Lifting education system will require wholehearted effort

Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang is up against a great deal. He is taking on a big machine that has not functioned properly for many years. 

Yes, we are talking about the national education system, a huge structure that never seems to generate the desired outputs, no matter how much calibration is done on it.

Of course, there is an argument that the government has not put enough much money into the system. But for Thai politicians, the Education Ministry is considered “Class A”. That refers to the fact the ministry does get a significant amount of money – but it says absolutely nothing about quality, efficiency or sensible use of the funds it is allocated.

Over the years, each minister taking over the position tries to give the impression that they have some magic wand up their sleeve. And they opt for some high profile, quick-fix schemes like computer tablets or other headline grabbing activity. But in the end, few ministers have held this portfolio for long over the past decade or more, so few had had the opportunity to achieve significant changes. 

Chaturon is man with more substance than most politicians and has shown that he knows better than making remarks for public consumption. 

But he should be applauded for raising one embarrassing point that many of us know about but few talk of – the practice of allowing primary students to earn a passing grade if he or she helps teachers with errands and other chores that have nothing to do with their education.

Chaturon said he had heard that in many cases, students could automatically pass exams – and those who failed certain subjects could be “re-tested” – by helping teachers with work such as flower arranging or cleaning a classroom. 

This is nothing less than a teacher passing their duties to others when he or she should address the responsibility on their own. If a student can’t read or write at a basic level, what makes the teacher think he or she might do better in a higher level?

This problem has led to students proceeding to higher levels while their level of competency is still the same. If teachers do this often enough, the quality of education will go down the drain.

We may need to think “outside of the box” and be creative if we want to eliminate these sorts of faults. We have on our hands an education system that is largely ineffective, producing students who are ill-prepared to take on the real world, lacking skills such as the ability to think critically. 

But where do we start? An entire industry of tutoring has been set up outside the official system to address shortcomings of the current set-up. But many of these “cram schools” are geared simply towards helping students pass their tests – not deeper knowledge and critical thinking.

Besides students’ weak grades, perhaps we have to spend more time on the teachers and better teaching methods. After all, this is an issue of accountability. This means that test results should be used as a measure of teacher performance. Individuals should not look at this profession as a free ride. 

One of the saddest realities is that our society does not value educators. People who come to this profession are often accused of not being able to get into other lines of work. 

It goes without saying that higher pay and greater respect will attract better qualified individuals to the profession. A combination of higher pay and a better process for screening would-be teachers may be a good way to lift slumping Thai education standards.