On March 16, 2001, the National Education Committee held a seminar on the Capacity of Education in Thailand as compared at the Global level in 2000 with the objectives of analyzing educational situation in Thailand as compared to those of other countries and brainstorming for developing strategies and cooperation to achieve the goals of the education reform.
The seminar addressed a wide range of issues and some of the key points were made as followed:-
1. Education: The literacy rate of Thai population at aged 15 year and above was 95 percent in 1998, which was higher than many countries in Asia However, the survey of National Statistic Office in 1999 showed that 70 percent of these population had finished only at primary level or below and those graduated at secondary level was lower than those in many countries. The school enrolment rate of Thai youth aged 15-19 year was also low. The report of International Institute for Management Development (IMD) had confirmed that Thailand's capacity in science and technological competitiveness was ranked at 47, which was the lowest.
2. Teacher: In Thailand, the pupil-teacher ratio was 25:1. In developed countries teacher's salary in public sector was higher than US$20,000 per year while those in developing countries including Thailand was lower than US$ 10,000 per year.
3. Educational expenditure in the public sector: Budget allocated for education was about 25 percent of total budget during 1998-2000. As compared to GNP, it was 4.8 percent during 1995-1997 which was higher than Korea, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, China and Indonesia.
4. Technology Infrastructure: The ratio of computer to population in Thailand was 40 per thousand while in Malaysia it was 95 per thousand in 1999. Thailand also had 4 to 13 times less computers. than other countries. Only 2 percent of Thai population could access to the Internet in 2000.
The National Education Committee observed that even Thailand had comparative advantage in many indices but the outcome was not satisfied. The main problem was the inefficiency of management and the urgent problem that needed to be addressed was the poverty which limited opportunities and access of the poor youth to social services.
Some participants addressed interesting issues about the educational indices such as the literacy rate that might not be a good indicator for comparison due to different definition in various countries and the pupil-teacher radio that might not really indicate the quality of education.
The educational reform should be accelerated high priority because those aged 0-3 year had rapid brain development while the development of both IQ and EQ should be emphasized. The development of education should be qualitative oriented and there should be only one organization responsible for education management.
Development News Bulletin, National Economic and Social Development Board, Volume 18, No. 05 : May 2001 End.
-SS-