The World Bank's recent report on a decline in Thai students' performance in the Program for International Student Assessment (Pisa) is a slap in the face for the government, particularly the Education Ministry, under Nathapol Teepsuwan.
The report attests to the failure of education reform, pledged by the minister and former core leader of the now-defunct People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC). That group's long protest against the Pheu Thai led government resulted in political deadlock, followed by a coup in 2014.
The World Bank report highlighted Thailand's low ranking in the 2018 Pisa, which evaluates 15-year-old students' competency in reading, and a stagnation of scores in maths and science.
Thailand ranks at 68th in reading, 59th in mathematics, and 55th in science among 79 participating countries. The ranking is lower than its peers in the East Asia-Pacific, including Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore that went through social and economic reforms at nearly the same time as Thailand. But they were able to leap forward by making large investments in improving human capital.
According to the report, about 60% of Thai students scored below the minimum proficiency level in reading, 53% were unable to attain the minimum proficiency level in maths and 44% did not reach basic proficiency in science.
Thai students reportedly have higher levels of absenteeism and a weaker sense of belonging at school compared to averages across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and countries in the East Asia-Pacific.
The World Bank noted disparities and inefficacies among school investments. Private schools received more government funding than rural ones. This gap has become more apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic when disadvantaged students couldn't access online classes during the school shutdowns.
The situation described in the report has been exposed by the youth protesters in their rallies in front of the Education Ministry where they have demanded effective education reform. They also demand schools depart from top-down teaching methods and bureaucratic-style learning environments that prohibit students from expressing their ideas and identities.
But the movement's calls have fallen on the deaf ears of education officials who insist the government has done everything perfectly.
The World Bank's report is quite alarming, especially after Education First (EF) released its annual English Proficiency Index two weeks ago which found Thailand's overall English proficiency has fallen for the third year in a row. Thailand's ranking dropped from 74 out of 100 countries last year to 89 this year. Reading, mathematics, sciences and language skills are essential to survive in today's world. The challenge of technology disruption and globalisation shows the need for the young generation to be equipped with multi-skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills.
If Thai students fail to improve these skills, the nation will find it hard to leap from the so-called middle-income trap. The impact of declining student performance can be seen in the labour market in which several thousands of young graduates fail to find proper jobs or make low incomes because their insufficient skills do not match the demands of a highly competitive market.
This also explains while Thailand lacks innovation capacities, and is unable to catch up with its peers in Southeast Asia that are home to some companies such as Traveloka, Gojek, Tokopedia, Grab and VNG.
I've learned from my friends who sent their kids to public schools that teaching methods and the school environment have not changed from our childhood days. Young students are discouraged from posing challenges to new problems. Instead, they are forced to repeat learning content from the teachers. Though the internet provides access to new information, students are still asked to listen and follow teachers without asking why.
At the same time, teachers have suffered from the Education Ministry's policies and guidelines. Their time is consumed by unnecessary paperwork as part of the ministry's evaluation, reflecting the top-down culture within the organisation that acts like a commander watching over subordinates. Some teachers say this approach causes "spiritual loss", as teachers are forced to focus on saving the government's face rather than serving students. Priority goes to uniforms and hairstyle instead of improving teaching methods.
All of these problems have been debated for ages. Many people, including me, have lost faith in the government which tends to use criminal charges to silence young critics, rather than trying to solve problems.
Without radical changes at the core, the much desired education reform will never be achieved. And to push for such changes, the government must assign the right people to the right jobs.
The Education Ministry is an "A-grade" ministry that receives a large share of the state budget. But that is a disadvantage as the top position at this ministry has become a "reward" for politicians who have good ties or connections with the government. Observers saw Mr Nathapol's role during the 2013-2014 shutdown as an opportunity for the military to enter politics to the top position at the ministry.
If the ministry is seen as a political reward, not a place for talented people, it will be hard to turn the education reform agenda into reality.
The ministry must also be reformed from the inside by creating a system that provides teachers with incentives to innovate and adopt new teaching methods.
Giving them more time to upskill is necessary, instead of demands for them to do more useless paperwork.
Deploying digital technology to monitor the impact of budget allocation is needed too if we want to close the gap between urban and rural schools.
Without changes, we can expect to see Thailand's student ranking slip further.
It's clear that if the ministry doesn't disrupt itself, someone else will -- in the same way students are boisterously protesting and posing challenges which are unprecedented in Thailand's education history.
Paritta Wangkiat is a Bangkok Post columnist.