Drop in Thailand's education competitiveness sparks plea for budget increase
A senior education official has urged the government to increase the education budget after Thailand dropped one place in the international education competitiveness rankings.
Education Council secretary-general Atthaphon Sangkhawasee said his agency has studied the 2021 International Institute for Management Development (IMD) rankings, which showed Thailand dropped to 56th out of 64 countries.
Thailand ranked a distant third in Asean, behind Singapore in 7th place and Malaysia in 39th.
Atthapon said the 2021 rankings revealed three indicators of weaknesses in Thai education.
First, the secondary school enrolment rate dropped four places to 61st.
Second, the student-teacher ratio in secondary schools dropped three places to 60th.
And third, the education budget as a proportion of GDP dropped one place to 59th.
However, the rankings also revealed two improvements.
Thailand’s universities rose one place to 48th and the student-teacher ratio in primary schools jumped sic places to 30th among the 64 countries ranked.
Atthaphon said the rankings reflect the need for Thai education development. He urged education agencies to adjust their 2023 budget proposals accordingly.
Education Minister Treenuch Thienthong has agreed to put a proposal to Cabinet to raise the subsidy rate for basic education management in line with GDP