Disparities in access to learning resources originating in the pre-school period are to blame for poor basic life and work skills, which accounted for about 3.3 trillion baht in economic opportunity losses in 2022, says the Equitable Education Fund (EEF).
Prasarn Trairatvorakul, chairman of the EEF's governing board, said on Saturday that this "crisis of foundational skills" was detected in a 2022 survey jointly conducted by the EEF, World Bank, Thammasat University and National Statistical Office among people aged 15 to 64.
Two-thirds of adolescences and adults could not comprehend short messages they were required to read and understand before solving an easy problem, while three-quarters of youths and people of working age were found to have difficulties using websites for an easy task they were required to complete, said Mr Prasarn, a former governor of the Bank of Thailand (BoT).
In addition, more than 30% of people in the sample were found to lack enthusiasm to initiate something new for society, he said.
"All these problems were estimated to have cost Thailand more than 3.3 trillion baht in the value of economic opportunity losses, or 20% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022," he said.
He attributed this crisis to learning hindrance which was found to exist from the pre-school period and carries on to compulsory education — from primary school to high school — and up until these people enter the labour market.
Last year, the EEF found that up to 1.8 million students were considered "extremely poor" and critically in need of financial assistance, while only 1.24 million received help from the EEF, he said.
The number of extremely poor students rose dramatically from about 994,400 recorded in 2020, he said.
"Being extremely poor is an important factor barring children from gaining sufficient access to opportunities and resources, which causes many to eventually drop out of school," said the former central bank chief.
Between 2019 and 2023, only one-tenth of students who were extremely poor could continue their education at higher education level, he said.
Schooling costs at the higher education level were found to be between 13,200 and 29,000 baht per semester, equal to the average annual income of the family of these poor students, he said.
Prasarn: Being extremely poor causes many to drop out of school
The schooling costs included entrance examination fees, accommodation rent, uniforms and tuition fees, he said.
In a related study jointly conducted by the EEF and Weerachart Kilenthong, a researcher at Research Institute for Policy Evaluation and Design, at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), found that more than 25% of primary school students nationwide had poor listening comprehension skills, while every province has on average 15% of students who scored fairly poorly in listening comprehension tests, said Mr Prasarn.
And according to an evaluation by the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), two-thirds of Thai students aged 15 had a lower level of reading and mathematical skills than the standard level of students their age.
The EEF said the government should invest more in human capital development starting from the primary school level, Mr Prasarn said.