Time to take stock of where the education system really is now

We need to find the answer because education plays a crucial role in not just the country’s development but also people’s quality of life.
With education, human potential can be maximised and people can become valuable resources for the country. With their abilities cherished and appreciated, they will feel happier about their lives.
The importance of quality education, therefore, must never be overlooked or underestimated.
The government should be acutely aware that it has the duty to provide education to children and to constantly improve educational services.
Since the current administration came to power in 2011, its much-publicised educational policies have focused on populist themes. Will they ever touch the core of the education issue and make a real impact then?
The government, led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, has already honoured one of its election policies – the One Tablet Per Child (OTPC) – this year. This policy has been implemented with procurement of tablets for all Prathom 1 students across the country.
The scheme attracted huge media coverage. Children are all excited. But, in fact, research commissioned by the government has suggested that the tablets should be given to Prathom 4 students instead for the devices to become really useful for their study. Several child-development experts have also expressed concern that use of devices at too young an age might disrupt children’s physical development
Next year, the government will hand out tablets to a new batch of Prathom 1 students again plus Matthayom 1 students. To the concern of many educators, the OTPC scheme is going ahead without the government’s plan to evaluate its performance.
Another populist educational policy – Seed Money Fund – is also materialising. And again, it may distract the attention of relevant authorities away from the real substance of educational development.
On December 12, Yingluck presided over the launch of this project herself and it received much ballyhoo.
This project is expected to hand out Bt5 billion worth of soft loans to students and fresh graduates of higher-educational institutes next year with plans to start their own businesses. Within the next four years, this scheme will need a budget of Bt40 billion.
Just like the OTPC scheme, it sounds great and students are excited.
But the point is whether the government has planned necessary preparations to ensure that the schemes will be useful, not just political gimmickry to shore up the government’s popularity.
Will the tablets really equip students with tools to learn more and adapt well to new technologies? Without proper guidance and preparation, children may simply be distracted by Internet surfing and end up glued to inappropriate content. And many teachers have admitted that they are not yet ready to go along with the use of tablets in teaching.
Will the soft loans generate a huge number of new successful businesses? Or will they simply cause non-performing loans that the country has to shoulder?
As the government is responsible for the country and its people, it should make sure all educational policies deliver long-term benefits. The best policies should touch the core of educational services, their quality.
Policies about teachers’ reform, educational equality and quality, and vocational-training development may sound boring. But they are what the country needs to better the schooling system for the benefit of all.
The Office of the Educational Council has already revised the national plan to be used from 2012-2016 for the second time to upgrade the country’s education in accordance with current situations and changes. The first revised plan was for 2009-2016 while the original plan was for 2002-2016.
Based on solid information, the second revised plan aims to address the development of educational quality at all levels; the creation of educational opportunities for all groups of people in a fair and equal manner; reform to establish teaching as a high profession; the provision of higher education, vocational education, and vocational training in response to the needs of the labour market; the development of IT skills; the support for research and intellectual-capital creation, and competitiveness enhancement for the establishment of the Asean Economic Community (AEC).
However, some educators and academics have questioned how much the plan has been implemented seriously, which they want to see.
The New Year is about to start soon. So, let’s have some hope – that the government will not keep its strategy just in a drawer. Let’s hope that the government will seriously study the strategy and implement it in a tangible manner. Let’s hope that political demands will stop overriding education and true public benefit.
For Thailand really needs to start improve its education for a better quality of life and happiness of its people.