The benefits of state spending must go to all students

This sad fact is a far cry from Singapore’s determination-fuelled, educational success story. 

In late 1960s, Singapore was still a new republic and had a big illiteracy problem. 

But after its policymakers voiced their determination to improve educational opportunities and quality in their homeland, Singapore’s educational services have gone from strength to strength.

This year, Singapore proudly tops the biggest global education rankings ever.

Compiled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the ranking shows Singapore has even beaten Finland – the nation long known for its outstanding educational quality.

So, how has Singapore come this far?

Singaporean authorities have treated education as an urgent strategic necessity, which has in part driven Singapore’s swift transition from the Third World to the First.

Singapore has nurtured a results-oriented educational system built around the universally-significant, and culturally-neutral, centrality of mathematics and science.

An emphasis by Singapore on these two fields of enquiry and endeavour, without ignoring English, mother tongue languages and the humanities, has propelled it forward.

Adding to the formidable efforts by Singaporean authorities are the fruitful contributions from Singaporean parents. 

Recognising that good education is now imperative, a large number of Singaporeans are willing to spend small fortunes to ensure that their children do not lose out.

In Thailand, several wealthy parents have done the same thing. But most parents can’t afford the hefty educational cost charged by excellent schools. While the Thai government provides free tuition, free textbooks and even free school uniforms, surveys confirm parents have still had to fork out money to cover their children’s educational expenses. This is a major cause why children from cash-strapped families have lower educational opportunities. It is hard for them to gain access to education, in fact even with the government to offer students’ loans, let alone to educational quality. 

At the same time, while the Thai government has pumped in a huge chunk of the state budget to |education, just a small amount – perhaps 5 per cent – goes to improving educational quality. 

A comprehensive study has revealed that while educational resources are adequate, management of the budget is not good.

The governments seem to be more interested in populist policies like free tuition, free uniforms and free textbooks. They are determined to go ahead with populist initiatives they come up with, but pay less attention to other vital aspects.

The Yingluck Shinawatra government went ahead with its election policy to hand out one tablet per child no matter what. But it did not seem as determined when it talked about educational reform and quality. This applied to previous administrations too. 

In September 2013, then-education minister Chaturon Chaisang vowed to make real moves for educational reform and to deliver visible results within two years. 

He set up committees to monitor relevant agencies’ work on improving Thailand’s performance in international educational rankings like Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and all. 

One may argue that political turmoil might have hampered Chaturon’s efforts and the 2014 coup removed him from the helm of the Education Ministry.

But still, all other state mechanisms are in place. The committees he set up are still active. So, why doesn’t Thailand see any sign of improvements? 

The gap in educational equality among schools in Thailand remains huge. While Thai whiz kids from top schools win medals from academic competitions every year, illiteracy still persists.

In Thailand, the government provides free education but falls shorts of delivering educational quality and reducing inequality. 

The government’s provision of free education is simply made via the payment of flat-rate per-head subsidy, which means smaller schools will get smaller budget due to the fact that each small school has very low number of students. Resources at small schools are thus so limited that they can’t do anything to guarantee educational quality for Thai children. 

In addition, while some prestigious Thai |universities like Chulalongkorn and Mahidol appear in internationally recognised rankings, many employers complain about the shortage of qualified workers. 

A recent report from the World Bank titled “Thailand’s Economic Monitor” said one-third of 15-year-old Thai students are “functionally illiterate” - they lack the basic reading skills to manage their lives in a modern world, leaving their chances of finding well-paid jobs slim to non-existent.

So, what benefits do Thai children and Thailand get from the huge educational budget?

Do the benefits, due to the lack of true determination to make the better changes among policy makers and key players, go to just some educational institutes and just some groups of students? 

The poor distribution of educational quality, if not tackled properly, will continue to aggravate the unfair income distribution and social inequalities in Thailand. 

 

CHULARAT SAENGPASSA

[email protected]