under-achieving peers to lift their game.
It is neither secret nor mysterious why Thai students speak poor or no English despite mandatory classes. They "learn" by rote, essentially a waste of time. Teachers who don't speak English concentrate on grammar rules instead of conversational skills. Good teachers gravitate to private schools and the immersive use of English, further widening the gap between rich and poor students.
The government instructs the Education Ministry to tell schools how to teach. Under community control, the people will set the standards and tell the ministry to monitor the results. Sadly, this is all so late and denies the readiness of parents, communities and students to work for a better result.