Despite one year in office, the Srettha administration has yet to set a clear direction for improvement in Thailand’s stagnating education system.
“It’s as if the government doesn’t realise the need to prioritise,” said an exasperated Asst Prof Athapol Anunthavorasakul, of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Education.
He said the current government had merely continued with its predecessor’s policies, ignoring a decades-long decline in the country’s education quality. This decline is evident in the worsening performance of Thai students in both the Ordinary National Educational Test and the international PISA programme.
Athapol said that improvement will only come if the government introduces structural reform by overhauling the National Education Act and the national curriculum. The first has been in place since 1998 and the latter since 2008.
“We need changes to keep pace with the changing global and local contexts,” the educator emphasised.
It is standard procedure to overhaul curriculums every five years, to reflect social and economic developments, he said. To boost overall education quality, these improvements must go hand in hand with teacher reform and organisational overhauls, he added.
Prominent educator Prof Sompong Jitradub said the current government used grand terms like “education reform” in its policy statement but had taken no action to fulfil that promise. “I have not seen it revolutionise anything on the education front,” he commented.
Sompong can’t help feeling that the government is merely buying time and is happy to weather criticism triggered by the country’s education problems.
He detects no sign that Srettha’s administration is pushing for a new and revolutionary national education law to achieve the root-and-branch reform he insists is required for improvement.
Empty words?
Athapol is aware that Education Minister Pol General Permpoon Chidchob, who hails from the Bhumjaithai Party, has implemented the “Good Learning with Happiness” scheme. But he describes it as a mere fleeting campaign rather than a policy that will bring long-term education improvement.
“If it was a policy, it should have come with a set of tangible measures for implementation,” he said.
Permpoon claims Good Learning with Happiness will ease the burdens of teachers, educational personnel, parents and students, upgrade education, reduce gaps, and improve students’ wellbeing. The scheme’s stated aims are educational excellence and education for life security.
“I am very satisfied,” Permpoon said recently of his time in office so far. Staff at the Education Ministry are unified and driving forward on all fronts.
They no longer work separately,” he added, explaining that education-related agencies now meet every Wednesday morning, which helps boost close ties and smooth collaboration.
Permpoon also claimed his scheme had already yielded tangible results, citing the Teaching Matching System (TMS) that makes it easier for teachers and other education staff to get transferred to their hometowns.
He said he was also seeking funds to expand the online learning platform, which makes content prepared by prestigious institutions such as Suankularb Wittayalai School available to students anywhere in the country.
Athapol remains unimpressed with the minister’s claimed achievements, describing what he has witnessed over the past year as a “bad joke”.
The lecturer, who hails from one of the country’s most prestigious universities, said Permpoon had given the appearance of listening to teachers but fallen short when it came to pushing for any real change.
“Even after the Cabinet approved a budget of 600 million baht to hire janitors for schools, numerous schools still require teachers to take turns watching over their facilities,” he said.
The requirement for teachers to act as school caretakers stirred heated debate after a man attacked a female teacher on weekend watch duty early this year.
“The Education Ministry has also promised to ease the burden of administrative tasks being shouldered by teachers, but the promise does not cover all schools,” Athapol continued.
Voice of teachers
A Facebook page for the teaching profession with almost 100,000 followers states that teachers’ burdens will not decrease until the Education Ministry implements measures to protect them from external tasks.
“Authorities have asked teachers to take on various activities, such as anti-smoking campaigns, anti-narcotics efforts, and child mental health initiatives,” it cited as a few examples.
The page was flooded with comments in response, such as, “When will teachers’ burdens reduce?” and “Two months into the new semester, and I’m still swamped with paperwork.”
Athapol highlighted what he called another example of Education Ministry doublespeak: After vowing to provide clean toilets for schools, it renovated some, but failed to conduct a survey on whether there were enough toilets or if they were safe.
“At some schools, toilets are located far from classroom buildings, putting children at risk when they go alone,” he said.
Failure to look ahead?
While Athapol supports updating the national education law, he insists that the overhaul should focus not just on past or present shortcomings. “It must look ahead and contain plans for the future too,” he emphasised.
Athapol expressed dismay at rumours the government intends to use the national education bill prepared in 2021 to improve the country’s education.
“This bill is too preoccupied with the past and present. I can’t imagine what the state of education will be like in 20 and 30 years if our country goes ahead with this bill,” he said.
He said politicking was also blocking the path to a new national education bill and new curriculum, complicating the country’s educational problems.
Sompong said the current national curriculum, enacted in 2008, was overweighted with academic content that was overwhelming and exhausting children.
He said the Education Ministry paid too little attention to children, which had resulted in their disappointing academic performance in the Onet and PISA programmes.
“Also, more than one million children have dropped out of school,” Sompoing said. He added that the government should do more to promote lifelong learning, educational opportunities, and access to education for all.
Although Sompong is critical of the government’s overall educational management, he acknowledged progress in addressing teachers’ debt and work burdens, as well as combating drug abuse and e-cigarette use among youth.
“The direction for education reform is somewhat clear if you look closely. However, whether the reform will actually occur depends on political will,” Sompong said.
