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It's about time education ministers follow a government master plan

The world is changing rapidly. To avoid being left behind, Thailand also needs to change, starting with education - the root of its entire future strength.

Sadly though, Thailand's education seems to be static, showing no change and casting feelings of doom among entrepreneurs. They have money to expand business, but where is the talent to help them develop and operate these businesses?

Sadly, in such circumstances, Thai academics and policymakers merely pointing fingers to this and that. They forget that change can be brought about quickly, if we learn from existing success stories.

I was impressed with the return of the Paddington Academy in the UK. From a school in a poor neighbourhood, which experienced frequent fighting and was shut down for its poor academic records, it is now an attractive choice for parents, students and wannabe teachers. A columnist in The Economist attributed one of its strengths to teachers' devotion. Given that many of their students do not speak English, the teachers were patient in encouraging them to expect to be fluent in the language within four years.

Here in Thailand we have some successful models as well.

Once, Amnuaysilp School was a famous private school in Bangkok. As time passed, the student selection system became weak and its students were frequently involved in brawls and its academic record went downhill. The school was shut down, only to be resurrected years later as an international school. The owner admitted the revival was a painful process, as many things - including the curriculum, teachers, and infrastructure - had to be changed to win back parents' confidence.

University demonstration schools are another good case example. Demand for a seat in these schools, in Bangkok or elsewhere, has always topped the charts, as tuition fees are reasonable compared to the academic return. Their success lies in the limited number of students per teacher, speciallydesigned curriculum, and the recruitment of teachers to fit the objectives.

In Udon Thani, a school in Sur Plur district also underwent a successful operation, thanks to the cooperation between the Office of Basic Education Commission, local residents, and local administrative bodies. All were involved in curriculum designing, operations and evaluation. Students are happier and now the school's average academic record is the seventh highest among schools in the province.

It was heartening when Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visited the school and mentioned her desire to promote its success formula nationwide. Yet, probably due to her busy schedule involving floodmanagement programmes, her words just stopped there. All schools are running as usual, as if the world still stays in the same orbiting slot.

It is unfortunate that policymakers are busy taking credit for their policies, rather than giving support to successful models and learning from their longterm results.

In a matter of six months, the Yingluck government has been served by two education ministers. The first, Woravat Auapinyakul, pushed for Englishspeaking fluency and reclassification of education areas for better management. The second, Suchart Tadathamrongvej, did not mention anything about these ideas. Rather, he is fixing problems with the plan to allow all schools to openly take parents' donations (pae jia) for seats.

For now, it is as if the National Education Council, which is responsible for the education master plan - which should be implemented by ministers - does not exist. Thailand urgently needs such a plan, with as many details as possible so that it can't be derailed by government changes. Wider access to education is one thing to boost literacy. But more important is how to equip average students and aboveaverage students for global changes, if they are to sustain and boost Thailand's presence in the world.

China spent decades in creating a strong workforce. Burma is on the way. If Thai policymakers keep playing politics, only children with aboveaverage education will prosper. But how bright will their children's future be, if their subordinates are weak?

Chularat Saenpassa

Source: The Nation, 20 February, 2012

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