In turn, this policy was ranked as one of the most popular public agendas for two years in a row. However, some critics have argued about declining educational achievement levels, identified by international and national evaluation programmes.
“What is more concerning is the fact that as much as 43 per cent in reading and science, to 53 per cent in mathematics of Thai children who participated in PISA 2009 were at the lowest performance category of ‘Level One or Below’ in the overall scale of Level One to Level Six,” said Tomoo Hozumi, acting UN Resident Coordinator of Thailand.
“At the ‘Level One or Below’ of the PISA test, children are learning very little. What PISA measures is not a mere accumulation of information and knowledge by students as some of the ‘traditional’ academic tests would do, but how children apply themselves to solve issues that they are likely to face in a real world,” he said.
According to the PISA 2009 report, “students proficient at ‘Level One’ have such limited scientific knowledge that it can only be applied to a few, familiar situations.
“Students performing below Level One usually do not succeed at the most basic levels of science that PISA measures. Such students will face serious difficulties in using sciences to benefit from further education and learning opportunities and to participate in life situations related to science and technology.”
Chainarong Intarameesap, Committee Member of Education Reform in the Second Decade said at the seminar: “When measuring the achievement results of Thailand’s famous schools, the scores are somewhat at the same level of international standards. But when looking at the country’s overall performance, it is flat.