Hence, in Thailand thinking about science education in general, and scientific literacy in
particular, is influenced by the OECD economic rankings as well as PISA. The feeling in the
nation nowadays is that there is an urgent need for more trained science teachers. An example
of how the nation has responded to poor performance in OECD and PISA rankings is the
IPST’s research project about teaching science to talented primary students. This project was
driven by the particularly poor performance of Thai primary students’ in PISA. It consists of a
teacher training program that aims to provide teachers who are capable of producing students
with the ability to engage in critical thinking in science and learn science related to everyday
life.