Dapong, who was made Education Minister just two weeks ago during the latest cabinet reshuffle, explained that this initiative was being introduced in response to Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s suggestions that students should have more time to spend with family and participate in extracurricular activities.
The school year in Thailand consists of 200 days and students are currently required to attend formal lessons for 1,200 hours per year, six hours per day. This new initiative will see the hours of instruction reduced to 840 hours per year, just over four hours per day. These changes will more closely align Thai learners with students in North America, Europe, and Japan.