THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Time’s up! Thailand must declare poor exam scores 

Time’s up! Thailand must declare poor exam scores 

Some 380,000 Grade 12 (mathayom six) students took the yearly national O-Net exams for university admission across five subjects.

Of the five, on average, they passed only one subject, Thai language – their mother tongue with 52.29 per cent, which in itself is merely a borderline pass. Overall, the national average score for all five subjects was 34.46. A dismal performance by any standard. Add to this the big gaps in average scores between Sathit and Obec schools and between urban and rural schools, with the former performing far better. The conclusion from these data is clear: We have a national crisis. Chasing a fugitive monk is not a national crisis. Nor is going after a former prime minister for alleged unpaid tax. 
Let’s be clear: The poor O-Net performance is not the students’ fault. Nor is it the parents’. It is the responsibility of the state and its educational institutions to make sure that every student achieves his/her academic potential. If schools did their duty of imparting knowledge properly, parents wouldn’t find it necessary to pay for expensive after-hours tuition classes. This in turn would give students time after school to hone non-academic skills essential for their cognitive growth and well-being.
I urge the government to declare a “war” on poor exam scores and make it a national priority. A lot is at stake here. Consider Singapore: With few national resources available, the tiny state led by Lee Kuan Yew invested heavily in the one thing it knew would govern its collective destiny – human capital. In other words, in educating and training its people. As a result of this decision, Singapore now enjoys First World status with one of the highest GDP-per-capita levels in the world. 
Poor academic scores lead to low human capital, which leads to low national productivity, rendering us unable to compete with other nations. Whether the government wants to hear this or not, Thailand 4.0 will not be realised under current conditions. We will forever remain in the middle-income trap unless something is done now. 
Edward Kitlertsirivatana

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