Thai children can't think
Last year Thai students won 30 medals at the International Mathematics and Science Olympiad for Primary Schools. They are obviously not lacking intelligence. Instead, they are being failed by the system.
The question is, why has Thai education been stuck in the same spot for years?
The answer is our education curriculum, which has followed the same pattern for decades. First, teachers teach by reading aloud from books or writing on the blackboard. Second, students record the lessons by rote. Third, teachers give students a lot of homework. Finally, students remember only the answers they need to pass their tests.
The obvious thing missing here is two-way engagement between teachers and students. This gap means that, when students face questions they have never encountered before, they can’t answer them because they cannot analyse properly. This teaching technique also produces students who do not have the imagination to think differently.
There is no instant fix for our education system, since this is a national problem. Some even say it doesn’t need changing because our education is still better than that in many other countries.
But whether it’s better or worse than others is not the point. That Thai students cannot “think” is the real problem.
Attakorn Noojoo
