Education 4.0: Losing sight of the present?

However, when looking at Thailand’s current educational standing, it is obvious there is enormous room for improvement.
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Thailand is one of the least successful countries in terms of education. The country, based on the 2015 Programme for International Student Development (PISA), was ranked 54th out of 70 countries, compared to Vietnam’s eighth, despite Bt480 billion being spent on education as of 2019. 
Furthermore, students in Thailand are yet to achieve a passable level of understanding in basic subjects and science. Thailand’s percentage of students performing below level 2 (the second-lowest level, with fifth being the best for proficiency in certain subjects) in science was 47 per cent with the other countries’ average being 21.
An apparent pointer to its lack of success is the existence of tutorial schools, a Bt8-billion industry in Thailand. According to a survey in 2015 by the Office of the Education Council, spending by parents on children at the lower secondary level could be as high as Bt18,200 on mathematics tutorials, or a total of around Bt37,400, which contradicts the government’s claims of free support at the lower secondary level. Besides extra tutorial sessions, the more well-off students can also access a wider range of extracurricular activities to build and broaden their experiences as well as their resum้. These unfair advantages for students who can afford them could lead to them have more success academically as revealed by the United Nations’ World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE). The UN report found that Thai students categorised as from families from the lowest socio-economic status performed two times worse academically in upper secondary than students from among the “richest”.
Logically speaking, income and education levels are inter-related. Those with lower income cannot receive good education and end up having a bad career; and a bad career means they cannot escape poverty.
As shown by WIDE, serious disparities may not reveal themselves as a result of economic status until primary education. However, as the level of education gets higher, the disparity becomes wider. Only 8 per cent of youths from low-income families go for higher education while 48 per cent of the richest families do. Mostly, higher education leads to higher future earnings. According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) survey, a person with an upper-secondary level of education earns on average Bt12,010 per month while a person with a bachelor’s degree earns on average Bt23,035 per month.
Even though it is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for such inequality – whether it is the lack of wealth or the lack of education – it is inevitable that a failing education system will worsen income disparity. 
Altering the education system seems like a plausible answer to address the cycle. However, based on the history of PISA results, after revolutionising the education system in 2003 the students’ results are almost on a downward trajectory. This could be caused by “too many” changes that were made in the Thai education system. With too many adjustments, students and their parents simply cannot keep up.
So what changes are needed in the school system? Let’s look at countries that are educationally successful: South Korea, for example, is 100 per cent literate. However, the country’s education system is too demanding. It puts huge pressure on students to work hard and perform. At the other end of the spectrum is Finland, also one of the most successful countries in education, which provides a mixture of academic studies and extracurricular activities. Both ends stay at the top rank of the PISA tests regardless of their education styles. So, which one is the most suitable for Thai students is still debatable.
No matter what style we choose, it is undeniable that our current academic evaluation is still based on the ability to answer through memorisation while systematic problem-solving, analytical skills and creative thinking are not given as much importance. Emphasis should be placed on “how the knowledge is taught” rather than “what is taught”. Instead of just saying that there are many theories to explain the origin of Thai people and list them out, ask the students to research them and say which theory they believe in and why. It is not the technology that education 4.0 needs, but the creators and users.
Views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of TMB Bank or its executives. Biz Insight is co-authored by ARCHANYA ROJVATUNYU and DUANGRAT PRAJAKSILPTHAI. They can be reached at [email protected]