Running head: Education in Thailand1

Education in Thailand
Josephine Barrand
Arizona State University

Author Note
A report for the UN committee that addresses how well Thailand is meeting the UN Global
Education Initiative priorities.

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Education in Thailand
Put Every Child in School
The first priority of the UN Global Education Initiative is to ensure that every child is
attending school. According to The World Bank, Thailands gross enrollment ratio for primary
school (both sexes) was over 103% in the year 2014. For secondary school it was approximately
86% in 2013. The pre-primary enrollment ratio was below both of these at 73% in 2014. This
data implies that Thailand is doing very well in making sure that every child is in school for
primary school. However, there is still room for improvement when it comes to secondary
school. This data reiterates the UNs claim that Millions of children who start primary school

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are unable to finish, and still more miss out on high school (About). See tables below:

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Gross enrollment ratio, primary, both sexes (%)

Total enrollment in primary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the
population of official primary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of overaged and under-aged students because of early or late school entrance and grade repetition.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

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Gross enrollment ratio, secondary, both sexes (%)

Total enrollment in secondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the
population of official secondary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of
over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school entrance and grade repetition.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Improve the Quality of Learning

Millions of children go through school and come out without basic literacy and numeracy
(Priorities). The second priority of the UN Global Education Initiative is to improve the quality

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of learning. In order to judge the quality of learning in Thailand, I researched the literacy rate for
adults 15 years of age or older, both male and female. The data from The World Bank shows that
the adult male had a literacy rate of 95% in the year 2015. Females were just below this at a
literacy rate of 92% in 2015. In 2010 the literacy rate was 96% for both males and females, so in
the last 5 years the literacy rate has only slightly declined for both sexes. Based on the data
presented, I feel that Thailand has been maintaining a high literacy rate, thus showing that Thai
schools are providing a quality education.
Foster Global Citizenship
The third priority of the UN Global Education Initiative is to foster global citizenship. In
order to make students and teachers competitive with 21st century skills, Thailand has adopted
many technological programs in their schools. For example, Thailand was the first ASEAN
country to adopt Dells Connected Classroom solution. By integrating technology into the
learning process, educators can give students the means to learn at their own pace, interact with
each other, and provide them with a window to the world of knowledge (Teaching Technology).
Thai educators at over 500 educational institutions have also partnered with Google for
Education, which allows students to stay connected in the 21st century. Teachers can conduct
virtual lessons over Hangouts and use Google Drive to share course materials (Transforming
Education). Overall, Thailand has been using the power of technology to transform education
and ensure that students are globally interconnected.

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References
About | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 08, 2016, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/gefi/about/
PCL., P. P. (n.d.). Teaching technology. Retrieved November 08, 2016, from
http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/local-news/448754/teaching-technology
Priorities | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 08, 2016, from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/gefi/priorities/
@. (2014). Transforming education in Thailand. Retrieved November 08, 2016, from
http://googleforeducation.blogspot.com/2014/09/transforming-education-in-thailand.html