Trying hard not to fail: The budget allocated for education here is equal to4%ofGDP
andmuchhigher than in other Asean countries, says the World Bank. Teachers’
salaries have also been increased. Yet students at state-run schools are still having
a hard time passing exams.
Worse, education reform has been a setback in some areas. For example, it has resulted in too much paperwork for teachers in preparation for assessment, which inevitably reduces their time for teaching.
Many people blame the failure of education reform on the lack of resources. This is not true. Over the past 10 years, the Education Ministry has doubled the budget for education to 4% of the gross domestic product and 20% of the total government budget. The budget for education in Thailand is higher than in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea, according to the World Bank.
The average monthly salary of teachers rose from 15,000 baht in 2001 to 24,000 baht in 2010, according to the National Statistical Office. Thai students spend more time in class than their colleagues in the region, not to mention the money spent by parents in sending their children to tutorial schools.
Although the increased budget gives children, especially those from poor families, greater access to education, it cannot improve the quality of education. That was clearly seen in the performance of students in the Ordinary National Education Test (O-Net) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The scores of Thai students in reading, mathematics and science in 2009 were lower than those from Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, according to PISA. The performance of Thai students is moving downwards compared with other countries in the region (except Indonesia), whereas many students from famous schools in Bangkok have won prestigious awards in global competitions every year.
What is happening clearly shows there is a quality gap between schools and that plans to improve schools have not reached all areas. Still, the country should not be discouraged in the ongoing attempt to improve education. Other countries such as Chile and Latvia have set an example, achieving just that in no more than a decade. In the case of Thailand, it seems this country has so many problems which make reformers wonder where the reform should start.
Improving education in Thailand should begin with the findings of several studies, which point to three main areas. First, an increase in resources such as budgets does not guarantee a better quality of education. Second, teachers of a higher calibre can bring about better student performance. Third, there is the need to set up a mechanism for accountability within our education system. Such a mechanism is very important in education reform as it could lead to a make-or-break in other issues involving education. For example, investing in improving the quality of teachers will never be fruitful if the present system is still unable to allow them time to pay more attention to teaching and to their students because they are tied up with paperwork or academic work to move up the career ladder.
The central issue regarding education improvement is not a lack of resources. In fact, it is the lack of efficiency in using the resources available, due to there being no accountability in the present system. The reform should focus on building such a mechanism which would make everyone involved in education _ educators, schools and teachers _ accountable. This "accountability" should be reflected in the success of students, not the performances of schools or teachers.
Currently what happens is that schools somehow pass the quality test undertaken by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment, and teachers enjoy a salary raise and promotion. But the performance of students continues to go in the opposition direction. They still "cannot read, write and think" as we have seen today.
Bangkok Post
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