On his first day in office, the newly-appointed Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan pledged to narrow the quality gap between schools in urban and rural areas, ease the burden of teachers and equip students with skills needed in the 21st century.
Mr Nataphol said there are three key educational issues that he urgently wants to address. The first one is the disparity between students in elite schools and those in underprivileged schools -- a gap which is reflected in their academic performance.
"We have to admit that inequality is still a problem. Many schools in rural areas still struggle with problems such as a lack of funding, lack of resources, qualified and experienced teachers, books and modern education technologies. The ministry needs to ensure quality education will be equally provided to all students," he said.
Mr Nataphol said the second issue he wants to address is the quality of the 400,000 teachers nationwide and their working conditions. "Teachers are the most important factor in student success, therefore we need to look after them and ensure that they have all of the necessary resources," he said.
Mr Nataphol said he aims to ease the burden of teachers by reducing unnecessary workloads, adding the problem of teacher debt will also be addressed. He added the last urgent issue is figuring out how to equip Thai students with the 21st century skills and competence that they need to succeed in a rapidly globalising world.
"As the world is rapidly moving toward a digital era, schools need to nurture the essential skills of the 21st century such as coding, Stem [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] and language skills in their students," he said.
Deputy Education Minister Khun- ying Kalaya Sophonpanich said the ministry plans to make coding classes mandatory for all students, starting from kindergarten to elementary levels.
"In the long run, students should be mandated to study coding for their entire educational experience. However, at the beginning phase we will start with just a few schools because not all schools are ready to integrate the subject into their classrooms," said Khunying Kalaya.
Another deputy education minister, Kanokwan Vilawan, said her first priority is to promote informal and vocational education to improve the poor image of technical studies among Thai youth.
The three ministers met senior education officials and executives to set their policy direction.
After the meeting, Mr Nataphol revealed he will supervise the Office of the Basic Education Commission and the Office of the Vocational Education Commission himself, while Ms Kanokwan will oversee the Office of the Private Education Commission and the Office of Non-Formal and Informal Education. "Although all ministers at the Education Ministry came from different parties, we can work together in harmony," Mr Nataphol said.