Education is the key to Thailand’s ability to sustain long-term economic growth

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pledged that he would personally lead the education reform effort and bring about the compulsory 12-year free education program within one year. The fact that the government is planning to implement this policy is not a surprise, as the right of all Thais to 12 years of free education is enshrined in the 1997 Constitution and a 2002 deadline for implementation is set out in the 1999 Education Act. But, it is still heartening to see Dr. Thaksin take up this issue personally.

Like Thaksin’s other social programs, this one will cost a lot of money. The government will need about Bt100bn to finance this program from 2003 to 2007. In this case, we think the money is being very well spent.

It’s interesting to look at the development of the education sector over the last 15 years. In 1985, only 40% of students completing primary education (pratom 6) went on to lower secondary school (mathayom 1), which ranked Thailand far below the educational standards of neighboring countries like Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and China. Case studies in the early and mid-1980’s clearly indicated that the vast majority of students in rural areas would continue their education if lower secondary schooling was free and near their homes.

It wasn’t until the Anand government in the early 1990’s that a number of important policy changes were implemented to achieve the goal of higher secondary school enrollment. The basic education level was increased from pratom 6 (age 11) to mathayom 3 (age 14). Secondly, primary schools in rural areas were expanded to include lower secondary school classes. Thirdly, through special government support programs, public schools could offer free tuition to approximately 70-80% of the lower secondary students. The results were immediate with the student transition rate from primary to lower secondary doubling from 40% in 1985 to 80% in 1995. The most amazing statistic is that of those students proceeding on to lower secondary school, a very high percentage would continue on to upper secondary school and then to higher education.

The great pity, though, is the large baby boom generation went through the education system in the mid-1980’s and early 1990’s, just missing the benefits from these policy changes. This sadly reflects in the education estimates of the Thai labor force. According to the National Statistical Office’s November 2000 Labor Force Survey, 67.4% of the current employed have only a primary school education or less. Some economists have attributed the economic crisis partly on the relatively low education level of the country’s workforce.

Based on the 1999 enrollment statistics from the National Education Commission, we clearly see an encouraging picture. The transition rate from primary to lower secondary remains high with 83.9% of the students aged 12-15 enrolled in lower secondary school. 82.4% of those completing lower secondary are going on to upper secondary. Just as total enrollment in lower secondary school virtually doubled from 1989 to 1995, total enrollment in upper secondary rose 73.2% from 1.05mn in 1993 to 1.83mn in 1999. 

Primary and secondary school enrollment statistics

* gross enrollment ratio equals school enrollment divided by total school age population
Source: National Education Commission

Quality of education is also the issue. Obviously, the Ministry of Education has had difficulties in coping with a 73.2% increase in upper secondary school enrollment in just six years. The biggest challenge has been finding enough qualified teachers to teach mathematics, science, physics and computer subjects.

With the Bt100bn budget to be spent on the upper secondary school education system in the five-year period from 2003 to 2007, there should be a dramatic improvement in the quality of education. Businesses and the Thai economy will certainly benefit from 70-80% of the young people entering the workforce having an upper secondary education versus only 25% just 10 years ago.