The Equitable Education Fund has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state agencies to give scholarships to 300 students for the 2020 semester to address the shortage of teaching staff in remote areas.
Through the khru rak thin programme, which means "teachers love the homeland", the government is aiming to produce 300 new teachers each year.
Under khru rak thin -- which will run for five years -- the government wants to create teachers who are devoted to the areas where they teach in and want to help develop education in their communities, said Daranee Uthairattanakit, former chairwoman of an independent committee on educational reform.
"Ideally, they should teach in areas where they grew up in," she said.
Ms Daranee said scholarships will be awarded to students from poor families to give them a chance to study and give back to the community by teaching others after graduating from the programme.
Without a steady stream of new and qualified teaching staff, many students may not be able to continue their studies, as the shortage of teachers have forced the government to shut down and merge several smaller schools in remote areas -- such as those located on distant islands or highlands -- with larger ones.
"Many schools cannot even be merged together due to their location," said Equitable Education Fund (EEF) manager, Suphakon Buasai, referring to the roughly 2,000 remote schools in Thailand, as per the World Bank's estimate.
"Many teachers who work in these areas don't usually come from the area, so they tend to ask to be transferred later on," he said.