The Equitable Education Fund (EEF) is working with 11 government agencies to reduce the number of children left out of the education system to as low as 200,000 in five years. Last year that number was over 1 million.
EEF managing director Kraiyos Patrawart said all related parties are driving the “Thailand Zero Dropout” policy forward in a bid to bring down the number of students who leave formal education to zero, after the cabinet on Tuesday acknowledged the policy and assigned 11 agencies to take action on the EEF’s proposal.
The EEF is cooperating with 11 agencies, including the ministries of Education, Interior, Digital Economy and Society, and Social Development and Human Security, to achieve the goal. The first meeting with them will be held on June 14.
Mr Kraiyos said the number of children excluded from the education system and those with risk of dropping out of school has been rising nationwide over the past few years since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
Hundreds of thousands of households are very likely to be stuck in the poverty trap, he said, and there is a risk that the children of these households will fail to receive higher education than their parents did for another generation.
In addition, Thailand may be stuck in the middle-income trap for several more years since the country has become an aged society with fewer than 500,000 births per year, he said.
According to the Education Data Center (EDC), there are about 11 million students in all levels of education from nursery school to high school.
Meanwhile, data from the Bureau of Registration Administration at the Ministry of Interior shows there were 1.02 million children who were not in the education system last year.
The number included young children who did not go to nursery school or primary school, children who started attending school at later ages than usual, students who dropped out mid-semester, and children who lacked access to education.
“Helping children outside the education system is the last milestone of Thailand’s education sector because it is hard to achieve education for all,” said Mr Kraiyos.
“The Zero Dropout project will not instantly bring all children back to school, but it will provide them with alternative ways to get an education and develop flexibly in a way that fulfils their life goals.”