BANGKOK, 24 June 2013 Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana admits that the Thai education system is unsatisfactory and behind other countries in the ASEAN region. To tackle the problem, the ministry has drawn up some measures to restructure the system.
Education Minister Phongthep reveals that Thailand, each year, spends up to 20 percent of its annual budget on education, like other developed countries which spend a large amount of money on education and focus on human resource development.
Despite a tremendous amount of money Thailand has put into its educational system, the minister says the result is still unsatisfactory. However, he says the ministry has drawn up some solutions to the problem such as changing students’ and teachers’ perspectives by urging them to think and analyze instead of memorizing known as “rote learning”.
The minister further reveals that Thai students desperately need to improve their English language, especially the listening and speaking skills, in which Thai students are far behind those students in other ASEAN countries. The ministry will, therefore, bring in more English-speaking teachers to teach Thai kids.
Mr Phongthep adds that there are both crisis and opportunity for Thailand in entering the ASEAN Community. Therefore, Thai students need to learn all aspects about ASEAN and turn that crisis into opportunity for the sake of the country.
