Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said today he will on this Saturday unveil his government’s plan to address the worsening problems of Thailand’s education inequality.

He said the goal is to bring down the number of Thai children denied education opportunity to “zero”.

In his post on X, the prime minister said one of the first things he did upon taking office last year was to order government agencies concerned to integrate their collection of data on students who have dropped out of the education system.

He said the agencies include the Fund for Education Equality, Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and the Ministry of Interior which have been instructed to set up Thailand’s first big database addressing the issue of school dropouts.

“I have personally driven the issue of reducing educational inequality since before I took over as prime minister,” Srettha said but did not elaborate.

He said his government’s plan to address the issue will be unveiled this coming Saturday which is Thailand’s “Children’s Day.”

“On Saturday, January 13, there will be good news.  That will be one important step in in Thailand moving towards Thailand Zero Dropout,” he said in the X post in both Thai and English.

The Education Ministry reported that in 2022, more than 100,000 students dropped out of the school system due partly to poverty, drug problems and teen pregnancy.

The ministry also noted that there is a trend among many young Thais to opt out of the school system which they believe does not prepare them for their future needs and instead choosing to study on-line.