Make reform of education a reality - fast

Make reform of education a reality - fast

When the military took power from the civilian government and seized control of the country in 2014, it made a lot of promises to bring about reconciliation and reform. After nearly two years, we have come to realise that the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration has achieved very little in fulfilling those promises. 

It seems the Prayut government, as reflected in various news reports this week, assigns much importance to what is perceived as political reform, despite heavy criticism from various factions including anti-Shinawatra academics. Needless to say, other structural reforms have yet to occur.

It's the same with national reconciliation as Thai society seems fragmented like it was when the political conflict started, and that is a major disappointment.

Another disappointment is in the area of education reform which has been left in a shambles -- just like under previous governments.

It should be noted that the Education Ministry receives the single largest chunk of funding each year. For the 2016 fiscal year, the ministry has been allocated up to 520 billion baht, up from just over 300 billion baht in 2008.

Yet, the huge budget seems to evaporate as the ministry has done little to convince us the money is being utilised meaningfully.

The latest results of the national tests in nine core subjects for Mathayom 6 (Grade 12) students organised by the National Institute of Educational Testing Services showed that, on average, Thai students failed in eight out of nine subjects. Nearly 180,000 students took these examinations.

The examinations, used as part of the criteria for students to be admitted to their universities of choice, also showed how the divide between the haves and have-nots is widening and creating a distortion even in the field of education.

The results showed that students who have the benefit of private tutors are far better performers in the exams than those who live in rural areas and are unable to afford or gain access to tutors.

Reading the details of the examination results was painful enough to make me think about what kind of society we are living in these days.

Is it really necessary to spend more money just to score better grades in subjects that are considered basic all across the world -- mathematics, social sciences, chemistry, physics, biology and so on?

Where is that 520-billion-baht budget going? If one takes this money and divides it by the 67 million population of the country it would give about 7,761 baht per head in annual expenses.

According to the National Statistics Office, the total number of students (from kindergarten to doctorate level) stood at 13,362,513 at the end of 2014 (the latest data that is available).

This translates to 38,914.83 baht out of the fiscal year 2014/2015 budget per student per year.

This includes all students, those with all the privileges and the under privileged, which means that the figure of 38,914 baht is a conservative estimate for the money spent by the Ministry of Education each year on each student. And it comes as no surprise that a host of private sector schools, international schools and universities are not on the budget of the Ministry of Education.

With no results to show, one has reason to wonder where are all the funds going?

Gen Prayut promised that education would be one of the key reform areas but, like several other of his promises, we are left disappointed.

We wish the prime minister had used his mighty powers to bring about much-needed education reform success.

Failure in this field will in the long run only damage the country he is fighting to save.

Success for Thailand will not come from clearing street vendors from our pavements or bringing down lottery prices to 80 baht apiece, but from what the younger generation, the real future of this country, is taught.

The schools, the teachers, the curriculum and equality in learning between rural and urban kids are all going to play an important role in how our country stands in a decade or two.

Our students who are now falling behind others in the region are the people who will be the driving force for the country in the future and I therefore request that this government do all that it possibly can to make education reform a reality.

And it must do it quickly, before it is too late.


Umesh Pandey is Asia Focus editor, Bangkok Post.

Umesh Pandey

Bangkok Post Editor

Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.

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