EFA 2000: Literacy Assessment Thailand
EDUCATION FOR ALL: THE YEAR 2000 ASSESSMENT
COUNTRY REPORT
BY
THAILAND
[This is an excerpt of country report containing relevant sections on literacy and non-formal education.]
Downloaded from Asia-Pacific Literacy Data Base (http://www.accu.or.jp/litdbase).
Introduction
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About 10% of the out-of-school youth, particularly the disadvantaged, require special needs to enable them to maintain in the formal education system. Both public and private agencies, have undertaken several projects to enable this group to access to formal education system. Consequently, some duplications and inequitable distribution of services were seen. Therefore, the assessment of EFA 2000 will help identify problems and solutions to ensure that the current education reform will yield maximum impacts in improving efficiency of education for all.
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Part 1: History of the Education for All in Thailand
Chapter 1 Introduction
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1.1 The Context of Education Management in Thailand
1.1.1 Structure of Education in Thailand
The structure of Education in Thailand covers formal and non-formal education and is divided as follows:
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Non-formal education or Lifelong Education: This type of education is provided for those missing an opportunity to enrol in formal education. Learners can obtain knowledge from a variety of sources. This category of education not only fills up what has been lacking in formal education but also provides an option, alleviating total dependency on formal education. It also opens the door for life long education. There is no age restraint for learners in this category . Their education can be undertaken at any time in their life.
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1.1.3 Curriculum/ Teaching-Learning Process and Assessment
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A Non-formal Course in Vocational Education is provided for those who have completed primary grade 1 but miss an opportunity to remain in schooling system. The course aims at instilling a sense of responsibility for ownself, community and the country with an emphasis on Thai values. Students should be able to seek and apply available knowledge and technological skills to improve a better quality of life and job. They should be able to truly understand the whole extent of their occupation, themselves and their society. They should also be capable of selecting and developing appropriate career. They should be able to create innovative ideas or develop experiences to supplement the income and conduct their behaviors in connection with the occupation as well as to lead a decent and moralistic life.
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1.2 Problems of Education in Thailand
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4) Lifelong Education
Although many agencies are responsible for non-formal education, the coverage has not met the demands. There are youth and adults ready for the service throughout the country, particularly in rural areas. However, the provision of skills and vocational training and development does not yet meet the demands due to the insufficiency of information and data. It also prevents relevant agencies to plan and organize appropriate courses for individual community. Problems also exist in term of disparities of the quality of the course offered by different agencies, coordination and joint planning among agencies.
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Chapter 2 Policy and Goals of Education for All in Thailand
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2.2 Implementation of Plan of Action
After the adoption of the Jomtien Declaration, the Government assigned the Office of the National Education Commission to draft a National Plan on Education for All and the Plan was approved by the Cabinet on November 9, 1994.[9] Concerned ministries and government agencies drafted an individual plan of action for their respective agencies according to the national plan of action. Monitoring and evaluation were undertaken with the aim to study the outcome of the implementation of EFA and to identify problems and obstacles. The outcomes of the assessment has been analyzed to develop the provision of basic education for all in a more effective approach.[10]
2.2.1 Goals and Guidelines for Action Plans
Thailand has established goals and major action plans for the provision of basic education as follows:[11]
Goals / Guidelines for Action Plans1. To expand educational services in order to promote literacy for all males and females age 14-50, by the year 2001 / 1.1 To expand basic education in various forms in compliance with the solutions of the problems and limitations to enable people in rural areas, highlands and border areas to access to education.
1.2 To expand supportive services to increase literacy rate.
1.3 To campaign on mobilizing all partners to participate in eliminating literacy.
2.1
3. To expand by at least 2.5 times the current levels by the year 2001, all educational services for the disadvantaged, particularly the disabled, children from impoverished families, children in remote and rural areas, the culturally disadvantaged, homeless children, child labourers, underprivileged females and non-naturalized children. / 3.1 To create database on the disadvantaged at the local to national levels.
3.2 To expand basic educational services and develop diversed and proper methods of education to enable a wider coverage to all target groups.
4.1
5. To broadly and consistently expand the training services available to families emphasizing proper child rearing, childhood nutritional needs and normal psychological development / 5.1 To support educational institutions and other agencies both public and private to provide education and training on family emphasizing proper child rearing, in terms of physical, mental, and intellectual.
5.2 To disseminate information and knowledge on family education, sex education, child care through mass media.
6.1
7.1
8. To campaign for the development of ethics/morality and desirable characteristics of the people, and to expand extensively the implementation of activities promoting development of the same characteristics in young learners. / 8.1 To encourage educational institutions and mass media to take part in the development of ethics, morality, and desirable characteristics of the people.
8.2 To mobilize the participation of the community and mass media in organizing supplementary activities to promote the development of ethics, morality, and desirable characteristics of he people.
8.3
8.4 To support actions on the development and promotion of ethics, morality, and desirable characteristics of the people.
9. To establish a learning network with information links available to the public, private sector, and the local community, to be used as a resource and as as aid in order to promote and encourage learning and development. / 9.1 To establish a learning network with information links available to public and private sectors.
9.2 To promote the local community to establish internal teaching-learning process and exchange the knowledge among communities.
9.3 To enhance the transfer of knowledge and information to the public and the community to enable lifelong learning.
9.4 To encourage the dissemination of knowledge and information about the media to students to enable them to make appropriate selection of useful information.
Thailand recognized the importance of the provision of education to the disadvantaged and those missing educational opportunity. Major target groups are;
(1) The handicapped.
(2) The drop-outs.
(3) The 0-6 year-olds.
(4) The low income group.
(5) The underprivileged in congested communities.
(6) Street children and youth.
(7) Child labour.
(8) Women.
(9) Children without nationality.
(10) Those living in remote areas and inaccessible areas.
(11) The culturally disadvantaged.
(12) Parents.
(13) The old.
(14) Youth and adults obtaining education lower than the
standard.
2.2.2 Strategies and Action Plan
The following strategies aim to create education of all and for all:
1) Mobilizing all partners to have involvement in providing basic education for all.
2) Decentralizing the management of education to local authorities.
3) Providing dynamic basic education for all since the current situations have been rapidly changed.
4) Providing integration of tradition knowledge and local wisdom into modern knowledge to enable options of education.
5) Providing interaction education so that students will be able to learn about their communities and exchange their knowledge among communities.
6) Allocating sufficient budget to place more important in basic education rather than other levels of education.
The 1992 National Education Plan identified the substance and strategies of the action plans to set up long term action plans of education provision, particularly in basic education as follows;
1) To enhance basic education as belonging to the people and for the
people, the following strategies are established:
a) Encourage all pre-school children to obtain at least 1 year
pre-school education before gaining entry to primary education.
b) Provide wide and thorough coverage of compulsory education, making it accessible and easy-to-obtain for the students. Government and local schools provide education for free. Any compulsory education is provided according to the law on education specially promulgated.
c) Provide secondary education as EFA. The state shall strengthen the extension of EFA at least to upgrade the quality of life of its people.
d) Support education extension to cover the socially and economically disadvantaged and those with physical, intellectual, mental and emotional disability.
2) Upgrading the quality of education and the provision of EFA.
a) Provide education and encourage child upbringing beneficial to children according to age requirement starting from conception, and the development of desirable characteristics.
b) Reform teacher training and develop regular teachers focusing on the development of special vocational subjects to create awareness among teachers; encourage development of standardized knowledge and ability both as teachers and their technical knowledge; upgrade the status of teaching profession.
c) Improve the substance and teaching-and-learning process in all levels and all categories of education to comply with the objectives of education as established.
d) Encourage learners in all levels, as well as the general public to be able to use the Thai language appropriately and correctly for communication, creativity and development of thinking, knowledge, and the maintenance of the culture of the country.
e) Promote the study of foreign languages that enhance extensive national development for the benefit of research and communication in the areas of technical know-how, commerce, international relations and cultural exchange.
f) Promote research and development to create innovation, education technology and knowledge components in various sciences beneficial to development of contents and substance of teaching-and-learning process and encouragement of learning
g) Encourage the study of monks, novices, priests and religious
personnel to make them good examples and literacy in instilling personal ethics, morality and values appropriate to society.
3) Creation of network of learning for life-long education of the People.
a) Set up the network of learning to provide wider scope of learning to the people for life-long continuing education.
b) Promote and support the introduction of modern technology into educational service extension for rapid knowledge dissemination and exchange.
4) EFA mobilization
a) Promote and support the role of family, community, other social institutions and mass media in the participation of the process of study, conservation and development of natural resources, environment, local culture and intellect.
b) Encourage private sector to provide education at all levels in a free, flexible, and self-supporting management, with technical and resource support to facilitate the operation and certification of standard achieved.
c) Mobilize, allocate and utilize educational resources in a fair and efficient way.
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2.3 Recent Achievements
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The following definitions will be used in EFA plan of operation:
Education For All means education to enhance life with good
quality which is imbued with proper ethics necessary for harmonious coexistence in society with happiness, knowledge, skill in lifelong and continuing search for knowledge, adaptability to future changes in society, capability in earning a living, self-reliance and with dignity and ability for self-development, responsibility and willingness to participate in the development of the society in an appropriate manner.
The Disadvantaged Group means groups of people in society, particularly children and youth in especially difficult circumstances (CEDC) including street children, disabled children, child prostitutes, drug addicts, beggars, educational disadvantaged children and those who are deprived of the opportunity to receive relevant government services.
Education for Disadvantaged Children means education for children
and youth whose rights have been violated, deserted children, children with inappropriate behavior, mentally and physically handicapped children. They will be provided with basic primary and secondary education and other category of education necessary for their livelihood and their dignified return to society.
Lifelong Education means education resulting from integration of formal, non-formal, and informal education so as to create ability for continuous lifelong development of quality of life.
2.4 Resource
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2.4.3 Investment in the Management of Non-formal education
A great number of people do not have the opportunity to be educated at the appropriate time. This kind of opportunity loss has caused EFA not to achieve its goal, Thailand has not ignored or overlooked the people belonging to this group. On the contrary, it has invested a great deal to provide non-formal education to those people, be they those deprived of the opportunity to study, those who missed the opportunity or those educationally under-served. The Department of Non-formal education (DNFE), Ministry of Education, acts as the core agency for quality management of this category of education by which every Thai citizen shall be provided with lifelong quality education in accordance with his own preparedness and requirement. Service for knowledge is provided to people in all target groups: the disabled, the under-served, women, in-service military personnel, detainees, etc. The service provided are multi-faceted, i.e. basic functional education, continuing general education, skill training, and informal education with focus on education through every type of media such as mass media, satellite, electronic media, information and data acquired through public libraries, learning centres, village reading centres, science centres, etc.
The budget for the Department of Non-formal education has been increased every year, from 1,384.4 million baht in 1992[12] to 2,896.76 million baht in 1999[13], accounting for about 0.05 % of GNP which is a rather low proportion. However, the outcome of the operation by the Department of Non-formal education has been highly satisfactory, even higher than the target set by the department itself. The DNFE has continuously undertaken the development of the administration and network of various NFE outlets and target groups. In 1994, 2.1 million persons belonged to the target group and in 1995, this has been increased to 3 million persons.[14]