Teaching troubles
Re: "Poll: Outdated curriculum tops public concerns on Thai education", (BP, Oct 26).
No one can be surprised that Thai parents think Thai public education is appallingly bad on numerous fronts. That is as venerable a tradition in Thailand as any, the complaints by parents having been for decades as consistent as the low PISA scores.
For all of the problems listed in the poll, from outdated curricula (49.31%) and unequal quality of education (37.33%), to teachers being burdened with too much non-teaching work and school safety issues (38.78%), there exists a very effective solution.
That solution is not more money. Education has long already taken the single largest chunk of the budget every year: in 2025, 340 billion baht was allocated to education, which compares favourably with the 199.7 billion for the military. The problem is not budgetary but something deeper, something requiring a more radical solution than merely throwing more money at the customary failure.
Finland has one of the world's best education systems, if not the best. There is no reason, at least no good reason, why Thailand cannot copy one of the most practical aspects of Finland's education system. In Finland, it is illegal to charge tuition fees.
If it were illegal to charge tuition fees, the lucrative business of international schools and hi-so private schools would suffer. Would that be a bad thing?
The boons are obvious and massive. Rich and influential parents would suddenly want their local schools to be every bit as good as every other. They would demand it. Hoary venues like Triam Udom Suksa and Suan Kularb would lose their lustre; again, it is not obvious this would be in any way undesirable.
Best of all, perhaps, the children of the rich and influential would have to mix with the children of the poor, both in central Bangkok and in the village school in Buri Ram. This would be very healthy for Thai society and politics. These would be substantial bonuses flowing from adopting the Finnish education system.
Also worth noting is that Finland ranks globally at number one in happiness: perhaps not an accident.
