While the overall scores of Grade 6 and 9 students who participated in the latest Ordinary National Education Test (O-Net) have improved, the number of students who failed remains alarmingly high, according to the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (Niets).
This year, more than 1.3 million sixth and ninth graders students took the O-Net, which measures the students' basic knowledge in four key subjects -- mathematics, sciences, English and Thai languages.
Niets said that the test results for Grade 6 students (Prathom 6) showed that on average, students failed three out of the four subjects that were tested in the examinations -- with only the Thai language examination registering an above-pass average score of 55.9%.
The average scores for English and mathematics remained the lowest at 39.24% and 37.5% respectively, while the score for the general sciences tests averaged in at 39.93%.
For Grade 9, or Mathayom 3 students, the results also showed that on average, a majority of students failed three out of the four subjects -- with only the subject of Thai language managing to record an average score of above 50%.
The average score of Grade 9 students for Thai language examination is 54.42%, while for the subjects of English, mathematics, and general sciences, the average scores stood at 29.45%, 30.24%, and 36.10% respectively.
Despite the disappointing results, the secretary-general of the Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) said that he is satisfied with the improvements from last year's average scores. "The improved O-Net scores indicate that our efforts are beginning to bear fruit," Mr Boonrak said.
In the last academic year, the average O-Net scores of sixth and ninth graders were all below 50% for each of the tested subjects.
Last year, the average scores for sixth graders stood at 46.58% for Thai language, 36.34% for English, 37.12% for mathematics, and 39.12% for general sciences. Meanwhile, ninth graders scored an average of 48.29% for Thai language, 30.45% for English, 26.3% for mathematics, and 32.28% for general sciences.
Mr Boonrak said that the score gap between students enrolled in schools located in urban and rural communities has also decreased.
He also said Obec is also pleased with the success of its "zero illiteracy" programme for primary school students, as a recent survey conducted by Obec found that literacy rates among first graders have risen to an average of about 70%.